‘Freshly roasted’ has long been considered the ultimate indicator of coffee quality. This study challenges this concept by arguing that coffee, as a complex processed agricultural product, undergoes a critical developmental ‘maturation’ phase after roasting that is significant for its sensory experience. Thus, this study investigates whether there is (i) a discernible sensory effect and (ii) a perceptible consumer preference for ‘freshly roasted’ coffee beans by means of a triangle test (ISO 4120:2021) combined with a hedonic preference test (ISO 8587:2013) on 42 untrained participants. The triangle test results indicate that there is a significant difference between the samples, and a slight majority expressed a preference for not ‘freshly roasted’ coffee, encouraging a more nuanced approach to the issue.

Proceedings: Zimmermann, Y.C.; Schwarz, S. Freshly Roasted Coffee Re-Evaluated: A Pilot Study on the Impact of Post-Roast Maturation on Sensory Experience. Proceedings 2024, 109, 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/ICC2024-18164