Note: Coffee labels are not fully standardised. Roast scales, scores and recommended recipes can use different methods, so compare numbers only when their meaning is clear.
You do not need to understand every number on a coffee bag. For most people, the roast date, roast style and bag size are enough to make a sensible first choice. Altitude, harvest year and scores add useful background once you want more detail, while screen size and green-bean moisture are mainly trade information rather than instructions for making coffee at home.
New to coffee? Start with the quick answer
Check when the coffee was roasted, choose a roast style that sounds appealing and buy a bag size you can finish comfortably. The later sections explain the specialist numbers, but you do not need them to choose a good first bag.
Look for a roast date, then consider how the bag has been sealed and how quickly you will use it.
Match the bag weight to your normal dose instead of buying a kilogram simply because it costs less per gram.
A 3/5 roast or “medium” label is most useful within the same roaster because scales are not universal.
Altitude, harvest year and a score can be informative, but variety, processing, roasting and storage also matter.
The 30-second coffee-bag check
Before comparing specialist data, answer three practical questions. They tell you whether the coffee fits your routine more reliably than a single impressive-looking score or altitude.
No single number proves that a coffee is better
A higher score, greater altitude or more recent roast date can be useful information, but each describes only one part of the coffee. The final cup also depends on the green coffee, processing, roasting, packaging, storage and brewing.
Roast date and best-before date
The roast date is the clearest way to understand how long ago the beans were roasted. Roasted coffee changes quickly during its first few weeks as carbon dioxide escapes and aroma compounds evolve, but there is no universal day on which every coffee becomes ready or stale.
Shows the coffee’s age directly
Use it alongside the roaster’s resting advice, the roast level and your brew method. Espresso can benefit from some resting time, while the ideal window varies between coffees.
Shows a durability date, not the roast date
A distant best-before date does not reveal whether the beans were roasted last week or months ago. It also does not mean the coffee suddenly becomes unsafe or unusable on that date.
A bag without a roast date is not automatically bad coffee. Large roasters may use protective packaging and longer distribution chains, while some smaller roasters print exact dates. The practical trade-off is transparency: without the roast date, you know less about the coffee’s age.
Why very fresh coffee can be harder to use
Very recently roasted beans can release enough gas to make espresso harder to dial in. Darker roasts usually degas faster than lighter ones, and packaging affects how quickly aroma is lost. Follow any resting guidance from the roaster and judge the coffee by how it extracts and tastes rather than applying one fixed seven-, fourteen- or twenty-eight-day rule.
Bag weight and number of drinks
Bag weight is not a quality rating, but it is one of the most useful numbers for buying the right quantity. Divide the bag weight by your normal coffee dose to estimate how many brews it contains, then allow for a little waste while dialling in.
A practical planning number
A 250g bag contains about 13.9 doses at 18g each before allowing for retained grounds, purging or test shots. At a 15g filter dose it provides roughly 16 brews.
Good for variety
Useful when one or two people want to finish the coffee reasonably quickly or switch between different beans.
Middle ground
Can work well for a household making several coffees a day without committing to a full kilogram.
Best for high use
Better value per gram only when you can store it well and use it before the flavour noticeably declines.
Roast level: 1–5, light, medium or dark
Roast level is useful because it gives a broad indication of flavour direction. Lighter roasts tend to preserve more origin character and perceived acidity, while darker roasts generally emphasise roast-derived flavours, bitterness and body.
The problem is that consumer labels are not standardised. One roaster’s “medium” can be darker than another roaster’s “dark”, and a 1–5 scale is usually that company’s own system. Compare different bags from the same roaster with confidence; compare numbers between brands more cautiously.
Read as a style clue
Often points towards a lighter roast and more prominent acidity or fruit character, but it does not guarantee that the coffee will taste delicate.
Usually aims for balance
May combine origin character with more developed caramel, nut or chocolate flavours. The actual degree still varies by roaster.
Expect more roast character
Often means lower perceived acidity and stronger bitter, smoky or dark-chocolate notes rather than greater caffeine or quality.
A brewing intention, not a restriction
It usually means the roaster designed the coffee to extract accessibly as espresso. You can still brew it another way if you enjoy the result.
Everything below this point is useful extra context
Roast date, roast style and bag weight are the main buying numbers for a beginner. Altitude, scores and harvest information can help you compare coffees more closely, but they are not compulsory knowledge.
Altitude in metres above sea level
Altitude can help explain the growing conditions. In many origins, greater elevation is associated with cooler temperatures and slower cherry development, which can influence density and sensory character. That does not make altitude a universal quality ladder.
The same elevation can represent very different climates at different latitudes, and the effect interacts with variety, shade, slope, soil, processing and farm management. Treat “1,800m” as useful traceability and flavour context—not as proof that the coffee is automatically better than one grown at 1,200m.
Compare altitude within an origin, not across the whole world
An altitude range is most helpful when you already know the country, region and variety. Hard rules such as “above 1,400m is good” oversimplify a relationship that changes with local climate and production.
What does a score out of 100 mean?
Some coffee bags show a professional tasting score such as 84, 86 or 88. Under the older SCA scoring convention, 80 points became a widely used threshold for “specialty” coffee, with higher scores indicating a more favourable professional assessment.
The current Specialty Coffee Association framework is broader. Its Coffee Value Assessment records physical, descriptive, affective and extrinsic information rather than treating one total score as the complete definition of value. That makes a bag score useful context, but not a universal consumer ranking.
A positive professional signal
It suggests the coffee was assessed favourably under a stated or implied cupping system. It does not tell you whether you will prefer its acidity, processing style or roast.
Method and timing matter
A score is more meaningful when the evaluator, protocol, sample and date are clear. Tiny differences such as 86 versus 87 should not outweigh flavour preference.
When was the coffee harvested?
A label such as “2025/26 crop” tells you when the coffee cherries were harvested, not when the beans were roasted. It can improve traceability and indicate that the roaster is paying attention to the green coffee’s history.
It is not a simple expiry clock. Harvest seasons differ between countries, some crops span two calendar years, and green-coffee quality depends heavily on drying, packaging and storage. A recent crop is reassuring information, but an older harvest is not automatically poor and a current harvest is not automatically excellent.
Bean size, moisture and other trade information
Green-bean size
Screen numbers describe sorting by bean dimensions, traditionally in sixty-fourths of an inch. Bigger beans are not automatically better-tasting beans.
Green-coffee condition
Moisture is important to green buyers and roasters because it affects storage and roasting. It rarely changes how a home user should brew the roasted coffee.
Traceability reference
A lot number becomes useful when it connects the bag to a producer, farm, process or harvest. On its own it is an identifier rather than a quality score.
Suggested brew recipe
Dose, water and temperature numbers are a starting point for that coffee. Adjust grind and recipe to your brewer and taste rather than treating them as pass-or-fail rules.
Packaging detail
A valve allows gas to escape without leaving the bag permanently open. It supports storage but does not replace a good seal or careful handling.
Retail durability
Useful for stock control and shelf life, but much less precise than a roast date when you want to understand flavour age.
The key takeaway
For a first purchase, focus on three things: roast date, roast style and bag size. Those numbers tell you more about whether the coffee suits your routine than a long list of specialist data. Use altitude, harvest year and scores later when you want to compare coffees in greater depth.
Screen size, moisture and lot data can demonstrate traceability, but they do not need to drive a home buying decision. The best label is not the one with the most numbers—it is the one that clearly explains what the coffee is, when it was roasted and how it is likely to suit your taste and brew method.
Frequently asked questions
How fresh should coffee beans be when I buy them?
There is no universal ideal age. A roast date lets you make an informed choice, but the useful window varies with roast level, packaging, storage and brew method. Espresso beans may benefit from resting after roasting, so the newest bag is not always the easiest to use.
Is an 85 coffee score good?
Under the traditional 100-point cupping convention, 85 would normally be considered a strong score. Treat it as professional context rather than a guarantee that you will prefer the coffee, and remember that the current SCA approach assesses value through more than one total number.
Does higher altitude always mean better coffee?
No. Altitude can influence climate and bean development, but quality also depends on variety, local temperature, shade, processing, storage and roasting. It is most informative when interpreted within a specific origin.
What does screen 18 mean?
It is a green-coffee size classification. The traditional convention relates the screen number to sixty-fourths of an inch, although exact sorting practice can vary. It does not mean the coffee scored 18 or that larger beans must taste better.
How many double espressos are in a 250g bag?
At an 18g dose, the mathematical maximum is about 13.9 doses. In practice, allow for a little coffee used while adjusting the grinder and for grounds retained in the equipment.
Should I avoid coffee without a roast date?
Not automatically. A roast date provides better transparency, but packaging and distribution models differ. Decide whether the available information, retailer turnover and flavour style justify the purchase rather than assuming every undated bag is stale.
Coffee Cheat Sheets
Guidance based on current Specialty Coffee Association material on coffee freshness, roast colour, coffee standards and the Coffee Value Assessment, together with peer-reviewed research on growing altitude, as of August 2026. Coffee labels and scoring systems vary by roaster and market.