Are fresh coffee beans important?

Are fresh coffee beans important?

I learned a very important lesson today about the importance of fresh coffee beans. With the holiday season in full swing, I was run off my feet and didnt restock my coffee beans at home, a few friends over for coffee and before you know it, I'm reaching for an old bag of emergency coffee beans. The emergency bag of coffee beans was for this very purpose, the moment when I would have less than perfectly fresh coffee beans rather than no coffee beans - a pretty smart decision on my part, or so I thought. 

A few minutes later, the beans were in the grinder, doing their thing landing in my portafilter ready for the magical extraction in my coffee machine at home. I knew and expected that not everything would be perfect with these older coffee beans, and after all, most mass produced coffee in Australia and supermarket coffee is usually 12 months old before it even reaches your pantry - how bad could it be? Truth is, it wasn't that bad, but it wasnt that good either. My coffee was flat and boring -definitely not exceptional. My friends and family have come to expect exceptional coffee from me and I felt a little embarrassed that the coffee king was letting them down. 

I have the luxury of being able to manufacture my own coffee beans at home while the factory is down for maintenance, so that's exactly what I did - life is too short for bad coffee! Don't make the same mistake I did, and don't accept boring stale coffee, ever!