> Most higher grade coffee sits on shelves for months before purchase That's not higher grade coffee, that's cheap coffee with marketing behind it. Not the same thing. Higher grade coffee on the shelf at least has the roast date on it so you can tell if it's gone to shit or not. Freshly roasted coffee is actually pretty good for the first couple of weeks as long as it's stored in an oxygen-free package. Cheap coffee hides the roast date from you because they're far more interested in catering to the warehousing desires of retailers than they are in getting you good coffee.