English Reference

Word

roast date

Phoneticsroast·date

US/roʊst deɪt/

UK/rəʊst deɪt/

Definition

compound. the specific day when coffee beans were cooked or roasted, which helps a person know how fresh the coffee is for drinking

compound. the chronological marker indicating when green coffee underwent the roasting process, serving as the primary indicator for assessing peak flavor potential and chemical degasification.

Examples

“Always check the roast date on the bag before you buy it.”

“Many specialty cafes refuse to serve espresso if the roast date is more than a month old.”

“While the roast date provides a baseline for freshness, the optimal window for consumption varies significantly between light-roast filter coffees and darker espresso blends.”

Examples

simple

“Always check the roast date on the bag before you buy it.”

contextual

“Many specialty cafes refuse to serve espresso if the roast date is more than a month old.”

complex

“While the roast date provides a baseline for freshness, the optimal window for consumption varies significantly between light-roast filter coffees and darker espresso blends.”

Real-World Examples

“A roast date is simply the exact calendar day the green coffee beans were roasted.”
Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters · 10 Sept 2026
“The roast date is the one piece of information that places a bag on the clock.”
day9.coffee · 9 Jun 2026

Etymology

A compound noun combining the Middle English 'rosten' (to grill or cook) and the Latin 'data' (given point in time), gaining prominence in the late 20th-century specialty coffee movement.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
B1 · Intermediate
Updated

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English Reference