coffee-for-less-blog
When it comes to anything we eat or drink, most of us are mindful of expiration dates. If something has an expiration date or a best-if-used-by date, we typically want to try to adhere pretty closely to those dates. We might not mind having something that is a few days or a week past the use-by date, but if we’re talking about months, then most of us figure that product is a lost cause.
But what about Keurig K-Cups? Do K-Cup coffee pods expire? Do they actually go “bad” after the expiration date? Read on to discover the truth about expiration dates and K-Cup coffee pods.
Do Keurig K-Cups Expire?
Before asking the question of whether or not K-Cups expire, let’s address the obvious. Do K-Cups have an expiration date? If you are an average K-Cup user, there is a good chance you have never noticed whether they do or not. The answer is that they do have a date, but this is actually a “best used by date” rather than an expiration date.
The date can be surprisingly hard to find, however. If you really want to know the best used by date of your K-Cup, just check the side of the cup. It’s a small impression on the side, but it’s there. You may want to hold it under a bright light and/or a magnifying glass to see it clearly. You can also find it on the bottom of the box the pods came in.
How Long Are K-Cups Good For?
So, the next question is, what do these dates actually mean? Do the K-Cups “go bad” after this date? Are they undrinkable? Can they hurt you?
The truth is, as long as the integrity of the seal and packaging of the pod are intact, these pods generally won’t go bad for at least eight months to a year, no matter what the date on the package says.
K-Cup Pods are flushed with nitrogen and sealed tightly against oxygen, light, and moisture. They are specifically designed to preserve the product for a very long time.
So, What Does the Best Used By Date Mean?
While this date is probably just a rough estimate, it is the date before which you can be assured that your coffee will taste as fresh as possible. That does not mean that after that date, your coffee will not still taste fresh.
You may not notice a difference even after the pod has been sitting in your pantry for months. When it comes to how long K-cups last, it usually comes down to your own personal taste. You will not get sick just from drinking a K-cup that’s a few months past the expiration date.
However, you may want to make note of the date just in case you feel there has been a decline in taste. If you taste a noticeable difference, you have probably exceeded your personal threshold for how far beyond the date you want to keep your coffee pod.
What Does All of This Expiration-Date Business Mean?
The most important thing to take away from the fact that K-Cups do not expire is that there are few if any disadvantages to buying K-Cups in bulk. In fact, there are many advantages.
For starters, you can get a much lower price than you would when buying individual boxes of K-Cup Coffee pods, and you can be sure that you will almost always have a pod handy when you need it. To buy quality coffee pods in bulk right now, contact CoffeeForLess.com.
So the ? Is, how much advance is the expiration date when you ship out boxes? If only a few months it’s likely to buy only a box of 24 or 48 pods. If 6 months or more I would buy the 96 count. In the past I bought 96 of two types and upon expiration they were ok, 3 months later not tasty, in fact a rancid taste. It’s all about the expiration date upon purchase and the amount consumed in that time period.