Is green coffee seasonal? I don't believe it. This is one of my biggest pet peaves right now. I believe that coffee fruit is seasonal, but once it has been fermented, washed/dried, rested (at least 30 days), and hulled (let alone shipped) that it is something else entirely. Now let me get this straight, I FULLY BELIEVE THAT GREEN COFFEE HAS A TRANSIENT FRESHNESS, or window when it is at its best, but when it has been properly processed, handled, and stored, this window can be even up to a year in some cases. In full disclosure, I work for an outfit that vac-packs green coffee and ships and stores in Grain-Pro bags. This is in no way an effort to make this coffee last forever, but to protect it against the scourge of premature aging that runs rampant in this industry. Coffee still ages in a vac-pack, but it at least has a fighting chance.
Even a coffee that has just arrived in port (I feel like Arrival is a better "marketing" word for coffee as it at least tells a little of the story of coffee past harvesting as opposed to using "seasonal" which is an attempt to align our product with fruit and other produce), um, as I was saying, even a coffee that has just arrived in port and is transported across the country crossing through multiple different climactic extremes and then stored improperly it can start showing age in the cup in a relatively short amount of time.
A lot of people that I have this debate with always say "But, isn't it a good thing to help customers understand that coffee changes?". I honestly think that using Seasonality does NOT help consumers to understand how a coffee changes; instead it is a buzz word that confuses the customer and does not fully explain why a particular coffee is good or not good at the moment. And frankly what makes even more hoopla, is the fact that the season of any particular coffee ends whenever it is that whoever is selling it says that it's no longer in season.
Anyway, let's discuss this. Seasonality: harmless, or more harm than good?