title_body: Coffee Expired before its mentioned date?
upvoted_answer: I am afraid that there are two misconceptions
  
  One, what you have in the jar are not coffee beans, it’s freeze-dried prepared coffee. Think of it as the coffee equivalent of bullion cubes.
  
  Two, the date on the container is almost certainly not an “expiry date” (Microbes don’t use calendars), but a “best before” date, which is fundamentally different.   
  
  
  Some foods have a “use by” date, after which the food is no longer “safe”’by food safety standards. Minced meat (aka hamburger) is a classic example. 
  Instant coffee doesn’t fall into the same category of very easily spoiling food, hence the “best before”, which is a recommendation given by the manufacturer to ensure that the product is in optimal condition. After that, the quality may be somewhat decreased, but the product is usually not “unsafe”. Other examples are pasta (keeps for years if stored properly) or beans (may take longer to soften after some time, but are perfectly fine to use still).
  
  
  The lumps you see in your jar are caused by moisture, which made some of the granules sticky. Maybe you left it open or used a damp spoon to scoop out some instant coffee? Try to break it up gently. If there’s only very little humidity, this should be fairly easy and could already solve the issue. If not, just use the lump(s) as you would the finer granules, they will dissolve in hot water without a problem. I suggest you are a bit more careful about keeping your powder dry when handling the jar in the future.