How long do opened beverages last?

Reviewed by the MyListResort team · Data from the USDA FoodKeeper · Updated July 30, 2026

Once a drink is opened its shelf life is measured in days, not weeks, and refrigeration is doing all the work. Juices and dairy-style beverages spoil quickly; the tell is often fermentation, where the drink starts to fizz or smells of alcohol.

What are common spoilage signs for beverages?

• Fizzing, bubbling or a pressurized container, or a yeasty, alcoholic smell, which all point to fermentation.
• A sour or off smell, or cloudiness and sediment in something that was clear.
• Any mold at the neck or under the cap.
• In dry drinks: a stale, flat or musty aroma, or powder that has clumped hard from damp. These fade in quality long before they become unsafe.

Storing beverages

• Refrigerate promptly after opening and keep the cap sealed between pours.
• Store on a cold shelf, not the door, which is the warmest part of the fridge.
• Do not drink straight from the bottle if you want to keep it; backwash speeds spoilage.
• Keep coffee, tea and drink powders airtight in a cool, dark cupboard, away from the kettle and the stovetop. Air, light and damp are what flatten them, not time alone.
• Store wine and spirits upright and cool, out of sunlight. An opened bottle of wine oxidizes within days; a sealed spirit is stable for years.
• Sealed bottles, cans and cartons keep in a cool cupboard for the window above. Once opened they are a fridge item like any other drink, so cap them and finish them within a few days.
• Keep frozen juice concentrate solidly frozen until you mix it, then treat the made-up juice as fresh juice and refrigerate it.

Beverages shelf life, food by food

Tap a food for its once-opened window, full shelf-life table and storage tips.

• Apple cider, fresh
• Apple juice, fresh squeezed
• Carrot juice, fresh squeezed
• Coconut water
• Coffee
• Coffee, commercial ground, non-vacuum
• Coffee, home ground, non-vacuum
• Coffee, instant
• Coffee, whole beans
• Cream liquors, unopened
• Diet powder mixes and drink mixes
• Fruit Juice in cartons, fruit drinks, punch
• Hard liquors
• Juice, boxes
• Lemon juice
• Lemon juice, fresh squeezed
• Lime juice
• Nectar, papaya, mango, guava, or guavabana
• Nutrition supplement drinks, canned
• Orange juice, commercially frozen concentrate
• Orange juice, commercially packaged carton
• Orange juice, freshly squeezed
• Red wine
• Soda, carbonated cola drinks, mixers, diet sodas; bottles or cans
• Soy or rice beverage
• Tea, bags
• Tea, instant
• Tea, loose
• Vegetable juice, commercial, sold refrigerated
• Vegetable juice, homemade
• Vegetable juice, shelf-stable
• Water, commercially bottled
• White wine
• Yuzu juice
• Yuzu, fruit, fresh

Shelf-life windows come from the USDA FoodKeeper, published by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (public domain); we vendor the FSIS FoodKeeper dataset and refresh it in place. These are quality estimates, not food-safety determinations or guarantees: actual condition depends on storage and handling, and harmful bacteria may not have obvious signs. Follow package and official guidance; when in doubt, throw it out. See our food safety notice and terms.