You’ve got a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans and you want to make sure you can enjoy the fresh-roasted coffee experience for as long as possible.
The author is asking how you can prevent something from becoming old and stale.
Coffee beans are perishable
Coffee beans are a natural product, like ripe fruit or freshly baked bread. And like all natural products – not processed foods – coffee beans have a shelf life.
The shelf life of coffee is only about a month. However, if you are not careful, you can reduce that shelf life by half or more.
The four horsemen of the coffee apocalypse
Oxygen, heat, light, and moisture are typically referred to as the Four Horsemen of the Coffee Apocalypse.
The biggest danger to your beans is oxygen. Once you break the vacuum seal, oxygen starts to come in and destroy the beans’ aroma.
Heat speeds up chemical reactions that destroy coffee. For example, oxidation happens twice as quickly for every 10 degree increase in temperature. This means that storing beans in a hot place like the stove or coffee maker will shorten their lifespan.
Light deteriorates the delicate flavors and aromas in coffee. Therefore, it’s not the best idea to store coffee in a place where it is exposed to light, like a glass jar on a high shelf.
The final danger of moisture is that it not only introduces the possibility of mold and mildew, but it also introduces “off” aromas and can transport smells from other parts of the kitchen.
3 ways to keep your coffee beans fresh: 1. Store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. 2. Buy only what you need and use it within a few weeks. 3. Freeze any leftover beans in a tightly sealed bag. Bonus tip: If you’re traveling with whole beans, keep them in a metal or glass container to protect them from radiation.
Bargain storage: The coffee bag
Supermarkets and Amazon.com sell coffee in opaque bags with a one-way valve.
This storage system is designed to keep roasted coffee fresh by preventing oxidation with an airtight seal and one-way valve that lets carbon dioxide escape.
Store your coffee in an airtight container. Remove as much air as possible from the container before sealing it.
Place the bag in a cool, dry place – not the refrigerator. If you store it in the refrigerator, moisture will condense around the grounds when you open the bag, and off aromas will permeate it.
The Colombian Caturra coffee beans are not as popular as beans that are vacuum-sealed in a ceramic canister because the Caturra beans can smell like old salad greens.
Best storage: A coffee container
The only requirement for coffee storage from the National Coffee Association USA is an air-tight, opaque container.
There are specialty coffee canisters available that are quite good.
While all betters than storing coffee in plastic bags, the best coffee storage containers can keep coffee fresh for up to a month.
Finding the best coffee container doesn’t have to be hard. This guide discusses the details of seven different storage containers, so that you can make an informed decision. We even have a favorite.
This coffee canister from Coffee Gator is the best way to keep your beans fresh. It is designed to release carbon dioxide and minimize oxidation, so your beans will stay fresh longer.
Storing ground coffee
This is the most desperation you can have when storing coffee, but sometimes you have no other options. If you’re traveling to a place where there’s no good coffee, or your coffee grinder doesn’t get fine enough for your espresso maker, sometimes you have to resort to having your beans ground at the store. Even the best of us have to do this occasionally.
It is just as important to protect ground coffee from air, light, heat, and moisture as it is to protect whole beans.
The best way to store your coffee is to buy only enough for a week and keep it in a container that is just for coffee. If you are going to be traveling, grind the amount of coffee you think you will need, put the grounds in a Ziploc bag, and press all the air out before you seal it.
Place the coffee in your luggage where it will not be exposed to heat, light, or moisture. This is sufficient for a short trip, but if you are traveling for a longer period of time, buy fresh coffee when you arrive at your destination.
Can you freeze coffee beans
Do you ever think about whether you should keep your coffee beans in the freezer? If you do, you’re not the only one.
We’ve all heard the familiar conflicting statements:
- “You shouldn’t freeze your specialty coffee beans because it degrades the quality.”
- “You should freeze your coffee beans to keep them fresher and maintain the flavor longer.”
- “You shouldn’t freeze your coffee beans because they will absorb moisture and the odors of other foods in the freezer.”
- “You should freeze your coffee beans because frozen beans produce a more uniform grind.”
What is a coffee lover to do?
There are benefits to freezing your beans, but there are ways to do it to preserve flavor and quality.
If you’re looking to store your beans in the freezer, be very careful not to open the container while it’s in there.
Do not open your coffee beans while they are still frozen as this will cause condensation which will lead to a bad aroma.
If you purchase a bulk amount of beans, the freezer can be a good way to store them.
You should store your coffee beans in individual airtight containers, each holding a month’s worth of coffee. Write the date on the container so you know when you stored the beans, and leave them frozen until you need more coffee.
Divide a large amount of coffee into smaller portions and freeze the portions in airtight bags.
Don’t forget to let your coffee beans thaw before you open the bag! Coming up to room temperature will prevent condensation, which can lead to mold and mildew.
Why store coffee in the freezer
Volatile flavor molecules are lost during storage, resulting in a weaker coffee aroma.
Furthermore, researchers have discovered that coffee that is fresh tastes less bitter than coffee that has been stored, no matter what temperature it was stored at. The reason for this is that some of the molecules present in coffee that make it bitter and astringent, like phenolic acids, may react while the coffee is being stored and create even more bitter molecules.
Therefore, we often have to accept that the coffee we are drinking is not as fresh as it could be. The best time to brew specialty coffee is a few days after roasting to maximize flavor and quality. However, it is not always possible to buy freshly roasted coffee in small batches that can be consumed quickly. Therefore, we often have to accept that the coffee we are drinking is not as fresh as it could be.
If you’ve bought more coffee than you can drink in a short amount of time, the best way to preserve it is by freezing it.
Roasting coffee beans decreases the amount of moisture present. Without water to form ice, the coffee is cooled without freezing and the beans retain their structure.
Freezing coffee ____.
The grind size of coffee beans can be more uniform if the beans are ground while frozen. It is not yet known how this affects flavor.
There is a right way to freeze your coffee beans, and many common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid.
How to freeze coffee beans
Use an airtight container
Putting coffee in the freezer in the bag it came in is not a good idea, because the bag is not airtight and coffee is hygroscopic, meaning it readily absorbs moisture from the air.
Airtight storage containers or bags that are vacuum sealed will prevent moisture, oxygen, and odors from other freezer foods from coming in contact with your coffee beans and causing degradation or producing undesirable flavors.
Airtight containers are the best way to store coffee if you don’t want it to absorb the flavor of other food in your freezer.
Freeze in small batches
If you are freezing a large amount of coffee, it is best to use multiple airtight containers. A container cannot be truly airtight if it is opened and closed several times.
Defrost before opening
If you open the container immediately after removing it from the freezer, the moisture will condense on your beans. Allow the beans to defrost or thaw before opening.
If you want your frozen food to be thawed and ready to go in the morning, a good way to do it is to let it defrost overnight.
Consider your roast level
While there is not a large amount of scientific evidence on the effects of freezing coffee of different roast levels, a study from 2018 found that coffee beans that are roasted darker degrade more quickly at room temperature in comparison to coffee beans that are roasted lighter.
This means that dark roast coffee has more volatile molecules, which contribute to the coffee’s aroma and flavor.
The aromatic molecules that contribute to flavor are lost more quickly in light roast coffees than dark roast coffees, but the difference is less pronounced when the coffees are frozen.
If you usually drink coffee that has been roasted for a long time, remember that it might be a good idea to keep it in the freezer. Darker roasted coffee beans can go bad more quickly than coffee that hasn’t been roasted for as long if they’re just stored at room temperature.
How long can you freeze coffee beans
Although you can still drink coffee that’s been frozen for a long time, it won’t taste as good as coffee that’s fresh.
Can you freeze ground coffee
Whole beans take up less space in your freezer, meaning you can store more coffee at once. They also defrost more quickly than grounds, so if you forgot to take your coffee out of the freezer the night before, whole beans will be ready faster. If space in your freezer is limited, it is better to freeze whole beans rather than coffee grounds. Whole beans thaw more quickly than grounds, so if you forget to take your coffee out of the freezer the night before, it will be ready faster.
When you grind coffee beans, it creates many small pieces. This in turn generates more surface area for many of the small aromatic flavor molecules to be released.
This text is discussing how a increased surface area on coffee grounds can result in exposure to elements which may produce undesirable flavors.
Storing coffee beans in the freezer will slow down the degradation process, whether you store whole or ground beans.
Here are some suggestions to make your frozen specialty coffee taste even better.
Although it may not be possible to always have multiple airtight containers or to freeze whole beans instead of ground beans, there are still some ways you can follow to enjoy great defrosted coffee at home. By following at least some of these tips, you will be able to have great tasting coffee in no time (or rather, in a month or two).