According to every coffee expert, storing coffee for freshness is key, and coffee beans should be ground immediately before brewing, because oxidation diminishes flavor and aroma in ground coffee over time.
If coffee beans is not your choice, you can buy pre-ground coffee, but oxidation process increases at a higher rate after the coffee beans are ground by the roaster.
It’s not the best choice, but it’s OK to store coffee beans in the bag that they came in. If you use that bag you should always squeeze out excess air from the bag before re-sealing the bag for storage, you may not be able to squeeze all the air out of the bag.
Oxygen can cause coffee beans to become brittle and lose their flavor and intensity. Ground coffee should be used and brewed at a much faster pace after the bag is opened. It just oxidizes much faster after its ground.
To ensure that your cup of coffee has the best aroma and freshness, you should store your coffee correctly. Otherwise, the price of a 20 dollars’ premium gourmet coffee bag is not enough to create a great cup of Joe.
Adequately stored fresh coffee will prolong the flavor and yield a flavorful cup of coffee over a longer time.
After every use, ensure that you have a tight seal for any bag or container being used. If you are looking for something more, an airtight container that can flush out the air using a vacuum pump is a much better option to keep beans or ground coffee, fresh.
Better coffee storage practice is to keep your beans or ground coffee, out of direct sunlight and heat. You can keep your coffee fresh for a month or longer if you improve the coffee storage practices.
What Influences Coffee Freshness
Light and oxygen are two of the essential things for our planet and our lives. It works opposite for coffee if you want freshness, flavor, and great aroma in each cup.
The principles that baristas across the globe used to store coffees are crucial to remember.
- Avoid direct sunlight.
- Limit shelving coffee for more than thirty days.
- Limit the temperature variations where the coffee is shelved.
- Always cover the coffee container, or the bag with a tight seal immediately after removing some of the coffee.
Pre-Ground vs. Whole Beans
Pre-ground coffee will lose its natural flavor as it sits in a warehouse, or grocery shelves for weeks, maybe months, or possibly even years. You also can’t control the grind size to make different coffee specialties if someone else is doing it before they pack it.
Freshly ground coffee will always taste better than pre-ground coffee. It is essential to grind the whole beans before you brew. Over time, coffee oils that make it delicious and rich in aroma will begin to decrease in quality.
Because you can control the grind size and add more flavor and aroma to your cup, I recommend the whole bean.
How to Keep Brewed Coffee Fresh
Other experts suggest keeping your coffee warm in a thermal double wall tumbler, especially if you are brewing several cups of coffee (preserves the flavor and the heat all day).
You can ensure your coffee tastes fresh and hot in many ways, no matter if you’re looking for the best way for coffee to stay hot while in transit.
How about cold-brew?
Cold-brew can be shelved for up 14 days for freshness, so long there is a lid with a tight seal on a container to protect against extracting surrounding odors or flavors.
The Best Ways to Keep Coffee Fresh and Safely Store It
These tips will keep your coffee hot and firm no matter what kind of coffee you are using:
1. Use the freezer for long-term storage
If you thought freshly-roasted coffee would last forever, that’s not the case. If your coffee becomes stale you can still use it for Cold Brew.
You only need two things to freeze coffee. First, make sure to place the coffee in an airtight container. Second, there should be as little air as possible in the container.
To keep the bags at a constant temperature and humidity as the rest of your home, keep them in the fridge.
If you have beans that you will not use within the next two to three weeks, you can freeze them in a tightly sealed container.
You will notice that coffee will taste better if kept open in the freezer.
The Process to remove coffee from Fridge:
-Remove enough coffee for brewing from the fridge
-Let the coffee thaw out,
-Immediately place the rest back in the fridge. If you don’t, the repeated temperature changes will result in a loss of flavor.
-Brew your coffee immediately after it thaws out (15 min)
2. Use Containers with airtight, lightproof properties
More coffee lovers understand that its critical to use a container that is light-proof as well as airtight. This type of canister will keep the oxygen out and stop the coffee from getting stale when exposed to light.
Plastic bags (short-term, not best choice), mason jars, and recycled bottles are all readily available. Most containers won’t let air get into your coffee. However, if you use any of them if you must keep them in a dark cabinet or pantry.
3. Use the Retailer’s Coffee Bag
It is essential to seal the bag tightly after each use. Also, it’s critical to remove as much air from the bag as possible and then close its opening tight.
4. Take Control of the Temperature
Some coffee storage space in a home may not be always a good storage spot.
For example, at my house, there are two cabinets above my coffee machine which keeps the cabinet warm, and two others are next to my microwave, and they get warm from the machine being on, or used during the day.
So we need to find the right spot.
How to Store Extra Coffee Grounds or Beans
You can store coffee for longer than a month if it’s kept sealed in a dark, dry location like a cabinet or fridge.
That will preserve the rich flavor of coffee for many months rather than keeping it on a countertop. Important advice for fridge storage, pull the coffee out of the freezer and allow it to thaw thoroughly.
It’ll help if you don’t keep any grounds or beans that you plan to use every single day in the refrigerator or freezer.
Let’s assume you bought more coffee beans than you are likely to use in one month. What is the most acceptable way to store them? That depends on how much time they’ll be left sitting around before being used.
Whole Beans Vs. Ground Coffee
Transparency is the key to great coffee roasters providing as much information on farms and roasting sites as possible. It is essential to ensure your coffee is roasted within a reasonable distance of your residence or travel or is shipped overnight to your home.
If your coffee bag doesn’t provide such information, it might not be as fresh because we may not know the warehousing, and store/roaster shelving time. Roasted coffee is vulnerable and needs to be sealed and delivered promptly.
Coffee is fragile; placing it uncovered in the fridge, will absorb all the odors from the foods in the fridge the same way if you place Baking Soda to absorb and attract all the odors. The same principle applies when storing ground coffee in the refrigerator. Also, a higher humidity environment will cause coffee to lose its flavor and taste even faster.
Do you need to refrigerate or freeze your coffee?
One myth persisting is that keeping coffee in the freezer keeps it fresher longer. Many bags don’t seal well, so keeping them in the freezer for long-term purposes is a good idea.
If you store coffee in a tightly sealed container, you can store it in the refrigerator, or the freezer.
You can ensure your coffee stays fresh in various ways.
You must know what to look out for in a bag.
The roast date printed on the bag of coffee should not be more than two weeks. Otherwise, the coffee will start to lose its natural flavor. Your brewed coffee may taste like cardboard if it’s much older than that. If I check a bag and don’t find any date, I will put the coffee back on the shelf.
If you regularly drink different types of coffee, it’s still important to face the music. As more than one type will invariably mix in your grinder, it is harder to fine-tune the grind sizes unless you have a high-end grinder.
If I’m in the market for coffee I will not purchase whole beans from open barrels at a local grocery, or coffee shop. The beans are likely to have been exposed for a while to humidity, oxygen and may be contaminated by people sticking their hands in them.
The Takeaway
You should only purchase as much coffee as you or your family can drink in a week or two. Do not buy bulk coffee. It can only cause the coffee to lose its taste and flavor during long storage.
How long can it last?
It depends on the way it is packed and stored. The bag is made of paper and has a thin lining, and it might be suitable for one week max.
While fresh coffee’s shelf life may be short, properly stored coffee can keep its freshness for much longer.
Final Thoughts
Look at the roasting dates. Put the beans in an opaque container. Keep it out of direct sunlight. It’s that simple! Your coffee will taste better if you base your coffee storage habits on those principles. Remember coffee Beans Worst Enemies:
A.) Air
B.) Moisture
C.) Light
D.) Heat
For the freshest coffee brew, I recommend coffee canisters that covers all the bullets above for short and long term coffee storage.
If you have any comments, please leave them below, I’d love to hear from you. If you’re a coffee lover and a dog lover check these pet supplements.