Do you know the biggest mistake you can make with whole bean coffee? The answer is simpler than you think: investing in the best coffee beans available, only to wreck their quality by storing them improperly. Any seasoned coffee lover will tell you that a good cup of coffee starts and ends with the appropriate coffee beans you can purchase.
While it’s not practical to buy coffee beans one cup at a time, this is why you need to think about how you’re storing your coffee beans. How you store your coffee beans plays a vital role in how your coffee will taste. Please go through our post on how to store coffee beans correctly for enhanced flavor and freshness.
Keep Them Dark and Cool
Coffee beans are all about freshness. However, some factors will deal with you and your coffee beans a nasty blow – heat, light, and moisture. If you expose your beans to any of these three elements, they will deteriorate in quality and flavor. If you prefer buying monthly coffee to weekly, ensure your beans aren’t affected directly by those three elements. We advise storing your beans in an airtight container at room temperature. If you are consuming your coffee beans over a few days or weeks, you can expect them to remain fresh. You should avoid using white glass jars. While this looks appealing, too much light penetrating your coffee beans can compromise their quality.
Avoid the Freezer or Refrigerator
Leaving your coffee beans in the refrigerator causes them to absorb the flavors and odors around them. Also, moving your beans from the kitchen counter to a colder place is terrible for your beans because they will quickly absorb moisture. This is because variation in temperatures in the freezer creates condensation in the storage container. In return, this exposes your beans to moisture and humidity. This moisture affects the flavor of your coffee, which is why we recommend avoiding this.
Go for an Opaque and Airtight Container
Once you have the appropriate spot for your beans, you need to find the perfect container. You have several options you can choose from, including ceramic jars, bags, non-volatile metal containers, and glass jars. We recommend using a bag. Your beans come with this bag with a one-way valve halfway down the bag. This type of bag allows you to close it up and squeeze out the air. Compared to moisture, air also impacts the marvelous flavor of your coffee beans. However, if your beans are not sealed in these unique bags, another good option is an opaque, airtight container that keeps moisture and air from your beans.
Shelves are Ideal
One of the great ways to store coffee beans fresh is to store them on a shelf in an airtight container. If you don’t have an appropriate container or a pantry shelf, close the top of the bag with a rubber band and store it in a resealable plastic bag. As we have mentioned, avoid freezing your coffee beans as much as possible. This can leave your morning cup of coffee with an unpleasant flavor and aroma. The cell structure of the coffee beans changes and this causes the oils to wear off. These oils are essential since they give your coffee it’s much-needed aroma and flavor.
Less is More
Coffee beans can last for many months on the shelf after they’re roasted. However, the downside is that it loses its freshness. Seasoned coffee connoisseurs say that roasted coffee starts losing its much-needed sparkle about 14 days after it’s roasted. This is why we recommend buying coffee that you can get through in between a 14-21-day stretch. Additionally, this timeline is ideal for someone who makes coffee every day. If you stock more coffee than you need, by the time you’re done with it, the coffee will start tasting differently than when you used it in the first place. Since coffee is a seasonal product, it will help if you buy it in smaller batches more regularly.
When Is the Right Time to Freeze?
While this seems to counteract what we’ve mentioned above, it can be useful if approached correctly. You can freeze your beans for up to 30 days, provided you don’t take them out during this period. If you have ample coffee, you can divide it into small portions then freeze the pieces in airtight bags. If you remove the beans, place them on a shelf to defrost.
We hope you now understand how to store your coffee. If you frequently take coffee, you should also know your caffeine limits. Health experts say coffee is a stimulant and a stressor to the body. Sometimes, drinking coffee too much can leave you tired and wired. Please pay attention to how much you’re consuming in a day and how it makes you feel.
