How To Store Coffee - The Best Way For Storing Beans & Grounds

PRO TIP: the stainless steel cans that Illy Caffe uses for their ground espresso are a pretty good solution, and virtually free. We like the Coffee Gator Stainless Steel Coffee Grounds and Beans Container. Coffee is personal - the right way to make it is how you like it best. The best way to store ground coffee to keep it fresh longer is by also storing it in your freezer immediately after use. Coffee does degrade over time and degrades faster depending on the surface area - which means that whole beans will keep longer than ground coffee. You can freeze both ground coffee and whole beans, as long as you keep the coffee in an airtight container and don’t use the freezer as your only storage place.

How Do You Keep Coffee Beans Fresh

This will also help you make better coffee, depending on the brew method you use. If this happens, the coffee beans will begin to rot, and there won’t be much you can do about it. If you’re a homebrewer, check out this list of tips on storing coffee that make you feel like a professional barista. Storing coffee beans in the freezer should be a decision of last resort. Storing coffee in the freezer does not actually freeze the coffee, so it is always ready for use without any defrosting. Assuming you've followed the steps above, your coffee beans should now be perfectly stored and ready to use whenever you need them. No. Neither beans or ground coffee should be stored in the refrigerator because of moisture build-up inside the coffee container. When coffee berries are roasted, the sugars inside the berry caramelize.

How Long Do Coffee Beans Last In The Fridge

There are so many other variables involved. As we’ve seen, there are many factors that can cause coffee to lose its flavor and aroma. Dark metal tins are the ideal container used by many. Oxidation is the same thing that makes metal rust and the flesh of cut apples to go brown. Roasting the raw coffee seeds turns them into the decadent brown coffee bean we all see in coffee shops and grocery stores. All Starbucks stores can grind coffee to this specification. However, it’s ideal to buy whole beans and grind them yourself just before brewing for the best-tasting coffee. Rather than removing the package of frozen beans to grind your coffee daily, keep beans airtight in the freezer for long-term storage. Instant coffee, especially freeze dried since it is so dry, can keep fresh for extended amounts of time if vacuum sealed and kept away from moisture and heat.

If you prefer to buy ground coffee, consider investing in an airtight storage container with a vacuum sealing tool. From the moment you break the vacuum seal, oxygen starts creeping in to wreak havoc on your beans’ aroma. Meanwhile, you protect most of the beans from exposure to oxygen. If your roasted coffee beans are exposed to oxygen and are kept in an open container, they will lose their freshness in less than a week. In order to enjoy your favorite coffee, make sure you are keeping beans fresh or ground coffee fresh in a vacuum-sealed, airtight container. Keeping your beans protected doesn’t have to mean buying a new container. Consider buying smaller batches to avoid having to freeze it if at all possible.

Of course it’s about the beans - but simply buying the most expensive kind won’t do the trick. To make sure you get the best coffee flavor and aroma from each cup, it’s critical to be aware of where coffee flavor comes from and how it can best be preserved to the last bean. It’s not dangerous, but if the coffee isn’t allowed to outgas, the flavor will be impacted. In addition, experts with Specialty Coffee Advisor point out that your refrigerator isn’t really cold enough to protect the coffee structure. We’ve established that coffee can’t really go bad because there isn’t much water in the beans, to begin with. The degree to which coffee beans are roasted affects the caffeine level.

There are 40 different substances responsible for the taste and health properties of coffee. While coffee needs a certain amount of time after roasting to degas, the presence of oils on the surface may suggest that the beans have been left for too long and have started to lose their aromas and flavours. Grinding the coffee exposes more surface area to the air, so that it loses more of the volatile oils and chemicals that give it flavor. And the natural Ethiopian beans contribute the fruity character that makes this espresso blend more exciting than most. Some people have found that getting rid of the air dries the beans and draws out their natural oils thus ruining their flavor. More worryingly for those of us searching for the perfect cup of coffee, it found that two of those substances - metha nethiol and 2-methylpropanal - gave the most intense aroma and dissipated just two hours after roasting.

But you still want to make sure you’re going to get the best flavor out of your purchase.

You’ll get a more consistent coffee if you never freeze the beans. If you want to get a true sense of whether or not the coffee beans are still fresh, then you will want to go through a proper smell test. If they still smell fresh and like coffee, then you know that they are fine and ready to brew. But you still want to make sure you’re going to get the best flavor out of your purchase. When you’re ready to thaw them, leave them in the refrigerator to prevent moisture build-up as the beans warm. Any form of coffee stored in the freezer should be kept airtight and only removed and opened when you’re ready to thaw it and consume from that batch. When you pull it out, a little moisture will form on the beans while you take out what you need. After about 5 minutes, take another whiff of them.