Want access to a month’s supply of coffee beans right in the comfort of your home?
Nothing can liven up your daily morning buzz or warm any cold, rainy afternoon better than a good cup of coffee.
All you need is a reliable coffee maker, grinder, and a jar filled with the beans of your favorite coffee variant.
How to store coffee beans? Preserve the quality and aroma of your coffee beans in an air tight opaque jar. They usually lose their value if you leave them in their original packaging. Keep the jar away from light and in a cool, dry area in your pantry. If you don’t have a way to grind your coffee beans, use the same procedure for keeping store-bought, freshly ground beans.
How long do coffee beans last in the bag once opened?
If you bought fresh roasted coffee beans in a sealed bag, they could keep their quality for two to three weeks starting from the date you open the bag.
Ground coffee loses its quality faster than whole, fresh roasted coffee beans.
What to Avoid When Storing Coffee Beans
Keep your coffee beans fresh by understanding the different factors that can stale them up quickly.
Heat
Number one on this list is any form of heat, which significantly increases and accelerates the chemical reactions happening within and around the coffee beans.
When you expose coffee beans to heat, carbon dioxide and internal compounds become more volatile and try to escape the beans.
These volatile compounds are what gives coffee its rich flavor and aroma.
Roasting
Roasting is one way of heating a bunch of coffee beans.
As the beans heat up while roasting, sugar and amino acid amounts decrease, and carbon dioxide is released.
Roasting is the most common way of preparing fresh coffee beans for consumption.
While it amplifies the taste and scent of coffee, it greatly reduces its shelf life.
Fresh coffee beans can keep their quality for longer periods than fresh roasted coffee beans.
Sunlight
Sunlight is another source of heat. Keeping your coffee beans in a clear glass container on your countertop under direct sunlight won’t do them any good.
Air
Next to heat, exposure to air can also affect chemical reactions in coffee beans.
Oxygen encourages a process called oxidation, which influences the loss of some aroma compounds and encourages the formation of unwanted flavors, such as rancidity.
Moisture
Coffee beans can absorb any amount of water or moisture that can also accelerate processes that allow the loss of volatile coffee compounds.
Whole coffee beans are hygroscopic, which means that they readily absorb any free moisture.
When the beans get too wet, they can get rancid, spoil, and grow some molds.
Grinding
Ground coffee beans have a wider surface area of exposure to air and moisture compared to whole beans.
For this reason, buying whole beans is better than pre-ground coffee.
Light
Aside from the heat factor that sunlight can put on coffee beans, lights can also have different UV radiation levels, which can oxidize and spoil surface oils on coffee beans.
Different Ways Store Coffee Beans
In addition to all the factors you should avoid, you can keep coffee fresh using the following appropriate storage techniques.
Container
Store-bought coffee beans come in bags that are not the best containers for keeping them fresh.
After opening a bag of coffee beans and taking the amount you need, transfer the rest to an opaque, air tight container.
With this kind of container, you can leave your coffee beans at room temperature.
If all you have are clear glass containers for your coffee, keep them in the dark to avoid light exposure.
A clean, dry cupboard away from any heat source is a good spot.
Fridge or Freezer
Since you should be avoiding warm temperatures when storing your beans, having the option to store in cold temperatures should be a plus.
Then again, since storing coffee in a place with a lot of moisture can ruin the batch, refrigerate or freeze coffee beans at your own risk.
The inside of a fridge or a freezer is a cool, dark place, but the wrong container and improper storage practices can make coffee beans prone to a lot of moisture.
Additionally, the fridge is a place where you can find a lot of other strong-smelling items.
Coffee beans are very porous in the sense that they take in moisture and absorb unwanted odors.
Freezing means exposing perishable goods to condensation and moisture.
Coffee beans can also get freezer burn when even the least amount of condensation occurs.
Without a vacuum sealed container, it is generally not advisable to freeze your coffee.
How long do coffee beans stay fresh?
Depending on the type of coffee, fresh beans can last around two or more years.
If you store your coffee beans fresh, they will still have their aroma after a long time but may not qualify for the rich taste you desire.
Your taste preferences can also help you decide whether some coffee beans have entirely lost their quality.
Freshly roasted coffee beans keep their quality and aroma between two and six months, depending on the type of coffee.
What is the best way to store coffee?
The best way to store your coffee is by preventing exposure to warm temperatures, air, and moisture.
Too much heat, oxygen, and water can stale up coffee by increasing the number of chemical reactions that remove the substances making up its flavor and aroma.
A vacuum sealed, air tight container can keep the aroma and quality of coffee beans intact for a very long time.
Conclusion
If you always want your coffee fresh, buy smaller amounts you can consume in a short period. Doing this will help you avoid having a collection of stale coffee at home.
You don’t have to throw your stale coffee, though, as they are perfect for making a cold brew, which still has the taste and aroma.
Alternatively, you might just be on the way to becoming a coffee aficionado, and you can’t resist buying different coffee blends for your collection.
Keep in mind that the perfect storage for coffee beans, fresh or roasted, are opaque, air tight containers in a dark cupboard away from any heat source.
So, don’t go flaunting your different coffee beans in clear glass jars on your sunlit countertop.
If you want something to display, use smaller containers to fill with beans you can consume in a few days.
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