How and where you store you freshly purchased coffee beans has a huge impact on how long it will stay fresh for. Get it wrong, and you can make your beans go stale within a week!
We want you to get the absolute most out of your coffee, so below are some classic mistakes to avoid when storing coffee to maximise freshness...
Mistake #1: Storing in a glass/see-through jar
The light and increased temperature inside the jar will lead to very rapid oxidation of the beans, leaving you with stale coffee beans in no time.
Mistake #2: Storing in the fridge
Coffee beans are excellent odour absorbers, so all those smells in your fridge (eg. last nights curry or a cut onion) will end up in your coffee - not quite the flavour infusion anyone wants in the morning! Also due to the low fridge temperature, when you take your coffee beans out of the fridge, the warmer kitchen air will lead to condensation forming on your beans, resulting in rapidly developing off-flavours and staleness...
Mistake #3: Storing in the freezer
Using your freezer as a daily storage area also results in condensation forming when the bag of beans switches between cold and room-temperatures. Freezing beans on a one time basis, (eg. if you are going away for a month and just bought a bag of fresh coffee that you can't use) is okay to extend their shelf-life. However, to prevent condensation it is important not to open the bag of beans until they are at room temperature.
Mistake #4: Storing in the grinder's hopper
Nice and convenient but again the light and heat will result in stale coffee beans very quickly.
Mistake #5: Pre-grinding all the beans in one go
Grinding coffee beans increase the surface area that is exposed to light, heat and oxygen. Increased exposure to these elements speeds up that rate of oxidation and development of stale flavours.
Mistake #6: Buying too much coffee at once
Even stored under opimal conditions, coffee will eventually go stale. Why drink stale coffee that you bought one month ago when you can drink fresh coffee you bought last week?
What we recommend...
Light, oxygen, and heat are your worst enemy when it comes to storing coffee beans... all of these lead to oxidation of the compounds in the coffee bean, giving you stale flavours. In old or oxidised/stale coffee all the natural health promoting antioxidants have been used up, leaving you with a beverage that tastes unpleasant and you won't gain these desired health benefits from. Fresh is best!
Store in an air tight and light proof container in a cupboard where the temperature is constant - room temperature is best.
If you don't have an air-tight container, store the beans in the bag it came in - roll down the top to remove as much air as possible and seal with a clip or peg.
Grind on demand - grind only enough coffee for your brew. Leave the rest in your storage container. Due to its' increased surface area ground coffee stales very quickly. This is especially true for the very fine espresso grinds.
Only buy what you need for the week (or at most fortnight).
