How to Store Coffee

How To Store Coffee

There are many ways people store coffee in order to retain its freshness and flavor.

However, over the years, myths and facts have been confused and some make the mistake of storing coffee based on misconceptions.

We have listed the Do’s and Don’ts on how to store coffee order for coffee lovers to preserve the freshness and flavor of their precious Java beans.

How To Store Coffee – Tips:

Some make the mistake of storing coffee in the freezer, thinking that, like other perishable goods, freezing prolongs shelf-life. Coffee is porous and therefore may absorb the flavors of seafood or meat. Not very appealing. Moreover, coffee hates moisture. Freezers produce moisture and coffees absorb that too; moisture will hasten the deterioration of coffee and in addition, a deteriorating coffee will taste more like the other contents of your freezer. Freezing coffee will also break down its oils, by breaking down the oils that gives coffee its distinct flavor, and you will be left with a pot of brown barely coffee/fish/meat flavored water.
You can freeze coffee if for example you bought in bulk and you know you cannot consume all that coffee in two weeks. But once you take it out of the freezer, do not put it back. Once it thaws, the bean will absorb the water and putting it back will repeat the process. If you must freeze coffee, divide it in weekly portions. Remove excess air if you can; you can do this by sucking out the excess air with a straw. Wrap the freezer bags in plastic wrap.
Frozen coffee needs to be used within three months
Don’t ever refrigerate coffee. Refrigerating is the worst way on how to store coffee.
Buy whole coffee beans and you can keep them for longer and only grind immediately before brewing (click here to learn how to grind coffee).
Only vacuum seal pre-ground coffee. Of course this won’t taste as good as freshly ground but this helps to retain flavor. Only do this for pre-ground coffee as it has had time to sit around and release its carbon dioxide. Roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide and it continues to do so for day, if sealed, the gases these beans release will burst the bag.
Transfer pre-ground coffee in an airtight glass or ceramic container. Plastic and metal containers can spoil the flavor.
High quality or gourmet coffee retains flavors for longer, so it’s good to buy these kinds if you plan on buying in bulk. (Click here to see the top coffee brands)
In relation to the above suggestion, buying in bulk, however, is not advised. Oxidation happens immediately and coffee loses its flavors quickly after roasting and grinding. Buy only enough coffee to last you one or two weeks.

There are four things that coffee absolutely hates: Air, Moisture, Light and Heat; if you want to preserve the flavor of you coffee, store it in a cool dry place, away from light.
Air makes the beans stale, much like what it does to an open bag of potato chips.
Moisture hastens the deteriorating process of coffee, much like what it does to bread.
Coffee hates light, like air, light can make the coffee stale; store coffee in a dark place or in a dark opaque container. Keep it away from heat; strange as it may seem because coffee is made with hot water, but coffee loses it flavor if exposed to heat before it is brewed.

The principles on how to store coffee is very simple. Just remember that coffee hates MASH: Moisture, Air, Sunlight, Heat.

If you want to know the best way to brew your properly stored coffee, check out our DeLonghi EC155 review page.