An Expiration Date On Taste – Coffee Storage is Important to Flavor
What ends up in the cup is impacted by many things and one way to ruin a good cup of coffee is to store coffee improperly or for too long a duration.
When it comes to storage of green beans, there are some important points to remember. Boot Coffee Consulting and Training in California stores its green coffee in a warehouse in Oakland where the temperature is controlled properly.
“You want the right environment,” Jodi Dowell of Boot Coffee said. That is especially key for those who store multiple bags of green coffee. Boot Coffee has a client in Hawaii who keeps his coffee in California as well because California has a drier climate, which is better for the coffee.
A moist environment can lead to coffee that contains mildew or is too moist for the best use. The green coffee is stored in burlap sacks that are lined with cotton. “If it’s too wet outside it will help to retain that moisture,” Dowell said.
After roasting, it’s a whole new ballgame and it’s like having an hourglass counting down the freshness of the batch.
“It’s no good after a couple of weeks,” said Bridgewater State College Professor James Hayes-Bohanan, who teaches a course on the geography of coffee. “Oxygen and light are the enemies so you can try keeping it airtight and a freezer doesn’t help.”
Those who try to use the freezer to prolong their roasted coffee will end up having coffee with a hint of taste from their freezer contents, he said. For the best taste, Hayes-Bohanan uses a small desktop roaster and makes enough for about two days at a time so it is freshest when he drinks.
One mistake some people tend to make is to store their coffee beans in see-through containers. “Coffee beans are decorative and beautiful to look at but you will compromise the taste of your coffee if you store your beans in ornamental, glass canisters on your kitchen countertop,” the National Coffee Association of U.S.A. states on its Web site. “Doing so will cause them to become stale and your coffee will quickly lose its fresh flavor.” The Association recommends ceramic or glass containers that are air-tight and placing them in a dark, cool spot.
For the best coffee, coffee beans or commercial coffee grounds should be removed from the container they were purchased in because these are not conducive to long-term storage. When purchasing roasted coffee, the Association recommends only purchasing enough for up to two weeks of use because they lose their flavor quickly.