The most common topic I’m asked is how should you store beans. Well, there is conflicting opinions and research out there about this, but I’ll give you an experiment to try and some basic principles in coffee storage. In Roast magazine this month, there is an experiment that was done storing coffee in different containers, and then storing that coffee in different places in the home. Group one is the freezer, group two is in the Fridge (Yikes!), and group three is in the cupboard. Now they varied the packaging using a foil bag with a one way valve, glass jar, plastic ware, and a kraft bag with a tin tie. Now, I believe most consumers just leave their coffee in whatever bag they purchase it in, which can be a mess. After 30 days of storage the experimenter cupped all the coffees. They ranked as follows: Freezer-Plastic ware, Freezer- Foil bag with valve, Freezer glass jar, cupboard foil bag with valve, and refrigerator- foil with valve. Now remember, none of these coffees tasted good compared to if they were consumed 3-10 days after roasting. It appears that the foil bag was the most consistent in storing the product, and the freezer slowed down the aging process. So, there you have it, which do think is the best? This might have changed my mind about all those people who store their coffee in the freezer, but I still always recommend to people to buy only enough coffee for one week, know the date it was roasted, and grind only what you need per cup. Remember, coffee is like a sponge, it picks up flavors, and ages quickly once it is ground. Hope that helps!
Try it….package your coffee in different ways and then cup it, and see how it tastes.
