How-to: Optimal storage of coffee
How your coffee tastes depends on many factors such as quality, origin, roasting or preparation of the coffee. There are also a few things you should bear in mind when storing your coffee so that it doesn’t lose its flavor quickly after roasting.
Roasted coffee is a fresh product and loses its aroma over time. Contact with oxygen leads to oxidation of the oils, fats and waxes contained in the coffee, so that the coffee loses its aroma and can even taste rancid after some time.
Avoid the contact of coffee with its natural enemies: oxygen, moisture, heat and light.
It is therefore advisable to consume coffee quickly after opening. Once the coffee packaging has been opened, the loss of aroma can be prevented by optimal storage and the selection of the right coffee packaging. Here we reveal our tips!
Buy whole-bean coffee
Ground coffee quickly loses its aroma. Therefore, we recommend buying whole-bean coffee. This allows coffee to be stored more effectively and without any loss of flavor.
Don’t leave your coffee open for too long
Coffee may not go bad, but it can lose its aroma. Therefore, consume your coffee beans within 4 – 8 weeks after opening and pre-ground coffee within 4 weeks. Otherwise, most of the flavour will already have evaporated.
Grind your coffee fresh and ...
… only fill as much coffee into grinders or machines as you will use in the next few hours. If you are looking for a coffee grinder, take a look at our test.
Protect your coffee from its natural enemies
Coffee is not compatible with air, moisture, heat and light. Make sure that the packaging of your coffee is well sealed and stored in a dark, dry and cool place if possible. For example on the kitchen shelf, in a drawer or in the pantry – not in the fridge! Below you will find out why.
With our coffee canistercoffee canister you protect your coffee from an early loss of aroma. Thanks to a patented technique, the contact of the bean with oxygen is minimized, so you can store your coffee longer without worrying about a loss of taste.
It’s the packaging that counts!
The packaging of your coffee should have an aroma valve and indicate a roasting date. The valve allows gases from the coffee to escape without air getting into the package. The roasting date tells you how fresh your roasted coffee really is.
Why is an aroma valve important?
Coffee releases carbon dioxide (CO2) in the first few days after roasting, so coffee should be allowed to gas out a few days after roasting before it reaches you. The aroma valve on the package allows CO2 to escape, but no air from outside can get into the package.
Does coffee belong in the fridge?
We don’t think so. Coffee easily absorbs moisture and foreign flavors. And who wants coffee to taste like cheese or onion?
The freezer is really only suitable as a long-term storage method for coffee beans. The advantage of freezing is that oxidation is prevented, coffee oils freeze and volatile flavors do not escape. It is best to freeze the coffee beans in an airtight container and preferably in small quantities. The day before the beans are to be used, take the appropriate amount out of the freezer and defrost them in the closed state. In this way the beans are not directly exposed to the warm air in the room and do not condense on the surface. Therefore, coffee beans can be stored effectively over a long period of time.
But: Only freeze your beans if absolutely necessary. It is better to adapt your buying behavior and only buy coffee when you need it. You should also be aware that already defrosted beans cannot be frozen again.
