We all love that strong aroma and the rich flavoursome goodness mixed with our favourite choice of milk and sweeteners. The joy a cup of coffee brings in the morning is unmatched!
Whether you are an espresso or a latte person, it’s always good to have all the necessary stuff to make that perfect brew of coffee every morning.
However, if you are a regular coffee drinker who prefers brewing their coffee inside the comfort of your home, you must have thought about how to store your coffee beans for maximum freshness.
Coffee beans come from coffee plants. Harvesters collect seeds or coffee beans from those plants. Coffee plants originate from Coffea, which is a family of plants native to countries in Africa and Latina America.
Every spring season, these tiny plants grow into medium-sized trees, blooming into a green berry-like fruit. Coffee farmers harvest these berry-like fruits when their colour turns deep red.
The harvesters then process these coffee beans for flavour and aroma before they are brewed and packaged. These plants have many species, so you’ll find many coffee variations in the stores.
Buying a whole coffee bean coffee means buying roasted coffee still in a complete bean shape.
You can’t brew coffee with whole beans of coffee. That’s why you need to grind those beans before brewing your coffee.
Many people drink coffee by grinding the whole beans themselves before brewing because it ensures the coffee flavour is complex and rich compared to grounded coffee beans.
On the contrary, when you buy ground coffee, the grinder has already ground the coffee beforehand. This makes it easy to brew your cup of coffee as you won’t have to grind a new batch of coffee beans daily. This is one of the reasons why grounded coffee is much more popular and accessible. However, your coffee won’t taste as fresh as whole beans coffee.
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We recommend buying whole coffee beans, which can better preserve the coffee’s smooth flavour and rich aroma. If you don’t have enough time in the morning to grind coffee beans every day, you go for grounded vacuum seal coffee beans, but you’ll have to sacrifice the aroma and flavour.
Coffee beans are 100% organic produce like fish or raw meat. And like all organic produce, coffee beans have a limited shelf life. The shelf life of coffee beans is usually one month after the roast date.Â
However, if you don’t store your coffee beans, their shelf life can be reduced by half or even more.
So today, we will see what elements make your stale, how you can store your coffee beans properly, and why you should buy freshly roasted beans.
Let’s first understand the four enemies of coffee beans!
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Before you go out and look out for the most suitable storage methods for your coffee beans, you should know which elements can affect the freshness and taste of your coffee beans.Â
Simply put, there are four things that you should always keep away from your coffee beans:
When exposed to light and air, coffee beans oxidise, losing aroma and essential oils. Add heat and moisture to the equation, and the process accelerates significantly. If you want to keep your coffee beans fresh, keep them away from all four things.
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There is still a debate about whether you should freeze coffee beans or not to preserve the flavour and extend their shelf life. If you ask, we don’t recommend freezing coffee beans.Â
Coffee beans are more like bread or fish. You can freeze them, but will they taste as good as fresh ones? We don’t think so.
Secondly, when you freeze your coffee beans and then take them out after some time, moisture and condensation start to creep inside your coffee bean container. As mentioned above, you should always keep your coffee beans from moisture.
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Where you store coffee beans is another important consideration you should look into. When considering your storage adjustments, remember the four important factors discussed above: heat, moisture, light, and air.
Firstly, never store your coffee beans close to an oven. The same goes for locations close to radiators. These storage locations can ruin your coffee beans because of the constant heat they’ll get from the oven and the radiators.
Secondly, avoid keeping your coffee beans close to a window. Heat and light from the sun can significantly impact your coffee bean’s flavour. We always recommend storing your coffee beans in a place not subject to temperature fluctuations, like in the corner of a dark cupboard.
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After finding the perfect storage location, you need to find a storage container that preserves the flavour of your coffee beans.Â
You should always look out for a few things when buying a coffee bean storage container for your coffee beans.
You must carefully store the coffee beans to preserve their flavour and aroma. Environmental factors like light, heat, moisture, and air can affect the quality of your coffee beans and impact your overall coffee experience.Â
If you’re interested in purchasing a coffee machine in Australia, you can browse our selection online or visit our store in Adelaide. We’re located at 18 Croydon Rd, Keswick, SA 5035.
If you have any additional questions about our home coffee machines, please get in touch with us by phone at (08) 8297 5799 or by email at info@coffeecomplex.com.au.
Anthony is a coffee machine sales and repairs specialist living in Adelaide, South Australia. He has spent the last 14 years staying at the forefront of the coffee machine industry. He has sold hundreds of home and office coffee machines throughout all of South Australia and has also repaired countless machines.
Occupation: General Manager, Coffee Complex
Lives in: Adelaide, South Australia
