Tips to Make Your Coffee Last Longer: Get the Most Out of Those Beans!

The Scoop on Coffee Storage: Keeping Grounds and Beans Tasting Fresh!

Wondering how to make your coffee taste better, for longer? Keeping coffee fresh can help to ensure that it produces the best cup of Joe every time you brew a pot, craft a K-cup, or pull an espresso shot. 

In this article, we will give you some great coffee storage tips as well as all sorts of other helpful information and tips to help make your coffee last longer. That way, you can get the most out of every single coffee bean!

The Freshest Coffee Starts with the Freshest Beans!

Want the freshest coffee possible? If so, consider ordering freshly roasted coffee beans from a small-batch craft coffee roaster such as www.onegreatcoffee.com. Click here to see an amazing list of fragrant and flavorful fresh-roasted to-order customizable small-batch coffee beans for sale online! 

Cutting to the Chase: What is the Best Way to Store Coffee Beans?

For those of you who don't have time to read this entire article, the best way to store coffee is as follows: 

Store freshly roasted coffee in a clean, cool, dry place away from sunlight. Ideally, you should store your coffee in a vacuum seal valve bag or container with a valve to let off any gasses produced by the coffee beans. grind fresh coffee beans immediately before roasting. 

What is the Best Way to Store Coffee Grounds?

The best way to store coffee grounds is:

Store ground coffee in a clean, dry, room temperature place, away from direct sunlight. Your kitchen cabinet should do just fine. Avoid storing coffee grounds in the freezer or fridge, since coffee grounds are very porous and can easily be exposed to moisture and condensation in those environments. 

Plus, even in a zip-lock baggie, porous coffee grounds can slowly begin to absorb the flavors of the other goods nearby. Think “notes of frozen burritos and wet socks”. Not ideal! 

Optimal Flavor Means Proper Coffee Storage: Here's What To Know 

Whether you are looking for coffee with subtle cinnamon notes, floral undertones, or a citrusy finish, to get the absolute best flavors out of those beans, you are going to need them to be as fresh as possible. This means using the proper coffee storage practices. 

The Fridge and Freezer are a No-No

Let's start with debunking that age-old “freezer storage coffee method” myth. Many people are under the impression that storing coffee grounds and beans in the fridge or freezer can help them last longer. This simply isn't the case, and quite frankly, it's a hill I'm willing to die on considering both of my parents did this growing up! It took me years to talk them out of it. I started just bringing my own coffee over at Christmas and Thanksgiving because I got tired of that mildewy flavor.  

What’s so bad about storing coffee in the fridge? 

While storing coffee in the freezer isn't in itself a terrible practice, most people do it the wrong way. Coffee is incredibly porous and hygroscopic, meaning that it absorbs moisture easily, even from the air. As such, storing coffee beans in the refrigerator is a hard no, and storing them in the freezer can be equally as problematic. 

Not to mention, some coffee bags (especially the paper ones or the ones that can’t be closed and sealed) are terrible barriers against moisture and odors. So, if your fridge or freezer smells like vegetables or meatballs, your coffee is going to absorb those flavors. No thanks. 

So what about storing fridge coffee in a plastic bag? This can be a little bit better, as it will mostly protect those porous coffee beans from absorbing flavors, but then, you have the whole problem of condensation and oil distribution. You see, the refrigerator and freezer are both cold places, meaning they can cause the oils in your coffee beans and coffee grounds (yes, both have oils) to bunch together incongruently. As the moisture and oils naturally present in grounds/beans start to condense, they begin to settle in different areas creating an inconsistent bag of coffee with flavors that can range from decent to downright awful. 

So how DO you store coffee in the freezer the right way? 

If you absolutely insist upon storing your coffee grounds or coffee beans in the freezer, you will need to remove all of the air from your storage bag. The storage container/bag must also be thick enough to prevent any air from seeping back in over time. 

So, the only way to store coffee in the freezer is to vacuum seal it shut. This means once you've opened your coffee and taken it out of the freezer, it can't go back in the freezer again unless you vacuum seal it again. Vacuum sealing it tightly shut also helps to keep the oils and moisture where they are supposed to be and prevent the moisture from condensing in one area. 

Still, in almost all instances, freezer storage is not going to add any extra life or longevity to your coffee beans. When you do finally brew them, chances are, they're going to taste about the same as if you have had them sitting in your pantry in an airtight container the whole time. This is why I say just buy fresh coffee and enjoy it! It’s so much tastier… and come on, life is too short to be drinking bad coffee. 

How long will coffee last in a cabinet, in the pantry, or at room temperature?

You might be surprised to find out that coffee stored at room temperature can last for a very long time. Coffee is a shelf-stable dry good, meaning that technically, it doesn't have an expiration date. 

Indeed, coffee rarely spoils unless it has been exposed to moisture or contaminated, which can cause it to grow mold and other things. However, as long as your coffee is unopened and still in the bag it came in new, you could wait for an entire year to open it and chances are, it will still taste pretty good. While a year-old bag of unopened coffee might not be exactly the same as a freshly roasted bag, it will still likely taste okay. Especially, if the coffee comes in a high-end bag that has a valve. Valve coffee bags are great for letting off excess gasses and helping coffee stabilize after roasting and maintain flavor. 

Still, the optimal ‘fresh window’ for coffee varies. Generally, optimal coffee freshness is between two and four weeks past the roast date. For espresso, the ideal freshness window is about one to six weeks after roasting. Also, freshness depends on the roast itself. Dark roasts and light roasts may age a little differently. 

The bottom line is: Coffee beans can last for years and remain brew-able if stored unopened but taste the best while still fresh! 

How long does open coffee last?

Once you have opened the packaging that your coffee beans or coffee grounds came in, it's time to get brewing. You have about 10 days from opening your coffee to brew it if you want it to taste great. After that, it can simply start to taste stale or lose its luster. No, it won't go bad, but it will start to taste ‘blander’ over time. 

How to store coffee once you open it? 

If you've opened your coffee grounds or coffee beans, and can't consume them within 10 days, the best thing you can do is store them in a vacuum-sealed canister. You can buy these canisters on Amazon. They're great because they keep coffee at room temperature and in an airtight space while blocking out UV light (which reduces oxidation/oxidization) while also allowing any gasses that fresh coffee beans/grounds produce to slowly let off. 

So what is the absolute best way to store coffee? The Bottom Line

If you aren't terribly picky about your coffee flavor, store it however you like! This is your life; usually, it will likely still be edible for a very long time, even if you do keep it in the freezer. However, for the best taste, storing fresh coffee in a clean, dry, room-temperature place away from direct sunlight is best. Unopened coffee obviously lasts longer, since it hasn't yet been exposed to air to start oxidization. 

Another great option is to store your opened coffee in a valve coffee canister. or, just try not to open your bag of coffee until you will be Brewing it all within about 10 days. And remember, if you really want a great cup of Java, buy fresh roasted small-batch coffee and consume it as close to the roast date as possible. This is ideal for the BEST flavors!