How to Store Coffee Beans? A Complete Guide to Coffee Bean Storage Methods

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"How should I store the bag of beans I bought?" "Should coffee beans be refrigerated?" "How long can coffee beans be kept?" "Why are the beans you sell already roasted several days ago? Don't you have fresher ones!" FrontStreet Coffee is asked these questions about coffee beans almost every day. Regarding coffee bean storage, FrontStreet Coffee presents a coffee bean storage guide in this article.

Q1: How to judge the freshness of coffee beans?

When we buy a bag of coffee beans, everyone can look at the roasting date on the packaging (this refers to the roasting time of the coffee beans, not the expiration date~), and you can see that there is a button-sized one-way degassing valve on the packaging, which is used to release the carbon dioxide produced by the coffee beans inside the packaging while preventing external air and moisture from entering the packaging. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the freshest state of coffee beans is within 30 days from the completion of roasting, while the best flavor period for coffee is within 14 days from the completion of bean resting.

Q2: What is bean resting? Why do we need to rest beans?

Chinese people emphasize freshness when it comes to things they put in their mouths, and coffee is no exception. Freshly ground coffee can better reduce flavor loss. In addition, fresh roasting is also an important "freshness" for coffee. However, there's a saying that "extremes meet," and coffee beans that have been stored for too long don't taste good, while overly fresh coffee beans also don't taste good. At this time, we need to rest the beans, which means quietly waiting for the coffee beans to release carbon dioxide in the packaging for a few days.

Bean resting is a process of gas release/carbon dioxide emission. Because coffee beans that have just undergone intense fire roasting contain about 2% carbon dioxide by weight, and these large amounts of carbon dioxide are emitted according to storage environment, equipment or methods, making the pressure in the packaging higher than one atmosphere. The pressure helps the fusion of aromatic substances and oils, allowing all aromatic substances inside the coffee beans to reach a state where they can be easily extracted.

Generally, the degassing effect of coffee beans only begins 3 hours after roasting is completed. Coffee beans that haven't released any carbon dioxide will have very unstable taste after brewing. If you've ever poured hot water into freshly roasted and ground fresh coffee powder, or used it to make an espresso, you'll find the taste is very sharp and irritating, with over-extracted bitterness and obvious acidity. You'll find it hard to associate it with that smooth and sweet texture.

Q3: Can't I brew directly without resting the beans?

Never underestimate the importance of bean resting, because coffee that hasn't been properly rested tends to have impure flavors. First, under-rested coffee beans will have a "dry" feeling, which is the residual smoky taste inside the coffee beans after high-temperature roasting. It needs to be removed through a period of carbon dioxide emission. Therefore, compared to unrested coffee, coffee that has been left to rest for a few days will have a cleaner taste and more prominent flavors.

Q4: How long should coffee beans be rested?

Regarding the resting time, because the roasting methods of coffee shops or coffee brands are different, different coffee beans will have different roasting degrees, and the damage to the coffee bean structure will also be different, so there's no standard answer for resting time. For freshly roasted coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee suggests a resting time of 3-4 days for light roast coffee beans and 4-5 days for medium roast coffee beans.

Q5: How to store coffee beans after bringing them home?

① Avoid light sources and high temperatures: The damaging effect of light sources on coffee beans is easy to understand: when coffee beans are exposed to light sources, the heat from the light source will accelerate the oxidation of coffee beans, and the aromatic substances inside the coffee beans will evaporate more quickly. If too many aromatic substances evaporate before brewing, the extractable flavor substances will be reduced, so the coffee will taste bland and off-flavor. Therefore, it's very important to use equipment to block sunlight.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using packaging bags with one-way degassing valves to hold coffee beans. The aluminum foil inner layer of the one-way degassing valve bag is equivalent to a sunshade, providing light blocking and high temperature isolation effects. Alternatively, use opaque, well-insulated sealed jars as storage containers. As for why coffee shops use transparent sealed jars for storage, first, the usage frequency is high and they can be used up quickly, and second, it's for display purposes, so they use transparent sealed jars to hold coffee beans.

② Avoid oxidation: Coffee beans will oxidize mercilessly when exposed to sufficient oxygen, so moderately reducing oxygen can extend the fresh-keeping time of coffee beans. But oxygen is everywhere, and it will rush into your one-way degassing valve bag within 3 seconds of opening it, so it's actually very difficult to block air. Therefore, after weighing out the coffee beans, you need to seal the remaining coffee beans as quickly as possible to reduce oxidation.

③ Avoid contact with water: More precisely, moisture in the air. Coffee beans exposed to humid environments will spoil more easily than beans in dry environments, producing defects such as moldy smells, while also accelerating the loss of good coffee flavors. Therefore, sealing and storing as quickly as possible after use is the best protection.

Q6: Do coffee beans need to be refrigerated for storage?

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not store them in the refrigerator. The wooden fiber structure of coffee beans easily absorbs refrigerator smells; secondly, when coffee beans are taken out of the refrigerator, the temperature of the beans is different from the outside temperature, which easily produces moisture and makes the coffee beans very susceptible to dampness. FrontStreet Coffee suggests storing coffee beans at room temperature in a place that avoids light, high temperatures, and is dry.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473