How to Preserve Coffee Freshness | Coffee Tasting Period | Coffee Bean Shelf Life

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Guangzhou Niche Coffee Shop - Old Town Neighborhood Flavors at FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)

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Coffee beans have overcome numerous obstacles that compromise freshness, and now the bag of coffee beans in your hands is a premium product that has passed even the bean resting test with flying colors.

The moment you open the bag, rich caramel, chocolate, and nutty aromas rush unreservedly into your nostrils, straight to your head, making you wish you could drink it all at once! Then, of course, you happily brew the coffee beans and enjoy a good cup of coffee. But what's next? If you don't finish it all at once, oxidation becomes an issue. How should you maintain the freshness of your coffee beans? We first need to understand the three great enemies of coffee beans.

The Three Great Enemies of Coffee Bean Freshness: Light, Heat, Air, and Moisture

Any of these can cause your coffee beans to lose their aroma within days. Therefore, preserving coffee bean freshness is based on eliminating these three great enemies. As for other various folk remedies, we suggest not believing them too readily. Below, we'll present defense methods against these three great enemies and the risks of some inexplicable preservation remedies.

Freshness Enemy No. 1: Light and Heat

The destructive power of sunlight should be easy to understand: the heat from sunlight exposes coffee beans to higher temperatures, accelerating their oxidation and making aromatic substances more likely to volatilize. Once the aromas have volatilized, the good flavors disappear during brewing, leaving only bland nutty or even woody tastes. The floral notes of Yirgacheffe and the berry flavors of Kenya will completely vanish.

Therefore, using equipment to block sunlight is very important. Generally, specialty coffee beans are packaged in one-way valve bags, and these bags have an aluminum foil inner layer. This aluminum foil inner layer acts like a sunshade, providing light-blocking and heat-insulating effects.

Blocking sunlight actually means maintaining low temperatures, but don't assume that the aluminum foil inner layer is all-powerful—it has limited temperature insulation capabilities. So don't place your coffee beans on top of the refrigerator (which has residual heat) or near heat sources (which also have residual heat).

Does putting coffee beans in the refrigerator help preserve freshness?

We don't recommend it. If you freeze them, sub-zero temperatures will cause the coffee beans to freeze, and the residual moisture inside will also turn to ice. When you take them out to thaw, they may release water or damage the original structure of the coffee beans. If you refrigerate them, refrigerators typically contain various types of food and have high humidity. After opening a one-way valve bag, if you neglect to seal it tightly or if there are cracks or gaps, your beloved coffee beans might absorb strange odors (the loose structure of coffee beans makes them excellent at absorbing odors—used coffee grounds, when dried, are actually good for deodorizing refrigerators!). Additionally, high humidity will accelerate the aging of coffee beans, making them lose freshness quickly. So no need to put them in the refrigerator—just keep them at room temperature, away from sunlight and heat sources.

Is it okay to store them in transparent storage containers?

If the lighting is regular incandescent light, it's fine. Many coffee shops like to place transparent storage containers on shelves. This issue mainly relates to coffee consumption speed. Because coffee shops are commercial establishments with high coffee consumption, they can use up their coffee beans quickly, so exposure to indoor light for a couple of days won't have much impact. However, if you're using quartz lamps... that's basically the same as exposing them to sunlight.

Freshness Enemy No. 2: Air

More precisely, oxygen. With sufficient oxygen, coffee beans will oxidize mercilessly. Therefore, appropriately reducing oxygen can extend the freshness preservation time of coffee beans. But oxygen is everywhere, and it will rush into your one-way valve bag within 3 seconds of opening it. So blocking air is actually quite difficult. Here are a few simple suggestions:

1: Squeeze out air from the bag and press the zipper tightly

If one-way valve bags come with zippers that can block air, they actually help with preservation to some extent. But don't forget to squeeze out the original air inside, then firmly press the zipper tight. Making the one-way valve bag flat reduces the internal oxygen and does have some effect on slowing oxidation. What if the one-way valve bag doesn't come with a zipper? Prepare some sealing clips yourself.

2: Put them in storage containers and use carbon dioxide for preservation

Which is better: pouring coffee beans into storage containers or using zippered valve bags? We think both are fine. But the shape of this container requires careful consideration. You can't squeeze oxygen out of storage containers, but you also can't squeeze out carbon dioxide. Moreover, carbon dioxide has an important characteristic: it's heavier than oxygen and will sink below oxygen.

Therefore, when selecting storage containers, remember to choose ones with small openings, that are slender, and just the right size. This can reduce oxygen invasion. A properly sized storage container won't have too much space for oxygen to hide inside, naturally reducing oxidation. So it's best to buy a container that's slightly larger than half a pound, as this provides the best effect for storing half a pound of beans. Of course, if you're a shop owner with high coffee consumption, using half a pound to a pound of beans will be finished within a few days, so size doesn't matter much—as long as it's sealed.

Freshness Enemy No. 3: Moisture

More precisely, humidity in the air. Coffee beans exposed to humid air will deteriorate more easily than beans in dry environments, producing defects such as musty or woody flavors, and will also accelerate the loss of good coffee flavors. Therefore, sealing and storing them as soon as possible after use is the best protection. Additionally, we don't recommend putting desiccants with coffee beans to absorb moisture (fortunately, we haven't seen anyone do this). Based on personal experience, one-way valve bags made of kraft paper material have better moisture-proof capabilities, provided the storage environment isn't too humid.

Also, whether for coffee shops or individuals, it's better to pour unused espresso beans back into sealed containers for storage. After all, while you're sleeping, the coffee is awake—it will continue breathing, oxidizing, and absorbing moisture.

Conclusion

Regarding the issue of coffee freshness, we'll end our discussion here. We hope everyone has gained something valuable and can enjoy a fresh, good cup of coffee.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473