Keep It Fresh
Question: How do I store my coffee to keep it fresh?????
Freshly roasted coffee should be treated like perishable bakery goods or fruit. OCC strives to provide our customers coffee roasted within 24 hours. This is the optimal coffee served! The aroma degrades first, and the "cup quality" will show a loss in overall flavor after a week. Therefore, we recommend purchasing only a one weeks supply of coffee at a time that will stay "fresh" for 7 days if it is stored properly:
OCC recommends storing your whole bean or ground roasted coffee in a jar with a tight fitting lid. We sell French canning jars, the type fitted with a glass lid and rubber gasket attached to the jar with wire. Before storing coffee make sure the rubber seal is intact and in good condition. Mason canning screw top jars work well also.
Freshly roasted coffee emits C02 for the first 24 hours after roasting, keeping away the oxygen which will eventually make it stale. Oxygen is the enemy of coffee! Buy it fresh and you will be assured of enjoying a brew at its freshest and most flavorful!
If you love coffee but aren’t sure how to keep it fresh, here are some ideas you might want to try. Naturally the amount of coffee you buy at a time affects how long it will last. Ideally you want to use up whatever kind of coffee you buy in a couple of weeks. With the right storage container you should be able to keep it fresh for more than a month.
Coffee begins to lose its flavor when it first picked, but the type of coffee you buy determines how long it will last. If properly stored:
1. Whole beans should maintain original flavor the longest.
2. Roasted beans may take a week to see a significant decline in flavor.
3. Ground coffee begins to lose flavor within an hour of opening. It is also prone to moisture.
The packaging of coffee affects its freshness too.
1. For the longest lasting roasted coffee, look for plastic film or foil bag with the nitrogen flushed out and closed with a permanent heat seal. A valve lock will keep out external air best. The valve protects the beans from moisture and so the coffee remain fresh longer. The best part of this valve locking system is that you can keep the coffee in its original packaging.
2. Coffee in ordinary plastic bags or wax line sealed bags should be avoided. Once opened the roasted beans will lose the freshness within just a few days. Ground coffee will be really bad in a very short time once these kind of bags are opened. Both types of coffee need to be stored in a clean and dry air tight container immediately after purchase. As a stop gap you can roll the the top tightly and secure it with a rubber band or piece of tape.
The greatest enemies of fresh coffee are extreme heat and cold. Moisture, air, and even light have a negative impact on the aroma and flavor of any type of coffee. Even if stored in air tight canisters, coffee must be kept as dry as possible.
Don’t put your coffee in the fridge. Cold doesn’t help retain its freshness and the mositure in the refrigerator can damage coffee. Coffee can also pick up other odors that detract from its original flavor.
If you don’t have a good really airtight canister, it’s time to buy one.