How to store your coffee beans
I've been working in the coffee world for a long time and at the top of my list of questions that most often resurface is the following: how should coffee be stored?
Well, you should know that coffee is a very sensitive product. It doesn’t like the cold, the humidity or the variations of these. Ideally, I would tell you right away that it is best to keep it in whole beans and to grind only what you need just before proceeding with your current brewing method. The oils retained in the coffee beans are thus better preserved and the coffee is undoubtedly tastier when freshly ground (and what about the olfactory pleasure that you will have to grind your coffee…). The oils are volatile and escape once ground, in addition to the oxidation process of the coffee that we want to avoid. The coffee does not expire, but it is crippled.
A perfectly sealed jar is also a must! We therefore keep it in a completely sealed pot to protect your beans well from temperature and light variations. An amber mason jar will do the trick very well! Coffee will tend to oxidize more on contact with heat or humidity so protect it. In addition, coffee is in some ways weakened and tinted easily by the surrounding odors... which forces me to face this myth of the fridge at all costs.
The fridge. Perfect for most foods, but certainly an enemy of coffee. The latter retains not only our favorite foods, but also the smells of these. Coffee can therefore be flavored and this is not always desirable. "How do you like your coffee? - with scents of spag sauce and onion".... I don't think so! Also, the effect of cold-hot / hot-cold caused by coffee stored in the fridge and then taken out for infusion will propel its degradation in terms of its olfactory and gustatory characteristics. Nah. We don't want that.
But then, the freezer? Not ideal either, for reasons similar to those that make me sulk the fridge. But, I agree that if you have to leave your home for a few weeks, it is better to put your coffee in it, well sealed, then take it out ONLY once, when you return to avoid the back and forth between the heat and the coldness.
In summary, we store our whole coffee beans in a perfectly sealed jar away from variations in temperature, light and sources of humidity and overwhelming odors.
- Valérie Verhoef