Storing
Storing
Stored your coffee in a dry, airtight container to prevent contamination or contact with moisture, roasted whole-bean coffee holds most of its aroma and flavor for seven to ten days. After two weeks, it still tastes fairly fresh, it’s the third week where very noticeable degradation begins to take place. Coffee kept past a month is still worth drinking but just barely, it begins to exhibit elements of a lifeless, slightly saw-dusty taste.
Ground coffee expedites the staling process with turbo speed. Ground coffee goes stale literally in a within a handful of hours. An airtight container helps, but does not prevent the staling process. The oxygen in the container still degrades the quality, neven though that oxygen may be trapped.
Ultimately the best solution is to buy your coffee whole bean (cheap $15 mill grinders can be found in most grocery stores). Store the beans in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Airtight can only be obtained with jars that have a rubber gasket and clamp.
Refrigerating coffee is the absolute worse thing you can do. Moisture is the worse thing for roasted coffee. The “oils” in roasted coffee are not actually oils. They are very delicate, water-soluble substances that degrade with moisture. Coffee also acts like a sponge absorbing flavors, refrigerators are both moist and full of flavors.
Freezing is an excellent way to preserve whole-bean coffee, only if you are not going to finish the coffee within 10 days or so. Seal the coffee beans in a freezer bag, then thaw and take out only as many beans as you intend to grind in a day.
