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In the perfect world, coffee tastes exactly as it smells- a rich-dark liquid with a slightly nutty yet fruity fragrance and a slight tinge of caramel and acidic punch, basically an addictive, indescribable range of flavours with the most distinguishable mix of fragrance.
Now, while enjoying a warm cup of Joe every morning made from the same batch of coffee beans, have you ever noticed the difference in flavour? Or your coffee simply isn't tasting as good as it used to be?
If your coffee seems to be losing its acidity and aroma, mark it as an obvious coffee bean storing problem.
Why?
Coffee beans are immensely hygroscopic, which means they absorb any surrounding moisture, temperature or flavours, and this is partially true for roasted beans. As a result, coffee beans lose their freshness almost immediately after roasting.
Without proper storing, your beans will stay flavourful for at most 7-10 days, while unroasted green beans may stay fresh for a little longer.
Here are some smart coffee beans storing methods for a well-balanced, freshly brewed coffee for you every day!
If you wonder what makes coffee so stale and flavourless just within a couple of days, the short answer is- oxygen. While it's not rocket science that oxygen is generally bad for any perishable goods you can think of, it's specifically applicable for coffee beans.
Oxygen is the worst curse of your coffee beans. The moment your coffee beans come in contact with air, the oxygen breaks down and alters coffee beans' molecular structure resulting in the loss of coffee taste, flavour and aroma. So consider storing your coffee beans in air-tight, preferably opaque, ceramic containers, mason jars with lids or coffee canisters as soon as you unpack them.
Yes, you guessed it right. Direct exposure to lights and high temperatures is equally bad for your beans. You may think it's just the natural sunlight and UV radiations that degrade coffee quality through a process called photodegradation, but you will be surprised to know that even LEDs and other artificial dire impacts on your coffee beans.
Precisely any direct light sources soak up all the aromas, moisture and other chemical compounds and accelerate the decay. Choose a cool storage temperature condition, ideally from 7°C to 15°C. Make sure you don't use any transparent containers and store the jar in cool and dark cabinet space.
Since both light, humidity, and temperature contribute to coffee quality deterioration, you might think freezing or refrigerating your beans is a better alternative. Although some experts recommend the freezer as a suitable storage place under particular circumstances, refrigeration is definitely a no. The cell structure of coffee beans is soft, porous and more likely to absorb any flavours or aromas in the fridge, which will directly transfer to the beans. So unless you want the taste of leftover refrigerated food in your morning coffee mug, keep your coffee beans as far as you can from your fridge!
And besides, moisture condensation is another reason why coffee beans become mouldy and bland. So while the freezer does make sense, the fridge doesn't! So unless you plan to take the beans out of the freezer every now and then and cause major temperature fluctuation and excess moisture seeping, the freezer can still be your friend.
With vacuum sealing equipment in your kitchen, you can do food preservation wonders like never before. For example, we previously talked about coffee beans storage in special circumstances, but we did not mention the drawback of freezing coffee beans- dehydration and freezer burn that, once again, changes the coffee taste and quality.
Vacuum sealing equipment, readily available in any retails or superstores nearby, is an efficient way of packaging any food items, including coffee beans and sustaining shelf-storage life by 4 to 5 times. Whether you store your green coffee beans in air-tight jars or freezers, vacuum sealing assures an extra layer of protection from temperature, humidity and moisture.
A foil pouch or Mylar bag can be another high-efficient storage choice for long-term coffee bean storage, especially unroasted green coffee beans with their intact taste, acidity, and flavour. Mylar is a metallic bag made of aluminium or laminated food-grade plastic layers, impervious to gases.
And the reason why it's a perfect storing solution for green beans because once the beans are roasted, the natural oils and other elements start to break down inside the package. Green coffee beans, on the other hand, stay fresh longer than any other form of coffee and can last over 25 years in these foil packets with oxygen absorbers. Once you add coffee beans inside the Mylar bags, label each package with name-date, add an oxygen absorber on top of the bag and seal it with an iron.
Out of all the food items you purchase in bulk, coffee beans should not be one of them.
When you purchase coffee beans in bulk and by any chance get in contact with light or air exposure, the entire batch of beans loses its quality. Constant opening and reclosing large containers will only expose your coffee beans to more air, light and other elements.
And besides, coffee beans start to lose their freshness almost immediately after roasting anyway. So buying coffee beans in smaller quantities and stashing them in small batches will always give you the most enjoyable cup of Joe every morning, made with the freshest beans while keeping the unused beans fully protected.
Coffee beans pick up flavours and aromas easily. This means, if you're not careful enough, you may lose a bit of the exquisite coffee taste daily. The original bag the coffee beans come in also picks up a lot of delicate coffee aroma, flavour and oil your beans give off. Throwing out the package means wasting those elements and losing a bit of flavour while repackaging and storing the beans.
Nowadays, most standard coffee packets and pouches come with high-quality metalized aluminium barrier quadro seal bags or high-barrier polyester valve and zipper bags, which is convenient and sustainable. And by keeping the packed coffee inside airtight containers or vacuum sealing packets, you will protect the beans' quality and the flavours with the right balance of acidity and sweetness.
Imagine how great freshly-roasted coffee would taste with its intoxicating aroma and piquant acidity. Unfortunately, you can never have that heavenly taste from store-bought roasted beans, already compromising the fabulous range of flavours and natural oils.
Purchasing unroasted green coffee beans does not only give you an amazing coffee roasting experience at home, producing the freshest coffee but also the longest shelf life imaginable.
But in all honesty, DIY coffee roasting is not for everyone. You want to have an excellent mug of coffee right at home, choose Gridlok Coffee Roasters premium range of flavoured coffee of your choice. Then, we will roast, pack and deliver your choice of coffee beans to your doorstep just in 2 days!
