Coffee Storage
Coffee roasters frequently are asked questions about coffee storage. Should coffee be stored in the refrigerator? The freezer? Away from sunlight? Coffee canister? storage jar? In glass jars?
The truth is that there are many myths wandering around the coffee world about coffee storage, some of them repeated so often that they’ve taken on the patina of truth. The truths about coffee storage may surprise you.
The Most Common Myths about Coffee Storage
Quick – what do you do with that two pounds of coffee that you just bought? Ask that question in any group and at least one person will extol the virtues of storing your coffee in the freezer. Another will tell you to leave it in the vacuum stored container in which it was bought. Still a third will tell you to keep it in a glass container or coffee canister, and a fourth is sure to tell you that it really doesn’t matter at all. The truth is that each of those methods of coffee storage is the right answer – in certain conditions. Here’s some common sense advice from people who know about coffee – coffee growers and roasters.
Why is coffee beans storage so important?
Coffee beans are taken from a living plant, and as such, have a limited shelf life. Like most organic products, you can increase their life by storing them properly. More importantly – at least to most coffee enthusiasts – proper coffee storage preserves the flavor of the coffee. You see, coffee beans contain volatile oils – chemicals that give coffee its characteristic flavor. Those oils are released by the roasting process, and decay rather quickly once the coffee has been roasted. Grinding the coffee beans speeds up the flavor loss even more. Because of the difference in the way that those oils behave, there are different methods of coffee storage that are best for coffee at different times in its life.
To get the best flavor from your coffee, you should brew it within two weeks of roasting, and immediately after grinding. In fact, coffee is at its peak flavor about 48 hours after roasting. That’s a time line that’s pretty close to impossible unless you’re buying raw beans and roasting your own(if you decide to roast your own coffee, then read this article on how to roast coffee at home). If you buy your coffee as whole roasted coffee beans, you can make a point of looking for the date that the coffee was roasted – but you’ll seldom find it. Failing that, here are some tips on coffee buying and coffee storage that will help ensure that you get a great tasting and fresh cup of coffee every time.
Coffee Buying Tips
The first rules of proper coffee storage have nothing to do with containers or temperatures. They have to do with how you buy your coffee.
1. If you can, buy from a local roaster who will tell you when the coffee was roasted. Then you know that you’re starting with fresh coffee.
2. Buy coffee in vacuum sealed bags or cans. Those lovely self serve coffee bean displays with a dozen different varieties of coffee beans are pretty to look at – but the bins allow air to attack the coffee beans, and you have no idea how long the beans have stood there.
3. Buy no more than two weeks supply of coffee at a time. After two weeks, even freshly roasted coffee will begin to lose its flavor.
Coffee Storage Tips
When considering coffee storage, keep in mind the two main enemies of fresh coffee flavor – air and moisture. Your coffee storage solutions should prevent either from getting at your coffee beans.
1. Don’t store ground coffee. Buy your coffee as whole beans, and grind it when you’re ready to brew. If you do buy ground coffee for the convenience, store it at room temperature in an airtight container after it’s been opened. A ceramic canister with a vacuum seal is a good choice – but avoid clear glass. Sunlight and heat are not good for your coffee.
2. Store up to a one week supply of whole coffee beans in an airtight canister at room temperature. You can use those pretty ceramic canisters, but they’re really not necessary. Any canister that you can seal with an airtight seal is fine, including the can that you bought it in.
3. If you find yourself with more coffee than you’ll use in one week, you can store up to another week’s supply in the freezer – but you should take some precautions to keep the air and moisture away from it first. Here’s how to store coffee safely in your freezer:
- Put the beans in an airtight canister.
- Or – put the beans in a zippered plastic storage back. Whoosh out all the extra air, or use a straw to suck it out. Then wrap the bag in one or two layers of plastic wrap and finish up with a layer of aluminum foil.
- Either way, once you take the canister or package out of the freezer, don’t put it back in. Refreezing your coffee will only dehydrate it and hasten the flavor decay.
November 4th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
WOW! Thank you so much for this info. I have learned so much about coffee. I had once upon a time been a ‘tea drinker’, but my last pregnancy found me craving coffee. So with no experience on how to purchase, store and enjoy this wonderful bean, your site has given me great insight. Thank you again & keep up the great work!
December 18th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
We use instant coffee. Currently we recap the container and put it in the refrigerator. It seems to keep okay. We don’t like strong coffee anyway.
I use skim milk rather than water and add one teaspoonful of sugar to each mug.
January 30th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Thanks so much for your help. My husband brought home twelve bags of Starbucks from an auction and I wasn’t sure how to keep them fresh until we are ready to use them. I will put them in the freezer.
Thanks again.
February 1st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Where I work, I was able to help out someone who does Missionary work in Guatemala. He returned, and brought me backa pound of Organic Arabica Shade Grown beans. I was not sure how to store, I want to drink the coffed, but at the same time savor it and make it last me a long while, yet that doesn’t sound like it’s possible. After all, I will never get to Guatemala myself to get my own beans.
So i’m gathering, grind only what I need and store in a container, or wrap VERY well and store in the freezer. Thanks for the advice
October 7th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
There is no such thing as instant coffee.
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Thanks for this useful storage advice. I agree with the last commenter about the worthlessness of instant coffee, but here’s a great substitute: Put your hot freshly-brewed coffee in a heatproof Mason jar (or any jar with a tight seal) and FREEZE it. What you unfreeze will be a delicious cup of almost-freshly-brewed coffee — light-years away from instant. In fact, I challenge anyone to tell a difference between (un)frozen and freshly-brewed coffee; only the most serious palates will be able to do so. All credit to my sister Judy who gave me this tip.
December 4th, 2009 at 6:36 am
I agree 100% If you think instant is coffee you have NEVER had a Good / Great cup of Coffee. I’ve been enjoying coffee for over 50 years….GREAT Coffee for the past 3 since I learned how to brew it.
Kafn8ed
December 10th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
What about espresso beans, how to store and how long do they last after purchasing?
February 24th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
@Jo. Espresso beans are coffee beans, but they are roasted differently so they are stickier and even more oily. espresso is just a method of roasting, grinding, and pressure-brewing, so these methods will work fine too. Just don’t buy a bunch of “espresso” coffee that’s already ground to an espresso size.
about instant: if you put in a spoon of sugar and skim milk, you have a caffeine drink and that’s fine and dandy, to each her own, but it’s not going to help people store real coffee flavor. I hope your switch to instant wasn’t due to trying to keep the flavor.
April 1st, 2010 at 6:44 am
I usually buy four bricks of Lavazza ground espresso from Amazon. What’s the best way to store the unopened bricks, and the best way to store the opened package? The open one could last me almost a month, I drink about five cups a week.
June 9th, 2010 at 4:32 am
I can relate to what you guys (members of this website) are saying. I love coffee just as much as you do; if not more… I’m not trying to sound rude… although I may come across that way. But, I think the reason some people are asking about long term storage and mentioning instant coffee is for their Disaster Preparedness Supplies/Survival Food Supply Storage. In which case… I dont think that a poor cup of coffee is going to be the first thing on your mind the morning after. I think that you will be greatful to have even one a poor cup of coffee; or. even a cup of coffee from twice brewed grounds. Believe me.. I spent 4 years in the Army overseas in a war zone. I know the feeling of “No Coffee Available” and even “twice and 3 times brewed coffee” People like me just want to know what the shelf life is of a brick of coffee from the date you buy it at the store so they can add it to their food storage and rotate it out of storage as, or before it expires.
June 9th, 2010 at 4:36 am
P.S. beyond the manufactures suggested Best By: date… Like I said… The beans dont have to brew the greatest cup of coffee.. just to be moderately tolerable for the given situation.
June 10th, 2010 at 4:40 am
DON’T freeze coffee beans. This dehydrates the coffee beans pushing the oils out of them. The oils get degenerated once they are removed from the bean. This article seems to contradict itself several times – almost stating at one point that it really does not matter how you store coffee beans to ending-up giving the wrong advise to freeze coffee beans.
June 12th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I don’t get it…Folgers says OK to store in refrigerator. There preground decaf is in a plastic container.Yet, some say do not store in refrig. What’s the answer? Thanks
June 13th, 2010 at 3:18 am
You don’t refrigerate. You buy whole beans, store in cool dark place and burr grind at time of making.
March 3rd, 2011 at 6:13 am
I drank instant coffee until I went on a diet 36 months ago and starting making fresh-brewing, using Melitta products. Now instant tastes awful to me.
I buy huge quantities of Melitta coffee once a year when they have their North American warehouse sale (near me). I get both whole bean and ground, place each sealed container into a zip-lock bag, squeeze out the air, write the date on it, and store in the freezer. I take out some each day to brew, and quickly put the sealed bag back into the freezer. I let the coffee thaw for 5 minutes while the water boils.
You wouldn’t normally freeze coffee at all, but you have to when you buy it once a year. If I purchased it every 2-4 weeks, I would store in the fridge.
I ocassionally use other coffees, such as Seattle’s Best, but in general, brewed coffee is SO much better than instant that the subtleties and nuances of various storage techniques are superfluous.
March 14th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
RE: Instant coffee- while not fit to drink it does a fairly good job of removing bug and bird residue from the front of your car.
April 1st, 2011 at 8:42 pm
I buy those big bags from Costco. I am confused-so many different opinions! I grind my own coffee. I really haven’t noticed any flavor change from leaving them out to refrigeration. If in the refrigerator-they wouldn’t pick up other flavors, its seems to me, if they are well sealed.
So, is packaging for the freezer in small amounts, I drink 7 cups a week, the best way?
Is that Costco coffee good to buy,anyway?
I, agree, instant coffee is horrible! My parents only knew this kind for years and years of bad coffee. Now we know! grind your own!
April 24th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
I love coffee and enjoy it the best way I can, being a traveler sometimes I have to go with the most cost effective or the most convenient. Sometimes that means (gasp) instant coffee. Just because some coffee snob who can’t conceive being out of his Cuisinart kitchen poo-poos it, I’m not going to stop enjoying it. “Instant coffee- while not fit to drink it does a fairly good job of removing bug and bird residue from the front of your car”… what a pretentious a-hole thing to say.
May 3rd, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Quite a useful article for someone who enjoys good Wine and wants to test ones palette on another drink; Coffee. I’ve just bought an Espresso machine and discovered I need to also buy a decent grinder if I want to experience some interesting/expceptional Coffee’s and now I know to only buy beans two weeks at a time or freeze anything beyond that. The one thing I’ve learnt in life is; anything really good usually takes more time, money and effort to create, so while instant has it’s place it’s fairly instant and thus the Coffee experience is as you would expect, but absolutely has a place, horses for courses and all that! Coffee freshly ground on demand (including all the various prep and machinery to boot) will deliver more of a taste experience, but at a greater investment in time, money and effort. Compare and contrast with a fine wine, vintage cheese, quality meat, etc… they all require more time investment during the manufacturing process and therefore the “consumer” pays a higher price, there are plenty of other examples in pretty much any other manufacturing field.
Some of the comments on this chain are the same sort of elitist comments I hear from wine buffs. The sad thing is if more people enjoyed good wine / good coffee, then the bad products wouldn’t have a market and it would overall improve the quality for everyone. So to the Coffee snobs; try to be inclusive as it will benefit you in the long run….to those put off by the elitist attitude; grow a thicker skin and don’t let the minority ruin the enjoyment of exploring something great.
Amen
June 29th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Some people have a better ability to taste than others. Some others have a good imagination. I admit that brewed coffee has a different taste from instant, a taste I could call “better.” But I love the quickness of instant which, to me, doesn’t taste enough inferior to make it worth the difference. In both cases, I’m drinking coffee brands recommended by a famous consumers magazine. And I do believe, having had the coffees at other people’s homes, that the brand name difference is greater, at least for my possibly inferior tasting, than the difference between brewed and instant.
July 8th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Good grief, what a lot of snobs we have on this blog. I am what’s called a ‘super-taster’, that is, I have a very sensitive palate and often notice subtle nuance of food and beverage that usually go unnoticed. And I love my instant coffee. It has a character of its own, neither more nor less pleasant than the highly touted, much revered brewed version. It has a cleaner, more refreshing taste, whereas brewed coffee is denser and heavier. To folks like me, brewed coffee is too harsh. Instant can be adjusted to suit individual taste, and therein, along with convenience, lies its charm.
I don’t like brewed coffee. I’ve gone back time and again to give it another go, and each time I’m left with the same heavy, unpleasant aftertaste. Those who enjoy it, that’s all well and good, but try to keep your elitism down to a dull roar.
There are definitely inferior instant coffees out there that I would only use as a last resort. But my Mt. Hagan’s and Nescafe Classico are quality products. Different than brewed, yes. But in a good way.
July 26th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
How long will can coffee keep, past the date on the can ? I notice coffee prices going up,so I bought a couple extra cans. Saving me about $4.00
a can from what some stores are selling coffee.
July 26th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
I forgot to say the cans of coffee are unopen cans.
Thank you
July 28th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I find it hard to tolerate all of the negativity towards instant coffee. It is a perfectly good substitute for the little balls found in maracas.
August 17th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
I thave bought a 33 ounces of maxwell house coffee, I open it 2 days ago and stored the large can back in my kitchen cabinet away from heat and light, should I put some in a different container and store the rest in the refigerator or keep it in the same container in the cabinet? thank you
August 19th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
What’s with the class war about instant coffee?! If people want to make jokes about it, what’s it to you?! I, for instance, really like sprouts, whereas other people find them disgusting. Are people snobs because they don’t like sprouts? Not at all. Does instant coffee taste like bird poop? Absolutely – to me. And I am entitled to that opinion (whether I own Kitchen Aid appliances or not).
August 19th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
I got into hot water when I advised against boiling coffee, so watch your step!
September 28th, 2011 at 12:39 am
best bet is to keep it in the container it came in. or in storage tins out of direct sunlight. i keep it in crisper drawer in refrigerator. those new round plastic “tubs” are real good for storage. and coffee cans are forever universal and immortal.
December 5th, 2011 at 9:33 am
good info. i put my coffee in the frig.after i got it after reading this i took it out’it was not open yet’ now i can store it properly.
January 6th, 2012 at 6:28 am
Can’t even have a frikkin comment roll about coffee without people bickering? Shut uppa your face!
I’m so grateful for the advice about storing beans in the freezer/containers. I’ve been storing a giant bag of Starbucks beans in my freezer for almost a year. I didn’t even notice the flavor deterioration until I started ordering coffee-shop coffee again and it was like a smack in the face. Wow!
Another thing is that I’m trying to cut back on plastic as much as possible, so I hesitate wrapping beans in so much wasteful material. Instead I’ll now go with tightly-sealed metal or ceramic containers. What do you think about sealing them in mason jars with dark cloth taped around them to block out the sun?
I’m now trying to find the best beans around for my little French Press and not have to cram 37 pounds into storage, but now at least I know how to make the best of the excess. Thank you!!