Keeping beans fresh

[coffeetom]

And the $64,000 question is... do you know for a fact that your beans were fresh when you bought them? If not, then your question is 'how can I keep my stale beans from getting even more stale?'

Theoretically, without having it tested myself, you should be able to test beans if they're fresh, if you store fresh beans in an airtight bag (like PinkRose's suggestion the Zip Lock Bag) and see if the bag has inflated after a day or so because of the CO2.

Do I get the 64k now?

[PinkRose]

Theoretically, without having it tested myself, you should be able to test beans if they're fresh, if you store fresh beans in an airtight bag (like PinkRose's suggestion the Zip Lock Bag) and see if the bag has inflated after a day or so because of the CO2.

Do I get the 64k now?

Don't the coffee roasters let the beans degas before they package them up?. If the beans were brought home and divided up into smaller portions, would there be enough gas left to puff up the zip lock bags?

[peterjschmidt]

Theoretically, without having it tested myself, you should be able to test beans if they're fresh, if you store fresh beans in an airtight bag (like PinkRose's suggestion the Zip Lock Bag) and see if the bag has inflated after a day or so because of the CO2.

Do I get the 64k now?

I'll send the check right away.


Most of the de-gassing happens in the first few days, and even if it's still going on at say five days out of the roaster, it's not going to be enough to inflate a bag. So there's more that goes into determining freshness than whether the beans are still out-gassing. There's probably no good way to define freshness or draw a line when beans stop being fresh, other than to say it's lost some flavor nuances. And even that's not easy unless you've had a given coffee on day 1, day 2, day 3, etc; if you buy it at day 10 or week 4, you have no idea what it was when fresh and nothing to compare it to. So many people buy whole-bean coffee from a local source out of those big glass jars or plastic bins and think they're getting good, fresh coffee, but they have no idea.

[javaboy]

I've tried for longer than a 2 week storage using Food saver bags, vacuum packed in the freezer. we freeze in week size bags. Once in the freeze , it does not come out until ready to use, to keep any condensation from forming within the bag. Assuming you seal the bag well and the humidity level when sealing could be a factor.

[namballe]

i go through coffee so fast, it doesn't stand a chance to go stale. i keep mine in the original bag, squeeze out excess air, roll top down and hold in place with a piece of packaging tape.

[Mr.Peaberry]

Theoretically, without having it tested myself, you should be able to test beans if they're fresh, if you store fresh beans in an airtight bag (like PinkRose's suggestion the Zip Lock Bag) and see if the bag has inflated after a day or so because of the CO2.

Do I get the 64k now?

Who said zip-lock bags were air-tight? Freezer bags are usually a different material, so are vacuum bags, but standard zip-lock bags allow air to slowly creep through the material. There are pink zip-lock bags used for electronics that are static safe and are also airtight...I have a couple Miami Herald copies of the Dan Marino retirement edition in these and they have not yellowed since 2000. I don't know if they are food safe though.

[PinkRose]

Who said zip-lock bags were air-tight? Freezer bags are usually a different material, so are vacuum bags, but standard zip-lock bags allow air to slowly creep through the material. There are pink zip-lock bags used for electronics that are static safe and are also airtight...I have a couple Miami Herald copies of the Dan Marino retirement edition in these and they have not yellowed since 2000. I don't know if they are food safe though.

It sounds like I should have been more specific. I wasn't referring to the standard zip lock bags that you would use for a sandwich. Those things are definitely not air tight. The heavier freezer bags with the double zip top are about as air tight as you'll get with a zip lock bag. You still need to burp the air out of the bag before totally sealing the zip lock.

[friedcoffee]

To keep your beans fresh, the best answer is consume them as quickly you can and so bring beans just for a week. After that the actual flavor goes minimal. Still, keep the things in an air tight container.

[nikkakae]

i usually just keep it in a air tight glass jar.. or you can use also ziplocks if you have few beans remaining

[Nav]

i work for a coffee distributor and how to keep the coffee beans fresh was a common question we got from our customers so i wrote an article on it. As mentioned earlier, it's important to keep the beans away from air, moisture, heat and light.

One thing i'd like to add is that if you cut the top off and want to re-use the coffee bean bag, you could buy a vacuum sealer strip that allows you to seal the bag. Not ideal but it works if you finish it fast.