Coffee Bean Storage

Coffee Bean Storage

In your house is coffee bean storage important to you, if so how do you store them? Do you store them in the refrigerator or freezer? Perhaps you keep them in the heat sealed bag or do you store the coffee beans in a jar?

To give you the right storage techniques we have put together this guide to help you understand the importance of good coffee bean storage. By adopting these storage techniques you’ll maintain the flavor and freshness of your coffee. Along the way you’ll discover that green coffee beans and roasted coffee beans will require different coffee bean storage processes and what’s needed to prevent them from going stale.

Unfortunately coffee beans do have a shelf life and this is why it’s so important that correct coffee bean storage maintains the coffees original flavor. When coffee beans are exposed to air and moisture or are roasted the coffee starts to deteriorate and loose it’s flavor. This is what is referred to as coffee going stale. To slow down this process you can adopt good coffee bean storage techniques as well as roasting, grinding and brewing your coffee in small quantities. It’s always best to roast or buy roasted coffee beans in a small enough quantities that you can use over a 10 day period.

This is why coffee beans that haven’t been roasted tend to have a longer shelf life when they’re stored. These type of coffee beans are also referred to as green coffee beans. Green coffee beans can stay fresh up to a year or more under perfect coffee bean storage conditions.

To maximize freshness and shelf life, green coffee beans should be stored in a tightly sealed jar and preferably in a cool spot. Even after long time in storage a fresh and full flavored coffee can still be made without altering the original flavor of the beans.

If you would like to try out roasting your own green coffee beans you can purchase them online or from selected coffee shops that sell quality coffee beans. If this sounds like to much work forgo the roasting process and buy whole bean coffee that’s been roasted already for you. Read more »

Coffee Bean Grinder

In order to choose the right type of coffee bean grinder or coffee machine with a built in coffee grinder we need to take a look at the different types of coffee grinders that are available on the market. Generally there are three types of coffee bean grinders to grind coffee, the automatic blade grinders, automatic burr grinders and manual burr or blade grinders.

Each type of coffee bean grinder has it’s own advantages and disadvantages in the grinding process which you’ll soon discover. In this article I’ll be covering Blade coffee grinders and in another article I’ll be covering Burr coffee grinders.

Blade Coffee Grinders

Coffee Bean Grinder

This type of coffee bean grinder is known as a coffee blade grinder because it uses a cutting blade action to grind. When grinding the coffee beans the blade acts like a mini food processor, by cutting the coffee beans up into small pieces.

Blade coffee grinders whether they be an electric blade grinder or a manual blade grinder require you to monitor the grinding process. Basically the longer you grind the coffee beans for the smaller the coffee grounds become.

In order to achieve different sized coffee granules for your type of coffee machine you’ll need to alter the amount of time you spend grinding. When you use a coffee bean grinder to grind coffee for an espresso machine you can use a blade grinder but it will take about 1 minute or even longer to reach a fine ground. In this instance a burr grinder is better suited for espresso coffee grinding.

If you prefer making coffee with a drip coffee maker you’ll need to use coarser granules of coffee which can take up to a forty-five seconds to process the coffee beans through the coffee bean grinder. A good rule of thumb is the longer you use the grinder for the finer the coffee granules will become. Read more »