Coffee is shelf-stable and won't go bad in the sense of most food, meaning it'll make you sick. But there are some tips and tricks to keep your coffee as fresh and delicious as possible so you can enjoy that just-opened-the-bag flavor for months instead of just weeks!
Unfortunately for coffee, oxygen is its enemy. That means as soon as you open up your brand new bag of coffee, oxygen is getting in and beginning to adversely affect its flavor. Adding to the list of flavor-stealing culprits is light, heat and moisture. Ugh! But rest easy, we have some simple fixes for you.
1. Buy Your Coffee in Whole Bean Form
Whole bean coffee keeps its flavor the best and stays fresh the longest, especially if you're only grinding enough for a day or two at a time. Ground coffee, while convenient, will only be best within a month and should be used within two weeks of opening the bag.
2. Store Coffee in an Airtight Container
Avoid heat, light, and air's negative affects by storing coffee (ground or whole bean) in an airtight, opaque container. We especially love the canisters that have a one-way valve, which mimics our bag design. We won't get too much into the science, but coffee degassing is important:
- When coffee is roasted, gases form within the coffee bean (mostly carbon dioxide). This gas needs to escape.
- If the coffee is immediately bagged in an airtight package (no valve), this gas has no escape from the bag. This then causes the coffee to stale, ruin its flavor, and even become bitter.
- If the coffee is left out to degas, exposed to oxygen, the coffee will also then begin to stale and lose its flavor.
- The solution is a one-way valve. This allows the carbon dioxide to escape as coffee degasses for the first few days, without allowing any oxygen in to hurt the coffee's flavor. This is the design for our bags, and you can also find coffee containers that accomplish the same results.
Coffee Gator Stainless Steel Canister With One-Way Valve
DON'T:
1. Store Coffee in the Refrigerator
This causes coffee beans to age faster and the conditions in the refrigerator cause the beans to condensate, pushing the flavorful coffee oils toward the surface. This ruins its flavor.
2. Leave the Coffee Bag Open
If nothing else, just make sure you're sealing your bag back up to the best of your ability! Our bags come with a zipper to allow you to seal the package back up. This doesn't keep it as fresh as an airtight canister would, but it's definitely better than leaving it open or using bags that don't have zippers like a lot of grocery store-bought coffees.