How To Store Coffee Beans for Great Espresso Shots Overview
The best way to store ground coffee is in airtight containers at room temperature or slightly lower. Again, avoid drastic temperature changes when handling. The best routine is like in the case of beans, two airtight containers, one for daily use, containing coffee for a few days, and one for long-term storage, from which you transfer weekly into the other can.
How To Store Coffee Beans Long Term
If you want to store coffee long term, the best option is to store green coffee. Green coffee is a lot more stable than the roasted beans, and allows longer shelf time. You still need special packaging and a low temperature to avoid any problems, but you can safely store coffee for years this way.
The procedure implies packaging your espresso beans in plastic bags that will be vacuumed immediately. Then all the bags resulted will go in the freezer.
When you take your coffee beans from the storage, you need to let the package warm up, then you can roast your coffee beans as you would normally do. They will be as fresh as possible, with the best aroma possible. In all fairness, with green beans you could probably store them in a pantry, using an airtight container.
Green coffee beans are pretty stable, and they can be kept this way for at least a few months. I personally don’t roast my beans, because I don’t have the time. I prefer to buy them roasted.
If you don’t want to roast your beans, and you want to store them long term, you will follow the same procedure. The difference is when you take them off the storage for use.
When you take the beans out of the freezer, you will need to transfer them directly in an airtight container, to avoid contact with the air/oxidation. Just keep in mind that long-term storing roasted beans is not the best option anyway. The roasted beans start to change the second they get out of the roasting pan/facility.
One interesting thing about storing coffee in the freezer is the release of the oils. Once you bring them to room temperature, the beans start to release the oils within a day or two. The same beans start to release the oils within a week or two, if not frozen.
That means you can keep them in the freezer for a long time without any adverse effect, but once you got them out you have to use them fast. When you open a new bag, you can probably keep in your airtight coffee container enough for 10 days, before storing in the freezer. However, when you take from the freezer you need to take only for a few days.