Few Tips on Coffee Freshness

I you want your coffee to be good, you want it to be fresh. To get the freshest possible coffee the ideal would be to obtain unroasted beans, then roast and grind them on the same day you plan to brew.

Roasting beans is, however, something of a ‘cooking’ specialty. Unless you are willing to invest in a quite expensive piece of equipment, the results are often less than satisfying. On top of that – even if done properly – it will fill the house with odors that take time to dissipate and can become pretty annoying.

Even after roasting, beans will stay fresh for a while. Freshly roasted beans naturally release small amounts of carbon dioxide which helps to keep oxygen away from the bean, postponing spoilage. If stored in an airtight container, especially with a drying agent, they’ll retain their good flavor and aroma for up to a week.

Naturally, the closer to roasting they’re ground and consumed the fresher they’ll be. But even after a couple days they can still produce a stellar grind and a superior brew. After two weeks the flavor may still be acceptable, however, the aroma will no longer be first rate. Whole bean coffee stored at even optimum conditions will be dull after a month.

Key to getting a good cup from purchased roasted beans is to ensure that the skin is unbroken. If that happens, all bets are off. Oils underneath the skin and inside the bean will deteriorate unless frozen, in which case the brew will never be first rate.

When it comes to storing beans, it’s essential to use an airtight container. A glass jar of the type used for instant tea grounds is tempting, but insufficient – there is still too much leakage around the lid. A good glass jar with a rubber seal is best. The jar needs to be stored in a cool, dark place because not only air, but also heat and light can contribute to spoiling beans.

Better, but more expensive option, is a container which flush air with an inert gas, then inject the coffee beans which then give off carbon dioxyde, providing natural protection against spoilage. Beans stored in this way can keep their freshness for several weeks.

The next best thing to home roasting is grinding at home. This is an option open even to them who have little or no cooking skills.

Good grinders are available at moderate prices, are normally easy to use and easy to clean. Lots of them are automated to the point where with only a minor experimentation, it’s possible to get consistently good grinds.

Since grinding breaks the bean skin the same ‘oil spoilage’ problem will arise if the grind isn’t used within a few days. Just as the roasted beans, only more so, any grounds that are not consumed within a day should be packed in a desiccating cannister. Those cannisters contain a drying agent, normally beneath a mesh at the bottom, which keeps moisture from introducing mold or excess oxygen into the grounds.

If grounds are not stored in a desiccating cannister, they will lose much flavor within a few hours. Oils will evaporate and the grounds will deteriorate, because they are exposed to the air and moisture within the jar.

If you want an excellent cup of coffee, you should only grind as much as you intend to brew and drink everything you brewed within an hour. With modern machines there is no longer any reason to suffer second-rate coffee.