How to keep coffee fresher for longer
We get asked this question all the time. So, in this blog post, we thought we would share our top tips for coffee freshness. We'll also share our thoughts on whether you should freeze coffee at home...
WHAT TO DO WITH FRESH COFFEE AT HOME
For maximum coffee freshness, our number one tip is to buy your coffee as whole beans and grind only what you need, when you need it. Your coffee will start to lose flavour as soon as it comes into contact with the air around it, so the shorter the time between grinding and brewing, the better. In coffee competitions and official coffee tastings (known as cupping), the Speciality Coffee Association protocols say that coffee should be ground no more than 15 minutes before brewing.
If you're looking to start grinding your coffee at home, we highly recommend the Fellow Opus Grinder. It's an incredibly powerful and versatile grinder which can be used to grind coffee for everything from filter to espresso.
OTHER WAYS TO KEEP COFFEE FRESH
Oxygen, sunlight, heat and moisture will all cause coffee to degrade. So when you are deciding on where to store your coffee, choose somewhere cool, dark and ideally away from oxygen.
Whilst our 250g coffee bags are resealable and block light, so are a convenient way to store coffee, they're not totally airtight. Our kilo bags of coffee are not resealable to keep the air away, you can roll up the end and use a clip to seal it.
To keep coffee as fresh as possible and keep it tasting great for longer, we highly recommend picking up a Fellow Atmos Canister. These sleek stainless steel canisters feature a vacuum pump which creates a powerful airtight seal, removing oxygen from tampering with your coffee. Not only do they look great, but they are also really easy to use, just pop your beans inside, put the lid on and twist it back and forth until the indicator on the lid appears green.
SHOULD I KEEP MY COFFEE IN THE FRIDGE?
In short, the answer to this question is no!
Despite what you’ve been told by friends, family or trusted sources, keeping your coffee in the fridge or freezer often leads to damp coffee as the cool air condenses. So, avoid storing your coffee in the fridge.
WHAT IS THE PERFECT FRESHNESS FOR COFFEE?
Nearly all of our hero kilo bags of coffee are nitrogen flushed when packed, which removes oxygen from the bags and keeps the coffee at optimum freshness for longer.
We post coffee out 1-2 weeks after roasting and recommend that you drink it within 2-3 months of the roast date.
This leaves enough time for the coffee to rest if it's an espresso (more on that below) whilst still preserving that delicious fresh coffee flavour.
CAN COFFEE GO BAD?
You could open a bag of coffee that’s been in the cupboard for several years, grind it, brew it and drink it. It won't make you sick, but it will taste pretty dull and bitter. You won’t see much crema, which is a good indicator of (lack of) freshness.
All of the volatile aromas, acids and sugars will have broken down over time, and if the coffee was a particularly dark roast (darker than ours), then the oils which collect on the surface will have oxidised and taken on a stale oil taste.
WHAT ABOUT REALLY OLD COFFEE? CAN I STILL USE IT?
As coffee ages, its sugars and oils break down, and this will affect how the coffee extracts.
If your coffee is more than 3 months old, it’s really past its best. You’ll see less crema (the oily residue at the top of your coffee), and it will taste more bitter than usual.
By grinding coarsely, you can still use your coffee in a cafetiere. Brew at 70g per litre, and whilst you may lose some of the more nuanced flavours, it’s still drinkable and a tasty brew.
In an espresso machine, fresh coffee is much more important. As the oils and sugars break down, the water will rush through the bed of coffee faster than usual, and your coffee will be under-extracted. If you continue making your grind finer and finer to reach your usual extraction time, eventually you will jam up your grinder.
Check out our blog post on recycling coffee for ideas on how to use any old coffee you may have lying around.
CAN COFFEE BE TOO FRESH?
Now, we all know that old coffee is bad, but did you know that espresso roasted coffee can in fact be too fresh?
This is down to the build-up of carbon dioxide (CO2) inside the bean that naturally occurs during the roasting process. Extract and the cafes you know and love control this by 'resting' the coffee before it's used, a week or two at most. This gives some of the CO2 time to escape and the barista can make adjustments on their professional grinder to pull you a delicious shot.
Our espressos are rested here at the roastery so when your coffee is delivered it's perfectly rested and ready to brew.
ALL THAT READING LEFT YOU THIRSTY?
Kudos to you for making it to the end of our brew guide on keeping your coffee fresher for longer. If you're craving a delicious coffee, head over to our webshop to take a look at our latest coffees online.