Coffee Storage

Imagine the following scenario:
You have just come home from your favorite coffee shop with two pounds of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, freshly roasted. Normally, you wouldn’t buy so much at one time, but it was a steal at $20 a pound! Realizing that you won’t be able to drink this within a week, you decide that you need to find a better place to store your highly prized (and priced) coffee to best preserve its flavor. What will you do? This particular situation is one where your coffee will have both long-term and short-term storage needs.

To Freeze or Not To Freeze
Often times, it would be suggested to store your coffee in the freezer. After all, at colder temperatures, molecular activity (including flavor molecules migrating) slows down, right? This is true. But does slowing molecular migration down preserve the flavor of the coffee? Not necessarily.You see, there are other variables at work in a freezer.

• A frozen environment will allow water molecules to attach to the coffee beans and/or packaging.
• A freezer has other flavor molecules floating around in it (remember that fish sale 3 weeks ago?)
• A freezer door opens and closes very often under normal use.

What does this mean for your coffee?
This means that water will contact the surface of the bean and ice will form. When the water melts, that water will find its way into the porous bean and the bean will begin to deteriorate the quality of the coffee. Secondly, you should keep in mind that roasted coffee is porous. This is the property of coffee that allows roasters to make Hazelnut flavored coffee. (It isn’t grown that way.) So if you put your Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in the freezer, it needs to be well protected against the possibility of tasting like liquid salmon.

Wrap It Up
Your goal should be to keep the coffee’s contact with water to a minimum. Moreover, the coffee should thaw only once – right before it is brewed. I would suggest keeping the beans in the original packaging. Then place the package in a zippered storage bag. You can draw out the excess air by using a straw to suck out the air while you close the bag. If you do not have a zippered bag, you can wrap the beans using a plastic wrap. I use even more layers! After this initial wrapping, I place the coffee bean bundle in another paper bag. Again, wrap the bag with plastic wrap, then I cover it with foil. It may sound like overkill, but it is worth it. You’ve invested money in this gourmet coffee, you need to protect your investment.

Freezing, In A Nutshell
Freezing coffee is applicable for storage of coffee that won’t be used within 1-2 weeks of roasting. It is not optimal for everyday use.

No Refrigerators!
If you are wondering about the refrigerator, it is a no-no for coffee. Since the temperature is generally around 37 degrees, the water that is inside doesn’t freeze. It is a cold mist that lingers on the coffee and there are even more scents and flavor molecules floating around. Liquid water is coffee’s worst enemy during storage. Under no circumstance would I ever recommend using the refrigerator for storing coffee.

Room Temperature Storage
Storing coffee at room temperature is the most convenient method of storage. It works well for coffee that will be consumed within one to two weeks of purchase.

Eliminate The Negative
When storing at room temperature certain environmental factors to be minimized and eliminated if possible.

• Oxygen
• Water
• Excessive Heat
• Direct Sunlight
• Other flavors

All of these factors will destroy the coffee’s flavor. A great device for mitigating these factors is a ceramic canister that holds ½ lb. to 1lb. of coffee. The canister should have some sort of sealing mechanism that does not allow air to circulate. There is a fundamental rule of physics that states that matter can not occupy the same space as other matter. So keeping your coffee filled to the rim of this container will minimize the possibility of negative elements corrupting your coffee.

Additionally, a ceramic canister will protect the coffee from sunlight, water and flavor migration. Flavor migration happens when the container harbors flavors. Plastic containers are great examples of this concept. Plastics allow flavor molecules to penetrate and metallic canisters allow metallic flavors to migrate. Ceramic containers, on the other hand, are sealed and baked. Consequently, they will not corrupt the flavor of the coffee.

Bottom Line
Short-term storage (within one to two weeks of purchase) should be done in a ceramic container with a good sealing mechanism. Fill the canister to capacity.

Conclusion
If you find yourself at a coffee shop that has a sale on Jamaican Blue Mountain and if you buy more than you can brew in a week or two, store the coffee properly.

Determine which portion of that coffee you will consume within one week.
Put the amount that you can consume in that week into a ceramic canister.
Divide the rest of the coffee into ‘one-week packages’ and store in the freezer as I’ve described in this article.

When you need more coffee, pull another ‘one-week package’ out of the freezer and transfer the coffee into short-term storage.

Coffee Quotes

“Coffee, which makes the
politician wise, And see through all
things with his half-shut eyes.”
- Alexander Pope

Fast Facts About Caffeine

As the most potent chemical component in coffee or tea, we are all very aware of caffeine. Next time you’re sitting around the coffee shop, enjoying a latte and perhaps talking about coffee in general, you can appear quite learned by tossing around these caffeine facts.

The full chemical name for caffeine is 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine and its chemical formula is C8H10N4O2

Caffeine was first isolated from coffee in 1820

In its pure state, caffeine is a crystalline white powder

Caffeine can be found in 60 different plants

10g of caffeine is considered a lethal dose

It’s the most popular drug in the world. Ninety percent of Americans consume it in some form every day

Over 450,000,000 cups of coffee are consumed in the USA every day!

Darkly roasted coffee has less caffeine than lightly roasted

Contrary to popular belief, caffeine (or coffee) won’t help someone sober up if they have had too much to drink

How caffeine works
Caffeine causes changes in the chemicals of your brain, mainly in 2 ways. It mimics adenosine, and binds to all the adenosine receptors in your brain. This prevents the real adenosine from doing its job, which happens to be the slowing down of nerve impulses and the causing of drowsiness. So your brain becomes more alert. Caffeine also increases the levels of dopamine in your brain, which improves your feeling of well-being and improves your mood. It’s this dopamine effect that is the root of caffeine’s addictive properties.

Coffee and exercising may prevent skin cancer

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Drinking coffee and exercising may prevent skin cancer by killing off cells damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation, said a study of

The coffee-exercise combination produced a “dramatic” fourfold difference in apoptosis — the programmed death of pre-cancerous cells — between laboratory mice that did and did not follow the regime, said the researchers of New Jersey’s Rutgers University.

Ideas to help with your iced coffee making

The popularity of iced coffee drinks is still booming this summer, so don’t hesitate to brew some up. They are particularly nice when you have friends over. I think they are a bit more sophisticated than regular soft drinks. And all that caffeine will help a party along.

Coffee Ice Cubes
Don’t let your coffee drinks get watered down with plain ice cubes. Freeze some coffee ahead of time in an ice cube tray. For a fancy touch, add a couple of whole roasted coffee beans to each cube. Warn your guests though. When the cubes melt, you don’t want folks choking on the loose beans.

Plan Ahead
You should brew your coffee ahead of time, to give it time to cool before preparing your iced coffees. Though some recipes call for hot coffee to start with, most drinks will be far frostier if you chill the coffee thoroughly first. Don’t leave it out for too long while still warm. Pop your coffee into the refrigerator once it’s down to room temperature, both to cool it and to keep bacteria at bay.

Jazz up the Whipped Cream
Alot of good iced coffee recipes call for whipped cream on top for the finishing touch. Don’t settle for a dull dollop! It’s not hard to make delicious flavoured whipped cream to jazz up your drinks.

Get a Cocktail Shaker
This is a particularly nice touch if you are serving up your coffee drinks while entertaining friends. Giving your drinks a good shake-up will make them extra frothy. Not recommended for sparkling drinks with club soda.

Use a Cold Brew Method
I can’t actually vouch for this but it’s something to think about. If you shy away from making iced coffee because your house is hot and you don’t want to fire up the coffee maker, you could try using a cold water method of coffee brewing. You typically have to soak the coffee grounds overnight in cold water, rather than heating the water.

Top 6 Ways to Make a Bad Cup of Coffee

Making coffee can be a simple process, but there are plenty of little things that you can do to make a bad cup. Though I’m presuming you’d rather make a good cup of coffee, so these might be a list of things to avoid doing.

1. Brewing With Stale Coffee
The most common way to end up with a bland cup is to use coffee that has gone stale. Roasted whole beans will stay reasonably fresh for up to 1 to 2 weeks, if kept in an air-tight container. Ground coffee only stays fresh for a few days.

2. Overdosing on the Additions
I like a bit of milk and sugar in my coffee, but too much of a good thing will turn even an excellent cup of coffee into a watered-down and sugary mess. These extras should accentuate the coffee’s taste, not mask it. When trying a new coffee, you should have at least one sip without any sweetener, to appreciate the taste.

3. Using Burnt Coffee Beans
If you get your beans for a decent coffee house, this won’t likely be a problem. But if you are roasting your own beans, make sure you don’t go overboard. More roasting doesn’t mean more flavour. Roasting only takes between 10-20 minutes. Burnt beans will make bitter coffee.

4. Boiling Your Coffee
Coffee brewing methods that involve boiling your coffee (like using a stove-top percolator) can result in poor coffee. The high heat can destroy the delicate flavour oils in coffee, leaving you with a pretty unappealing cup. Try using a drip coffee maker instead.

5. Letting Brewed Coffee Sit on the Warming Plate
The warming plate of a drip coffee maker will keep coffee warm, but forever. You’ll end up with more stale coffee if you go for a cup that’s been just sitting there for hours. Take a few minutes and brew a fresh cup.

6. Using a Paper Filter
If you’re using a drip coffee maker, a paper coffee filter can taint the taste of your coffee. This can be a particular problem with cheap filters. Reusable plastic or metal mesh filters are less likely to spoil your brew.

How to Properly Store Your Coffee

Should you freeze or just refrigerate your coffee? Store it in jars, paper or plastic bags? Does it matter if it’s whole bean coffee or ground coffee? These are the questions that plague most coffee buyers.

Well the answers vary, depending on what form your coffee is in.

Green beans store the best. If they are stored in a cool location, in a tightly sealed container, they can last over a year. Even after all that time, they will still produce a flavourful and aromatic cup. The problem with green beans is that there is a lot more work involved to turn them into a cup of coffee. You’ll have to roast them and then grind them. This may be undesirable for an average coffee drinker. Green beans can be harder to find too. Quality coffeeshops may sell them, but grocery stores usually don’t.

So, the next best way to store coffee is to store in roasted but whole bean form. Grinding your own beans is pretty simple, and will be worth the effort. Roasted whole bean will last 1 to 2 weeks, when stored at room temperature. You should keep it in an airtight container that blocks the light. Plastic or metal containers may contaminate the taste of your coffee, so try to use ceramic if possible. If you must use clear glass, then store in a dark cupboard.

One other thing to consider is gas. Roasted beans create a lot of gas (carbon dioxide to be specific). For the first few days, you should open up your coffee container each day to vent out extra gas. Another alternative is to use valve bags. They have little one-way valves in them to allow CO2 to escape but don’t allow oxygen in. The downfall is that these bags can be pricey, and hard to find.

If you can’t use up your whole bean coffee in 2 weeks, then you should freeze it. Coffee stored this way will last about a month, maybe two. Wrap it up in several layers of plastic wrap, or use an airtight container with as much air removed as you can manage. Once your beans have been frozen and thawed, do not refreeze. You don’t even have to thaw them out before grinding. Frozen beans will grind up just fine.

Don’t try to compromise by storing in the fridge. That is the worst place for your coffee. It’s just not cold enough to prevent your coffee from going stale. With all the other foods in your fridge, your coffee is likely to pick up flavours and odours too. That’s just not good.

The last kind of coffee would be roasted and ground. This is the most volatile form, and isn’t good for storage beyond a few days. Again, use an air-tight and light-proof container. Don’t bother trying to freeze ground coffee. With all that extra surface area, it’s going to go stale anyway.

The bottom line is that good coffee is fresh coffee. Only buy what you can use up quickly.