Whether you’re making coffee at home, in the office, or you’re a business using coffee beans on a larger scale; using fresh coffee is key for flavour.
Posted by Cascara UK on June 6, 2021
A quick online search will reveal all sorts of methods for keeping your coffee fresh once opened, but how many of them actually work? Here at Cascara we sell coffee from our roasting partner Taf Coffee , mostly in whole-bean format as it stays fresh for longer. Whichever way you’re buying your coffee follow our advice to keep it tasting delicious.
There could be a couple of reasons coffee becomes undrinkable; these are the same whether you’re using beans or ground coffee.
Stale coffee
This is the most common reason your brew may not be tasting as good as it should. Exposure to light, varying temperatures and the introduction of oxygen could be making your coffee stale. Visually this is difficult to detect but stick your nose in the bag and you’ll definitely know the difference between fresh and stale coffee! In terms of taste; stale coffee will have an unpleasant, ashy and bitter taste rather than the well-rounded flavours of one kept fresh.
Moisture
Until you’re actually brewing a cup; don’t let your coffee get wet! Of course, adding water to coffee on purpose is a no-no, but moisture can also be introduced in lots of other ways too.
Storing coffee in the cupboard above your kettle or cooker is a classic people often overlook. Steam rises upwards, meets the coffee and forms mildew – that doesn’t sound too good, right? Taking coffee in and out of the fridge is also problematic – the change in temperature means condensation is formed. You’d be surprised at the number of people who still think refrigerating or freezing their coffee but we advise that the fridge or freezer is definitely not the place for storing coffee!
How to keep it fresh
The main things to be wary of when storing your coffee are air, moisture, heat and light as all can have a disastrous impact on flavour and aroma
Ground coffee exposed to the air is likely to go stale within 30 minutes. This is why any decent barista is grinding your coffee to order, ideally on an on-demand grinder. Beans stay fresh for a little longer but once you’ve opened the bag it’s important to store them away in the correct way.
The best place to store coffee is in an airtight container for locking in all those marvellous flavours and aromas. This should preferably not be glass or clear plastic as light-exposure can erode freshness too. If you do use something see-through, make sure to store it in a dark cupboard. This should then be stored away on a cool, dry shelf.
Fresher coffee is tastier coffee – hopefully these tips will mean you never make a stale cup again!
