Storing Coffee

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The last time I posted this tip I got shouted down but I was given it years ago by a senior coffee blender who worked for a major independent ground coffee company in the north of England (you'll have heard of it if you know England and tea shops at all).

Ground coffee starts to go over as soon as the package is opened so keeping it next to the kettle or in a cupboard at room temperature will see it tasting vile in a matter of one or two days.

I keep my opened packs of ground coffee in an airtight container in the freezer and use it straight from the freezer. If you put it in the jug or maker before putting on the kettle the coffee will have defrosted by the time the water is at the right temperature to use. Incidentally, the same person told me that the water should be off the boil when pouring it onto the coffee because boiling water burns coffee (this apparently applies to instant coffee too but I don't drink instant so I've never noticed). The flavour of coffee beans also stays good longer if they are stored in the freezer.

Thanks for posting about this. I was told the same thing and have always done it that way (except I kept a small container in the fridge for daily use).

I also have always met strong opposition to this practice.

There is a difference in the end result - IMHO.


Failing that, have you changed blends or makes? Or possibly the manufacturer of your favourite coffee has changed the composition of their blend. I'm sorry to say that I have not come across a fair trade ground coffee available in the UK that doesn't taste horrid and some supermarkets' own brand ground coffee is awful. However, chaq'un a son gout

Or have you changed your dish washing product? I couldn't work out why my tea was tasting horrible all of a sudden until I realised I had bought a new washing up liquid with "lemon" fragrance in it that was lurking on the clean and dry cups. - bleuch!!


Nothing had changed.

Since I made this post we have been in experiment mode.

First thing I did was get a glass container as suggested by Cooking Goddess.

I must say that made a difference in a good way.

After a short while we began to experience that funny smell again.

Did all the cleaning of the coffeemaker, pot, glass jar and started over.

This time kept the coffee in the cupboard as everyone insisted was the right thing to do.

There was definitely a difference in taste.

At about the same point as before we began to experience that funny smell again.

So went through all the cleaning again.

This time everything was in the freezer including the glass jar.

Same thing happened.

So I am thinking that there comes a certain point where the container simply needs to be emptied and cleaned - and I am now doing that once a week rather than when the bag of coffee is completely used.

I do know that the time it took to experience this funny smell was quite a bit longer with the glass jar than with the tupperware/rubbermaid I was using.

So the end result of all of this is I now have an awesome glass jar to hold my coffee in a manageable amount, empty and clean every Saturday whether it needs it or not, keep the coffee in the freezer and all seems A-ok.

Thanks to everyone for the input - it really did help :flowers:
 
Oh Addie: I understand!! My students knew to behave until I had several cups of coffee. (I had a coffee maker in my classroom office!!!) of course my first hour group of Seniors also loved coffee, so for good behavior we had "Coffee Fridays".
 
Coffee beans can lose their flavor immediately after roasting if not stored properly. To store it use an airtight container and put it in a cool dark cupboard. You can also buy special containers where you can pump the air out to create a vacuum seal.
 
Coffee beans can lose their flavor immediately after roasting if not stored properly. To store it use an airtight container and put it in a cool dark cupboard. You can also buy special containers where you can pump the air out to create a vacuum seal.
I recently went to coffee roasting school to learn...
I'll have to say that I learned a LOT more about coffee and processing and roasting.
And this after spending a year trading coffee futures on the exchange.

A roasting profile for specialty grade coffee is insanely complicated...
guided by computers these days for small roasters. (Less than 20 tons per week)

I have yet to see a coffee roasted and packaged and sold in the supermarket that wasn't over roasted. I'll stick to the small time roasters.
However, not all small time roasters are all that good at it. I'm not a fan of many...usually just a handful. And where I understand that they are tasting it...do they lose their sense of what's popular?

I am glad that we are entering the third wave of coffee popularity with customized blends. The balance of sour with bitterness and including the projection of Milk's lactose added later...some of those blends are ROCKING!

Just saying....since retiring one of the things I miss the most is our gourmet blend made into a redeye...and sometimes a blackeye.
 
Safeway grocery got noticed when it was discovered that their suppliers were putting superior products into Safeway store brand containers and store brand quality into brand name containers. I am sure all grocery stores do it.
 
Safeway grocery got noticed when it was discovered that their suppliers were putting superior products into Safeway store brand containers and store brand quality into brand name containers. I am sure all grocery stores do it.
I know that the mark-up on coffee is almost a standard anymore.

If the green coffee costs them $4/lb then they sell the roasted coffee for $14/lb.
It's an automatic easy formula they use....but the bags cost...so does the printing on them. (At times the bags get difficult to obtain) Then there's the labor for roasting as well as building to roast it in. Even EPA regulations to harass the roasters because they vent the fumes (lovely smelling to me) outside. The C0² isn't so good....but gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet.
Then there's delivery costs too.

The big guys (folgers, maxwell, Starbucks and etc) all roast their coffee to just shy of second Crack and then grind and filter the particle size to be perfectly uniform. Not even close to what a specialty coffee roaster will do.

At one time Starbucks had good coffee....today it's crap. They just went to fully automatic machines too making it even worse....Kaldi's and Bongo Java is better at the moment....but not by much. *sigh*
 
I know that the mark-up on coffee is almost a standard anymore.

If the green coffee costs them $4/lb then they sell the roasted coffee for $14/lb.
It's an automatic easy formula they use....but the bags cost...so does the printing on them. (At times the bags get difficult to obtain) Then there's the labor for roasting as well as building to roast it in. Even EPA regulations to harass the roasters because they vent the fumes (lovely smelling to me) outside. The C0² isn't so good....but gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet.
Then there's delivery costs too.

The big guys (folgers, maxwell, Starbucks and etc) all roast their coffee to just shy of second Crack and then grind and filter the particle size to be perfectly uniform. Not even close to what a specialty coffee roaster will do.

At one time Starbucks had good coffee....today it's crap. They just went to fully automatic machines too making it even worse....Kaldi's and Bongo Java is better at the moment....but not by much. *sigh*
What I said is you buy a package of your coffee but it is full of coffee crap from unknown source.
 
(one of) The best part of making coffee from whole beans is that delightful sent that tickles the nose as you grind and measure the fresh grounds. Of course you have to start with good beans to begin with. ;)
 
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