Comments on: Storing coffee

By: aurelia

aurelia — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:29:05 +0000

I buy coffee once a week, approximately 1/2 pound. I grind it at the store to the coarsest grind.

I bring it home and dump it all into a homemade muslin coffeebag.

I add approximately 10 cups of cool water and leave it all to steep on the counter for at least 12 hours.

I pour that into a glass pitcher and store it in the fridge.

To make coffee, I put the coffee concentrate in the mug, add dairy and just boiled water.

Yum!!

We have less coffee waste this way and coffee stores better in my fridge coldbrewed than I could store it as beans.

Typically, the coffee I brew has been roasted within the last three days.

Also, iced coffee is a breeze. Ice in a glass, a little sweetener, coffee concentrate and dairy. Double Yum!!!!

By: Ben Lowery

Ben Lowery — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:03:42 +0000

I’ve been making espresso (Rancilio Silvia / Rocky) for just over a year now and I’ve worked out a pretty good system with the freezer. Sadly our local roaster doesn’t know how to properly roast for espresso, so I’m still doing mail order to Intelligentsia. I get a 5lb bag of their Black Cat every month and a half, dividing the bag up into 1/2lb portions. I vacuum seal each portion and stick them in the freezer (-2F). When I need more beans, I just pull a bag out of the freezer and let it come up to room temp while still in the bag. Keeping the beans in the vacuum sealed bag prevents the dreaded condensation. That’s the really important part. And once the beans are at room temp, I leave them at room temp. No fridge, no freezer. It’s worked really well for me.

P.S. Sealing items in a plastic bag when bringing them from a cold environment into a warm humid one to prevent condensation is a great trick. I also use it all the time with my camera gear.

By: daswitzer

daswitzer — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:26:32 +0000

Does anyone know of a daily ezine about decluttering? I was receiving a motivating email everyday from a good source, but for some reason it has stopped coming. I need to be motivated everyday. I have been doing really well this year and don’t want to fall back into old habits. Anybody out there want to send some motivation my way????

By: Cafecito

Cafecito — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:25:53 +0000

I have been buying fresh roasted coffee whole bean from Peet’s Coffee for 35 years, have always stored the coffee, ground it, and brewed it the same way most of those years based on Mr. Peet’s advice (he passed away this past summer) and have never had anything but great tasting coffee! (I believe the founder of Starbucks began his coffee career working for Mr. Peet.) These are the recommendations directly from Peet’s website (Peets.com).

“To ensure a freshly brewed cup of … coffee, follow these recommendations:

Buy coffee frequently – weekly, if possible. This ensures you have the most recent roast.

Grind coffee yourself just before brewing. The coffee bean acts as its own container, holding in flavor and aromatic compounds. Once the beans are ground, aromatics are released. If brewing does not happen right away, the aromatic complexities will begin to dissipate.

Store your coffee in an airtight container. Then place it in a cool, dry, dark place to protect it against the staling effects of heat, light, and moisture. Refrigerating or freezing will slow this process, but won’t stop it.”

Happy “coffeeing”!

By: Julie Pak

Julie Pak — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:11:20 +0000

Great little write up! I’ve been ‘doing’ what I preach (to live a clutter free life). My boyfriend is seeing the benefits too.

I buy 2 pounds of whole coffee beans and then put 1/2 pound into an air-tight container to store and use during the week. The rest goes into the freezer. I repeat this process every week to minimize my runs to the coffee shop. It’s simple and effective in many ways. The alternatives waste too much time and money, increase carbon footprint and complicates ones life.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:00:15 +0000

@Henry — I’ve seen the episode of Good Eats, but I take Harold McGee’s word over Alton’s. In fact, I think Alton might take Harold McGee’s word over his own … have you read the acknowledgments section of I’m Just Here for the Food?

By: HenryFatass

HenryFatass — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 03:21:36 +0000

K…Here’s the gospel to Alton Brown.

Never grind you beans ahead of time.

Never store in a fridge/freezer. Anything colder than room temp will cause beans to condensate when taken out and that’s not good.

Store in airtight container that is “just” large enough to hold the beans, to keep as much oxygen away from the beans as possible. Keep this container at room temperature and out of direct sunlight.

Am I seriously the only commenter out of almost 30 that’s scene the coffee ep. of Good Eats?

By: Paul D

Paul D — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:51:10 +0000

to those who only have coffee and tea for guests – unless you have a lot of suprise guests, just go to the local coffee shop and buy a quarter of a pound and have them grind it whenever you are having guests – coffee shops are happy to sell small quantities unlike grocery stores. Also, do not buy the grind it yourself from a grocery store, you are just getting the previous purchasers selection. Throw any leftovers away if these are any. That way you do not have to worry about grinders or storage and you guests will love you for the effort. The least expensive, worry free solution.

By: Lydia

Lydia — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:55:48 +0000

Thank for the insight! I think you’ve just motivated me to get rid of some of the mugs I have filled in my cupboard!!!

we are an aeropress family and a room temperature coffee storage family .

I love your blog, I’m adding it to my bloglines,..I could use some more decluttering in my life!!

By: coffee beans

coffee beans — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:54:01 +0000

I have learned that you are not to freeze dark roast coffee at all. The other type of roasts you can. Not exactly sure of the reasoning, but I take the advice.

By: jw

jw — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:40:06 +0000

OMG, i’ve been doing it all wrong! i grind my coffee at the store (and here i thought a coffee grinder was a unitasker), then i keep the package in the freezer, NOT in a special canister, and open it every day for like three weeks until it’s gone! please don’t send me to coffee drinker jail with all the instant freeze dried coffee crystal folks.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:09:10 +0000

Nora,

Bed, Bath and Beyond actually has several for $50 to $60. The only thing I don’t like about mine is that it is very loud. I grind my coffee in the garage so I don’t wake up the rest of the house. I use my same coffee mug every day. I just rinse it out and put it back in the cabinet.

By: Nora Rocket

Nora Rocket — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:57:41 +0000

Tim–just under $50 for a burr grinder?!?! That seems…totally reasonable for such an upgrade from the spinning blade grinder.

Great topic–I ditched many mugs in the The Great Purge of 2006 and have never, never missed them.

By: Belém

Belém — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:24:09 +0000

I’m have a coffee adiction but i never thought about the best way to store it. I keep the roasted beans, at room temperature, in a air tight canister and I ground a few when i need. I was glad to know from this post the best ways to keep my coffe in good conditions.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:13:08 +0000

My coffee setup is this-
I buy whole roasted beans 1/2 pound at a time from the local roaster – http://www.javajacks.com/

I store them in a vacuum chamber from Sharper Image – http://www.sharperimage.com/us.....sku__ED170

I grind my beans each morning in my burr grinder – http://www.bedbathandbeyond.co.....U=13265020

and brew my one cup with a Melita OneCup brewer – http://www.melitta.com/itemdy0.....8&Cat=

That is my one indulgence every day.

By: Zachary

Zachary — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:56:08 +0000

Frozen coffee beans will sweat while defrosting and the moisture will destroy the flavor. Buy beans fresh and in small quantities from dedicated direct trade roasters!

By: Bing

Bing — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:52:11 +0000

I’d be surprised if most people could tell the difference between coffee that’s been frozen, refrigerated or stored in whatever method is popular this month. I think like a lot of things in life, people spend too much time trying to figure it out. I’m sure some folks will claim to have the delicate taste buds to discern this, but for most of us, buying good coffee and freezing it will be just fine.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:06:47 +0000

@Lauren — I meant that Travis should address his specific question to McGee. There may be exceptions for technologically advanced containers that have been released since McGee’s book was published. Travis seems to think that he has a special container that is different than any container McGee may have considered during the course of his research. And, since I was only quoting McGee in my article, Travis might benefit more by going to the primary source.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:57:57 +0000

Erin, they post what Harold McGee says right there in the article,

By: boogie

boogie — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:30:06 +0000

the problem with keeping coffee in the fridge is not the humidity inside the fridge, but that the coffee and the container is cold when you take it out and open it up. warm or room temperature air gets into the container when opening it up and a very small amount of the humidity in the room temperature air condensates on the inside of the container and on the coffee itself.