The Challenge of keeping Coffee fresh

Coffee like all organic products deteriorates rapidly in quality when exposed to air for any length of time. The challenge for my industry is how do we slow down this loss of flavour so that you the consumer end up with something that you can drink and enjoy?

On the supermarket shelf two techniques are used. The first is to use a high barrier packaging material. Appalling for the environment , but capable of delivering "shelf life". The second is to modify the atmosphere, whether by removing it altogether, thereby creating a "brick pack", or by changing the gas makeup within the bag, usually to a food grade nitrogen.

The problem is that you can theorise all day about what level of flavour degredation is acceptable, when actually there should be "zero tollerance" in this area if you really want to get the best out of your coffee.

But what do I mean by zero tollerance?

A number of roasters in the US use the term "born on" date which refers to the day on which the coffee was roasted. This at least gives the consumer some idea as to the freshess of the coffee. In theory the best flavour will come from coffee that has been roasted just before you purchase it, however I don't believe this to be the case. My experience is that coffee needs to "settle down" for around 24 hours after it has been roasted. This doesn't mean leaving it out in the open, but simply not using the coffee until it has "calmed down" after roasting. The only comparison I can make is with a good stew. Leave it 24 hours after cooking and all the flavours are so much more developed; well the same is the case with coffee.

So first tip is to buy coffee that has been roasted fairly recently, something of the order of 4 weeks ago should give pretty decent results as long as it has been stored properly over that period.

Buying whole beans and grinding the coffee yourself is the best approach, however some domestic grinders aren't particularly accurate when it comes to getting an even grind which in turn affects the taste of the coffee, particularly espresso based drinks. But that's a whole different blog.

The next important point is that when you get the coffee home and open the packet for the first time that you either reseal the bag taking care to remove as much air as possible, or decant it into a container from which you can remove the air much in the same way as wine is stored after opening the bottle. So called "hermetically sealed" containers simply don't work when it comes to retaining the flavour of the coffee. There's just too much air about.

Finally the coffee should be stored in a cool dry environment to stop the coffee oils evaporating. Once again there is huge debate over the definition of what is meant by "cool". Personally I have no problem storing coffee in the fridge, I know some of our customers store their whole beans in the freezer and grind from frozen. I guess the only danger with the fridge is that other flavours might get into the coffee. My response to that is that if you use a proper barrier storage material, you shouldn't experience any problems.

In summary then, be aware of how long ago the coffee has been roasted. Take great care over how you store it and finally consume it as soon as possible after opening the packet. I suggest a maximum of 10 days, however for espresso you will see a deterioration in the drink quality within 24 hours.

My suggestion, purchase little and often - if you have a speciality coffee shop in your area ask which coffee was the last one to be roasted, that way you should get great coffee every time.