Tips for Fresh Coffee
May 4, 2009 by Marye Audet
Filed under Coffee
Coffee Bean Direct is a company specializing in whole bean coffee. When I checked email this morning I found a list of tips on how to be sure that you are getting the freshest coffee ever.
Stale coffee is nasty tasting. Once it is roasted it begins to go stale. Once it is ground it goes stale even faster. Most people really have not tasted fresh coffee, especially if they are buying the ground stuff at the grocery store. Here are the tips from Coffee Beans Direct:
- Vacuum packed containers are your best bet, because canned coffee will always be stale to some extent.
- Look for packaging that includes a one-way air valve. Fresh coffee beans emit gas for a few weeks after roasting. Coffee that is packaged fresh will always have this valve or else the bag will burst! Be sure to check carefully for these valves, because they can sometimes be hard to find on the package.
- Instead of an expiration date, it is better for the containers to display dates like “Roasted on “or “born on” because coffee should be consumed within 2 to 4 weeks of roasting.
- Buy whole bean coffee. Ground coffee has a shorter shelf life than whole bean. Plus, when the bean remains whole it is able to maintain its freshness and flavor for a longer period of time.
- The freshest coffee option is not found in the super market. It’s best to buy from a boutique coffee roaster. They roast their beans daily and because they are the producer, the cost is much lower than big third party distributors.
I would add to that a couple of my own:
- Keep your coffee sealed and in a cool, dark place.
- Grind only what you need when you need it.
- If your coffee order takes longer than a few days to get to you don’t use the company again.
- Try to find a local roaster. Good for the environment, the local economy, and your tastebuds.
- Use cold, filtered water.
- Use gold filters rather than paper.
- Clean your coffee maker regularly
You may pay a little more from an artisan roaster but if you are going to drink coffee you want to drink good coffee. Maybe not all of us can afford designer dresses custom made by Givenchy or Channel, but most of us can splurge on good great coffee.
Image:Marye Audet (c) 2009
Great post! I would like to comment on a couple of things. As you may have seen, I did some home roasting this past weekend with my airpopper. Of course, I was excited to experience that fresh roasted taste and I decided to forgo the recommended four day respite period. I waited two days and ground up my first pot this morning. With great anticipation I sipped my first taste of….mocha lemon juice. This was horrid! A couple of days on the shipping isn’t an issue as the beans are degassing. I do vouch for the grind on demand, non-bleached filters, cold filtered water, and ‘born on’ dating, as coffee attains it’s peak flavor at 4-15 days.
I dont mind a couple of days shipping…it is when it is roasted on thursday and I get it on the nexgt saturday that I feel it is pushing it some…anything much beyond that and I am not interested in the company.
Thanks I got a couple good tips from both the Coffee Bean Direct email and your own tips. Plus, it reinforced a couple of things I already knew, but don’t do yet – I need to find a good local roaster and I need to start cleaning my coffee maker on a more regular basis.
Mike, I have a local roaster that does up an amazing custom blend for me. Find a good one and yeah, unless you get proficient at roasting your own it is the way to go.
Oh good thing that I just like coffee and am not a gourmet coffee lover. I could never follow all these tips to the letter; although, it does make me wonder what I may be missing. I even gave up grinding my own coffee because, for the life of me, I never got a consistent brew from one pot to the next.
You probably never got a consistent pot because you were using a blade grinder. A blade grinder doesn’t produce a uniform sized particle, which is essential to the brewing process. I would say that the grinder is more important than the brewer! Pre-ground coffee is stale before the package is sealed. Even under optimal storage, ground coffee is only good for a day. If you believe otherwise, then you are accustomed to drinking stale coffee. You may want to continue in your ignorant bliss. For once you make the switch, there is no turning back. It’s like when Neo had to choose between the red pill and the blue pill on the Matrix.
And..I have found in my life that it honestly doesn’t matter to some people.
Vee, I have found as a foodie, that some people just respond to flavor different ways. It may be, as Nate said, that you needed a burr grinder, etc. But maybe not. An example…I love finishing salt. Hawaiian red, Fleur de Sel, French Gray, Himalayan pink…..I will pay alot of money for good finishing salt because of the spark it gives to foods. Marc likes Morton Iodized salt. We have been married for 29 years and I have realized he tastes things differently than I do. He likes my spagetti sauce, but he also is happy with Ragu. He loves to ski and mountain bike. I don’t see the point. You get sweaty and tired, or cold, or….
DO you see my point? I don’t *taste* sports the way he does.
That is so funny that you got info from coffee bean direct! I love those guys! I agree about getting fresh coffee and theirs is always great and I also agree with it being no big deal about a few days for shipping. I look at getting it from them as more green than getting in my own car and driving with just me because their package shares the travel with a whole bunch of other packages whcih is probably more green too. I get the ground breakfast blend in 5 pounds and split it with my mom. We save lots of money this way and it is way better than any coffee I can get around here. Just thought I would put my 2 cents in! Keep up the good work!!!!
thanks Katie!