How long is the general shelf life of coffee? how to prolong the shelf life of coffee?

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Bean bakers will carefully observe the characteristics of raw beans, through cup tests to ensure the quality of the sample, and then can find out the best way to roast the beans, and try many ways to find out how to lead to the best flavor of this coffee.

Roasted coffee is easily affected by many factors: light, temperature, moisture, and oxygen, the most influential. Good storage should maintain the freshness of the coffee and maintain its flavor characteristics for as long as possible, so that the drinker can enjoy the coffee at its best.

Why is storage so important?

In general, if raw beans are well stored before baking, the shelf life can be up to one year. On the other hand, the best taste period of roasted coffee beans is only a few weeks, and the baking process will develop our favorite flavor and aromatic substances, whether chocolate, caramel or flowers. But with the changes in the flavor of coffee we feel, their chemical composition will also change.

One of the most important changes is the breakdown of sugar into various compounds, including carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide left in the coffee beans is gradually released after baking, a process called exhaust.

Exhaust is a good thing, especially if the coffee is used to make espresso. If the beans contain too much carbon dioxide during brewing, these gases will block the combination of coffee and water, thus interfering with coffee extraction.

However, when coffee loses carbon dioxide, it also begins to become tasteless. In the Coffee World Map, James Hoffmann says two changes occur when coffee beans are kept for too long. "first of all, coffee will gradually lose its aromatic substances, which give coffee aroma and flavor, that is to say, it will make the coffee flavor less interesting. "it's inevitable, but we can try to delay the aging process.

However, the second change comes from the influence of oxygen and moisture. When coffee beans come into contact with oxygen and moisture, they age and develop new flavors, which are often described as insipid, woody and cardboard. This part can be controlled and prevented as long as coffee beans are not exposed to oxygen and moisture.

In other words, roasted coffee beans are more vulnerable than raw beans, especially due to the effects of oxygen and moisture. This makes the storage of coffee a very important part.