What to do if I can't finish the beans I bought?-- A Guide to the Preservation of Coffee beans

After choosing the coffee beans, the next lesson is to store the coffee beans. Did you know that coffee beans are the freshest within a few hours after baking? Which container can best preserve the freshness of coffee beans? Can I put the coffee beans in the refrigerator? Next we will tell you how to store coffee beans.

Preservation of coffee beans: focus on fresh coffee beans

Like most foods, the fresher you are, the more you can taste the most authentic taste. So are coffee beans. The more fresh they are, the better the flavor is. It is not easy to buy high-quality coffee beans, you must not want to drink coffee with a greatly reduced flavor because of poor storage. Coffee beans are very sensitive to the external environment, and the best taste period is not long. How to store coffee beans correctly is a very important issue for people who pursue high-quality coffee.

The freshly baked coffee bean oil will shine on the surface when it is baked.

First of all, let's look at the characteristics of coffee beans. When freshly roasted coffee bean oil is roasted, the surface will be shiny (except for shallow roasted coffee beans and special beans that have been washed with water to remove caffeine), and some reactions continue to take place inside the beans and release carbon dioxide. Fresh coffee beans emit 5-12 liters of carbon dioxide per kilogram. This exhaust phenomenon is one of the keys to tell whether coffee is fresh or not.

With this process of continuous change, coffee will begin to get better after 48 hours of roasting. It is recommended that the best taste period for coffee is 48 hours after roasting, preferably no more than two weeks.

Elements that affect the freshness of coffee beans

Buying freshly roasted coffee beans every three days is obviously a bit impractical for busy modern people. By preserving the coffee beans in the right way, you can avoid the trouble of purchasing and still drink coffee that completely retains the original flavor.

Roasted coffee beans are most afraid of the following elements: oxygen (air), moisture, light, heat and smell. Oxygen makes coffee tofu bad and bad, water will wash away the aroma oil from the coffee surface, and other elements will interfere with the internal reaction of coffee beans, and finally affect the flavor of coffee.

From this you can infer that the best environment for storing coffee beans is a dry, tasteless place that is isolated from oxygen (air). And among them, isolating oxygen is the most difficult.

Coffee beans need to be stored in a dry, dark, odorless place insulated from oxygen.

Vacuum packing does not mean freshness.

You may think: "what is the difficulty of isolating the air? vacuum packing is fine." Otherwise, if you put it in a sealed coffee can, the oxygen won't get in. "vacuum packaging or fully sealed packaging may be good for other ingredients, but we have to tell you that neither package is suitable for fresh coffee beans.

As we said earlier, coffee beans continue to release a lot of carbon dioxide after roasting, and if the coffee beans in vacuum packaging are fresh, the bag should burst. Therefore, the general practice of manufacturers is to leave the roasted coffee beans for a period of time, wait for the beans to no longer exhaust, and then put into vacuum packaging. In this way, you don't have to worry about exploding, but the coffee beans no longer have the freshest flavor. It is OK for coffee powder to be packed in vacuum, but as we all know, coffee powder itself is no longer the freshest state of coffee.

Sealed packaging is not a good way, sealed packaging will only prevent air from entering, the air contained in the original package can not go out. There is 21% oxygen in the air, which is equivalent to locking oxygen and coffee beans together, which can not achieve the best antiseptic effect.

The best device for preserving coffee: one-way breathable valve

One-way breathable valve

Front and side diagrams of one-way breathable valve

At present, the device on the market that can achieve the best effect of keeping coffee beans fresh is the one-way breathable valve (one-way valve), which was invented by Fres-co Company in Pennsylvania in 1980.

Why? Here to review the simple high school physics, the light gas moves faster, so in the space where there is only one exit, the light gas tends to escape and the heavy gas tends to stay. This is what Graeme's Law (Graham's Law) tells us.

Imagine a bag packed with fresh coffee beans with some remaining space filled with air, which contains 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen. Carbon dioxide is heavier than both gases, and when coffee beans produce carbon dioxide, they squeeze oxygen and nitrogen out. At this time, if there is an one-way breathable valve, the gas can only go out, not in, and there will be less and less oxygen in the bag over time, which is exactly what we want.

Coffee bean exhaust refers to the discharge of nitrogen dioxide.

The less oxygen, the better the coffee.

Oxygen is the killer of coffee beans, which is one of the principles that must be considered when selecting and evaluating all kinds of coffee bean storage products. Some people choose to poke a small hole in the bag of coffee beans, which is better than completely sealed, but the amount and speed of oxygen escape is limited, and the hole is a two-way pipe, and the oxygen from the outside will run into the bag. Reducing the amount of air in the package is certainly an option, but only an one-way breather valve can reduce the oxygen content in the coffee bean bag.

In addition, it should be reminded that the packaging with an one-way breathable valve must be sealed to be effective, otherwise oxygen can still get into the bag. Before sealing, you can gently squeeze the air out as much as possible, reduce the gas space in the bag, and have less oxygen to touch the coffee beans.

How can coffee beans be preserved in Qicha?

Of course, the one-way breather valve is just the beginning of preserving coffee beans. Here are some questions you may have, hoping to help you enjoy the freshest coffee every day.

What if I buy too many coffee beans?

It is generally recommended that the best taste period for coffee beans is two weeks, but if you buy more than two weeks, the best way is to put them in the freezer. We recommend using sealable freezer bags (the less air inside, the better) and store them in small packages, each of which is no more than two weeks. Take out the coffee beans an hour before using them, and then unseal them until deiced to room temperature. There are less water droplets on the surface of coffee beans. Don't forget that moisture can also seriously affect the flavor of coffee beans. Do not put back coffee beans that have been taken out of the freezer to avoid moisture affecting the taste of coffee in the process of thawing and freezing.

In good storage, coffee beans can be kept fresh in the freezer for two weeks. It can be kept for up to two months, but it is not recommended.

Can I put coffee beans in the freezer?

Coffee beans can not be put in the freezer, only the freezer can keep fresh. The first is that the temperature is not low enough, and the second is that the coffee bean itself can remove the smell, which will absorb the taste of other foods in the refrigerator into the beans, and the final brewed coffee may have the taste of your refrigerator. No storage box can resist the smell, and even coffee powder is not recommended to be put in the freezer.

Suggestions for the preservation of coffee powder

The best way to preserve coffee powder is to make coffee and drink it, because the standard storage time of coffee powder is one hour. Freshly brewed coffee can retain the best flavor.

If there is really no way, then we suggest putting the coffee powder in a sealed container (porcelain is best). Coffee powder is very sensitive to moisture and must be kept dry and kept as little as possible for more than two weeks.

What is the general principle of coffee bean preservation?

Buy good quality and fresh beans, seal them in dark containers with one-way breathable valves, and place them in a dry, cool, sun-free and steam-free place. The flavor of coffee beans gets better 48 hours after roasting, and the freshest beans are kept at room temperature for two weeks.

Why there are so many eyebrows in storing coffee beans sounds troublesome.

It's simple, because good quality coffee is worth your trouble. Coffee is a very daily drink, but there is also a wealth of knowledge to study, this is the interesting place of coffee, feel attentively, taste the most complete and pure flavor of coffee together.