The Best Way To Store Your Coffee Might Also Be The Easiest

Let's face it: These days, a bag of good coffee is a bit of an investment. Whether you buy your beans from one of the top 10 best artisanal roasters, scoop some up at the weekly farmers market, or go for an expensive store-bought brand (check out our list of the best brands), it's important to store it properly so you don't lose any of the aroma before you even have a chance to brew. Coffee drinkers receive a lot of conflicting advice when it comes to storage, however, so we reached out to Zoe Underhill, roaster and green buyer at Congregation Coffee Roasters in New Orleans, Louisiana, to cut through some of the noise and find the best way to keep coffee fresh. As it turns out, the most effective method doesn't require any expensive containers or complicated temperature control.

"If the original bag has a valve, then that is a perfectly fine way to store coffee, especially if you're moving through the coffee quickly," Underhill told Chowhound exclusively. You probably haven't thought much about it, but that tiny circular valve embedded in the bag is more important than it looks. It allows carbon dioxide to escape naturally from the beans while preventing oxygen from getting in and ruining them. If you struggle to get through a bag in a week or so, then it's time to consider using an airtight container.

Coffee's biggest enemies are light and heat, which can degrade aroma and flavor over time. But that doesn't mean you need to overthink it, according to Zoe Underhill. "Best practices are keeping your coffee climate stable, dry, and away from light. So keeping it in an opaque, airtight container is ideal," she shared with Chowhound. You don't need to freeze coffee, she added, and in fact, storing beans in the freezer can potentially introduce moisture. But if you do choose to use the freezer, she advises not to let the beans thaw. "You want to keep the coffee in a stable environment as much as possible," she said.

Underhill also recommends only buying coffee as whole beans and grinding just what you need for each batch. This is because ground coffee has a greater surface area than whole beans, which increases its exposure to air and light. "Grinding all your coffee at once isn't a mistake, but it will lose freshness faster," she noted. Try to keep the bag or storage container as airtight as possible, and store it in a cool, dry place. "As long as the bag is opaque you don't have to store it in a dark place," she said. Follow these easy guidelines, and next time you find a bag of coffee worth buying, you'll know exactly how to make the flavor last longer.