| Green Beans
Green coffee beans can be stored safely for up to two years without any appreciable loss of flavor; there are commercial roasters who believe storing the beans for a period before roasting is beneficial to the final roast quality.
Green beans should be stored in a permeable bag or container; allowing them to breathe without absorbing chemicals or flavours that will affect the taste of the coffee. Suitable bags include burlap or paper; plastic is not recommended.
Ideally green coffee beans should be stored at room temperature with low humidity and out of sunlight.
Roasted Beans
Storing roasted coffee beans is completely different to storing green beans. Oils in the beans begin to deteriorate once they have been roasted and prolonging the life of roasted coffee largely involves slowing the putrefaction of these oils.
There are as many opinions on the freshness of coffee beans as there are roasters however a few points most agree on include:
- Freshly roasted coffee needs between 12 and 24 hours to degass and is best not used during this time
- Depending on the beans it may be a week or more after roasting before they are at their best
- After around one month most coffee beans are on the decline as far as taste and general freshness
- Keeping the beans out of sunlight and away from heat should keep them fresher for longer
- Beans will absorb flavours from other things they are kept with and should always be stored in an airtight container
- Once the coffee beans have been ground they should be used immediately
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