Too Much Coffee

...another beginner's question for you all.

I think I'm right in thinking that newly-roasted beans are best not stored in an airtight container, e.g. a sealed jar, because they release gasses (CO2?) which taint the flavour.

So, assuming that's right, a couple of questions...

1. How "bad" would it make the beans taste? E.g. would it turn otherwise excellent beans into an awful cup of coffee?

2. If a jar was modified to have one of those one-way valves in it, would that solve the problem? Or would there still be gasses rolling around inside? Would it be better to have some sort of valved bag which can be squeezed?

I'm asking partly because there's a local shop which roasts and sells coffee (at a high price!)..... the coffee tastes pretty awful (it seems to me anyway) and I know they store their beans in sealed jars.

Tom

Interesting question, I have never heard of CO2 tainting the flavour of the coffee. But I am sure that some of the more experienced roasters here will have something to say.

CO2 is tasteless, so no "tainting"
If you observe the optimum freshness period = 1 week, you don't have much problems.
I guess your local shop stores their beans for a longer period, hence they probably sell "old" coffee.

Ah, I see I have been labouring under a misapprehension, as is so often the case. Thanks for the advice!

We use Bodum 'airtight' jars with rubber suction around the slide in lids, though we do let the 'gas' escape daily by openeing the jars for a day or three when they are newly roasted to prevent sweating and unwanted oils. As we get through beans quite quickly, we don't tend to experience any issues with this method of storage. It may vary for others. We definately have not experienced tainting - though watch out for sweating and oils as that would affect the flavours. I still think valve bags/jars are best - this just works easier for us and our short storage cycles

I think the question that needs to be explored, is for how long you want to store them. Often when you receive beans from retailers, they arrive in sealed bags with one way valves. That is because newly roasted beans do degass, but there is no hard and fast rule to this so differenet varieites take longer, start later etc etc. After for arguments sake, 2 or 3 days, the beans become more stable for lack of a better word
but
some say that once they reach this state that exposure of the bean to oyxgen once again causes the proccess to start, and by that I mean simply lifting the lid to remove some.
This all becomes irrelevant if you intend to roast and use within a short period of time.
Personally, I roast and within 20 minutes seal the beans in vacuum seal bags with one way valves. As the beans degass I extract and once the proccess has completed, I can store any bean and it still be as fresh as a daisy one month later. This is because the bean is neither exposed to the co2 which it produces or to oxygen
I do not expect many to support my ofering, but lets just say it works for me.
The problem you have in buying beans from the retailer you describe, is being bale to decide if they know what they are doindg or are ignorant of basic roasting/storing principles.

daveyb wrote:I think the question that needs to be explored, is for how long you want to store them.
<snip>
The problem you have in buying beans from the retailer you describe, is being bale to decide if they know what they are doindg or are ignorant of basic roasting/storing principles.

And the retailer described, may well be putting fresh beans in with the old ones. Ask yourself next time you go there, how many of these sealed jars are empty, or nearly so. Don't forget too that as the jar is emptied more oxygen is introduced.

It seems that if you are only storing them for 1-3 days, assuming you buy fresh roasted beans or roasting them yourself, any jar will do. I can't imagine CO2 having any effect on the bean (turns to food chemist fiance... long explanation...) No, it is not something that concerns her industry from her experience and studies, and she is pretty knowledgeable about this generally, though not specialist in coffee.

Oils and sweating would be the issue, though if you store them in cool place and rotate through them regularly, no probs.

A place I worked in the past had several jars that they would use, to keep fresher roasts separate, but they had it down to science and never mixed nor wasted anything and always seems to have just enough. Genuis.

What about freezing them in airtight containers? I have heard of this and seen many people do it... how does it affect taste?

j.worlledge wrote:What about freezing them in airtight containers? I have heard of this and seen many people do it... how does it affect taste?

I tried this, expecting it to adversely affect the flavour. But it didn't. At least for the first day "out of the freezer". After day 1, freezer beans staled faster.
So if you must freeze, pack in small packages, 1-2 days worth. It is a lot of work. Question is, is it worth it?

The freezer thing is still lost on me. I know this has been discussed in the past. The whole point of roasting or buying fresh beans is that they are fresh. Why freeze them instead of simply roasting or buying more often? Of course there are occasions when that is not possible and volume may be an issue for some, but on the whole to do anything other than use fresh roasted rather misses the point of sourcing quality coffee in the first place.

CakeBoy wrote:The freezer thing is still lost on me. I know this has been discussed in the past. The whole point of roasting or buying fresh beans is that they are fresh. Why freeze them instead of simply roasting or buying more often? Of course there are occasions when that is not possible and volume may be an issue for some, but on the whole to do anything other than use fresh roasted rather misses the point of sourcing quality coffee in the first place.

I agree entirely. I often try to get customers to buy less coffee, so that what they do have is fresh. But if they buy fresh quality coffee, even if they freeze it or store it longer than I think is sensible, it will still be better than the supermarket brands.

seven/eight pounds for delivery each order and the complete absence of any decent supplies locally makes for finding ways to store coffee beans longer. So we order a lot of beans and freeze them.
(no we havnt tried roasting our own yet)