For more knowledge about specialty coffee, please pay attention to: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee）
Front Street recently discovered that a small number of coffee fans have stored their coffee beans unopened for two months. They believe that as long as they are unopened, the coffee beans will not deteriorate. In fact, it will not affect the deterioration of the coffee, but it will affect the flavor of the coffee beans. In this article, Front Street will popularize some relevant knowledge on coffee bean storage.
Are the ground coffee beans fresh?
First of all, Front Street understands that many coffee fans think that freshly ground coffee beans mean they are fresh like other beans, but in fact this is not the case. If you want to drink the aroma of coffee, you must not only freshly grind it, but also buy coffee beans that have just been roasted for a few days, because coffee beans that have been roasted for only a few days have the best aroma.
Therefore, whether in-store or online, Front Street provides freshly roasted coffee beans. Unless a customer requests to grind them into powder, Front Street will grind them. Because the aroma of coffee beans generally only lasts for one month, the best tasting period is also within one month. When ground into coffee powder, the contact area between coffee and air increases, which will cause the aroma to disappear faster.
Are freshly roasted coffee beans the freshest?
Therefore, the reason why Front Street emphasizes fresh roasting is because roasted coffee beans will lose their aroma over time. After 50 days of roasting, there is basically no aroma. At this time, some coffee fans may ask whether freshly roasted coffee has the best flavor. In fact, this is not the case, because the aroma of the coffee beans is not very stable two days before they are roasted, and the flavor of the production area is not yet available.
Therefore, Front Street usually reminds coffee fans to keep the freshly roasted coffee beans for 3-4 days before brewing. How to confirm the coffee roasting time? Front Street prints the roasting date on each package of coffee, so coffee fans can calculate the best flavor period of the coffee beans based on the roasting time on the coffee bean packaging.
What is the general shelf life of coffee beans?
As mentioned above, the delicious taste of coffee comes from its aroma and taste. After the coffee beans are roasted, carbon dioxide is produced, causing the coffee beans to expand and become brittle, and the gaps between the particles become larger. The aroma will easily evaporate into the air, and the oil in the beans will also oxidize, resulting in off-flavors.
Therefore, Front Street recommends that single-origin coffee beans should be tasted within one month. This is also the result of Front Street’s practice. The best tasting period is also within one month. Although the coffee beans will still have a certain aroma after one month, they will not be as good as the flavor in the first month. And according to experience in the coffee roasting industry, the shelf life of general coffee beans is two to three months. The specific time will be affected by many factors: the quality of the green beans, degree of roasting, storage environment, storage methods, etc.
Will the shelf life of unopened coffee beans be extended?
Unopened coffee beans also have air circulation in the packaging, so the flavor will still be lost, and vacuum packaging cannot achieve 100% vacuum. Even if placed in the refrigerator, the coffee beans will be affected by moisture condensation, so the tasting period of the coffee is indeed limited. Even if it is unopened, Front Street recommends coffee fans to drink it within a month.
Of course, what Front Street refers to is the best tasting period of single-origin coffee beans. As for the shelf life of coffee beans, the shelf life of coffee products stipulated in China's relevant food laws is one year, which means that coffee will not deteriorate due to loss of aroma. Therefore, if you only use coffee as a refreshing beverage, you can drink it within one year.
Coffee powder shelf life
Another point that Front Street has to emphasize is that when grinding coffee beans into powder, it is best to hand-brew the coffee powder immediately, because after the coffee beans are ground into powder, they are very fine particles, and the contact area with the air is many times larger. The flavor is lost very quickly, and even in humid environments, it will absorb moisture in the air, bringing about odors.
How to store the right coffee beans
So how can you store opened coffee beans correctly? After all, if the opened coffee beans are not placed properly, their flavor will be affected. So Front Street will share some tips on storing coffee beans.
1.[One-way breathable valve]
As mentioned above, coffee beans contain compressed carbon dioxide gas after they are roasted. The gas will gradually escape from the inside of the beans, causing the beans to expand.
Therefore, Front Street has a one-way ventilation valve on each coffee bean bag. The gas inside can go out through the one-way ventilation valve, but the outside cannot come in. Take out all the beans each time, pinch the self-sealing mouth of the bag tightly, and squeeze out the gas inside the bag. Because carbon dioxide is denser than air, it will sink below. This squeeze can reduce the internal oxygen content a lot, which is beneficial to the storage of coffee beans.
2.【Sealed can】
Sealed jars can isolate outside air, but most of them are made of transparent materials, so they are still easily affected by light. Every time you open or close, air will enter, and the oxygen in it will still react with the beans inside. Therefore, if you use a sealed jar, it is recommended not to store too many coffee beans at one time.
3.【Vacuum tank】
Vacuum tanks can isolate external air, but most of them are made of transparent materials, so they are still easily affected by light. Every time they are opened and closed, air will enter, and then the air will be pumped out to discharge the air inside, turning it into a low-oxygen state. But at the same time, it also forms a low-pressure state. The pressure inside the beans remains unchanged, and the pressure difference between the inside and outside increases, approaching one atmospheric pressure. This will accelerate the loss of small molecules and volatile aroma substances inside the beans.
Therefore, Front Street still recommends that fresh coffee be stored directly in the one-way breathable valve bag that the coffee beans were received in, at room temperature, sealed, and away from sunlight. Of course, the best way is to buy the amount of coffee you need each time and drink it while the beans are still fresh.
It is not recommended to store it in ground coffee form. Even if the coffee beans are freshly roasted, once they are ground into powder, the contact surface with the air will greatly increase and the coffee will oxidize very quickly, making the coffee easy to spoil. If powdered, drink it as soon as possible within the shelf life of two weeks.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
