Keeping beans fresh

[Mr.Peaberry]

Theoretically, without having it tested myself, you should be able to test beans if they're fresh, if you store fresh beans in an airtight bag (like PinkRose's suggestion the Zip Lock Bag) and see if the bag has inflated after a day or so because of the CO2.

Do I get the 64k now?

Who said zip-lock bags were air-tight? Freezer bags are usually a different material, so are vacuum bags, but standard zip-lock bags allow air to slowly creep through the material. There are pink zip-lock bags used for electronics that are static safe and are also airtight...I have a couple Miami Herald copies of the Dan Marino retirement edition in these and they have not yellowed since 2000. I don't know if they are food safe though.

 

[PinkRose]

Who said zip-lock bags were air-tight? Freezer bags are usually a different material, so are vacuum bags, but standard zip-lock bags allow air to slowly creep through the material. There are pink zip-lock bags used for electronics that are static safe and are also airtight...I have a couple Miami Herald copies of the Dan Marino retirement edition in these and they have not yellowed since 2000. I don't know if they are food safe though.

It sounds like I should have been more specific. I wasn't referring to the standard zip lock bags that you would use for a sandwich. Those things are definitely not air tight. The heavier freezer bags with the double zip top are about as air tight as you'll get with a zip lock bag. You still need to burp the air out of the bag before totally sealing the zip lock.

 

[friedcoffee]

To keep your beans fresh, the best answer is consume them as quickly you can and so bring beans just for a week. After that the actual flavor goes minimal. Still, keep the things in an air tight container.

 

[nikkakae]

i usually just keep it in a air tight glass jar.. or you can use also ziplocks if you have few beans remaining

 

[Nav]

i work for a coffee distributor and how to keep the coffee beans fresh was a common question we got from our customers so i wrote an article on it. As mentioned earlier, it's important to keep the beans away from air, moisture, heat and light.

One thing i'd like to add is that if you cut the top off and want to re-use the coffee bean bag, you could buy a vacuum sealer strip that allows you to seal the bag. Not ideal but it works if you finish it fast.

 

[MochaProject]

keep em out of the sun!

 

[Frihed89]

I am forced to import French Roast coffee beans from the US to Denmark, 4 x 1 lb bags at a time, 3x a year. It takes 7-14 days to get to DK and 2-10 days to get through customs, if it is not lost.

I push all the air out of each bag, duct tape them tight (leaving the air hole free) and out them in the freezer, until I open a bag. Then it goes inside a decompression can. That's the best I can do. Peet's coffee doesn't taste that bad, following this procedure.

Why Peets? I can't find any other supplier anywhere in the US or Europe, and i have tried a lot.

 

[PinkRose]

I am forced to import French Roast coffee beans from the US to Denmark, 4 x 1 lb bags at a time, 3x a year. It takes 7-14 days to get to DK and 2-10 days to get through customs, if it is not lost.

I push all the air out of each bag, duct tape them tight (leaving the air hole free) and out them in the freezer, until I open a bag. Then it goes inside a decompression can. That's the best I can do. Peet's coffee doesn't taste that bad, following this procedure.

Why Peets? I can't find any other supplier anywhere in the US or Europe, and i have tried a lot.

If you only order 4 one-pound bags of coffee each time, maybe one of the roasters on this Coffee Forum would be able to ship coffee to you. We have lots of members who roast coffee, and they're located all over the globe.

Rose

 

[Ade]

I am forced to import French Roast coffee beans from the US to Denmark, 4 x 1 lb bags at a time, 3x a year. It takes 7-14 days to get to DK and 2-10 days to get through customs, if it is not lost.

I push all the air out of each bag, duct tape them tight (leaving the air hole free) and out them in the freezer, until I open a bag. Then it goes inside a decompression can. That's the best I can do. Peet's coffee doesn't taste that bad, following this procedure.

Why Peets? I can't find any other supplier anywhere in the US or Europe, and i have tried a lot.

Hi, new to the forum and an old(ish) thread I know but I thought you'd like to look up Black Cat coffee in Norway (black-cat.no). They do French roasted beans which (IMO) are great - remind me of the coffee I used to drink when I lived in Switzerland and France. Perhaps it's cheaper than importing from the US - at least it should get there quicker.

I don't particularly like their 50/50 French/Italian blend though - it tasted too bitter for me but that may have been my inept handling of it.

 

[myCoffee]

maybe you should try using those vacuum bags that people sell in Acehardware.

 

[Frihed89]

maybe you should try using those vacuum bags that people sell in Acehardware.

No Ace Hardware in Denmark, but thanks, as I will be in the US briefly in October.

 

[Frihed89]

Hi, new to the forum and an old(ish) thread I know but I thought you'd like to look up Black Cat coffee in Norway (black-cat.no). They do French roasted beans which (IMO) are great - remind me of the coffee I used to drink when I lived in Switzerland and France. Perhaps it's cheaper than importing from the US - at least it should get there quicker.

I don't particularly like their 50/50 French/Italian blend though - it tasted too bitter for me but that may have been my inept handling of it.

OK. Thanks. I'll give it a try.

 

[BrasilCafeImporters]

Airtight Packaging

Airtight packaging usually does the trick) It's how we ship out our green coffee samples

https://brasilcafeimports.wordpress.com/

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

Michael Sivitz received a patent in 2003 for his methodology for bean freshness. Here is a link to Google Patents and his patent. Worth reading in my opinion. As a chemist who spent most of his adult life working in the coffee business, he has my utmost respect for his insight and thoroughness in his approach to research.

Peaberry

 

[Kudzu]

Michael Sivitz received a patent in 2003 for his methodology for bean freshness. Here is a link to Google Patents and his patent. Worth reading in my opinion. As a chemist who spent most of his adult life working in the coffee business, he has my utmost respect for his insight and thoroughness in his approach to research.

Peaberry

Very interesting, Mr. Peaberry! One thing that research does for me is to confirm something I have been suspecting, but did not have the ability to test. That is, we are kidding ourselves about preserving freshness of roasted beans by storing them in their bags, squeezing excess air out, and resealing between uses. The way I understand that research is the quantity of air in the space between the beans would be sufficient for oxidation to occur, and that is without opening and re-closing the bag daily. For years, I used Airscape canisters, but finally quit fooling with them, as they are just something else to keep clean, when I came to believe the same thing about them - there was enough air trapped in them for oxidation to occur and opening the canister each day exacerbated the situation. The best method I have come up with is to buy my coffee locally, and freshly roasted, and drink it up as quickly as possible.