Storing Kona Coffee Beans

By properly storing your Kona coffee beans you can preserve the quality and make them last a long time.

1. What is the best way to store coffee beans?
2. Does it matter if I buy Kona coffee bags that are vacuum-sealed vs. valve-sealed?

What is the best way to store coffee beans?
If coffee is properly roasted, packaged, and stored in a cool, dark, dry place, it will stay fresh for a long time, even months.

Avoid putting coffee in the freezer because coffee beans are porous and may absorb moisture which quickly deteriorates the coffee and its fine aroma, and the coffee may also absorb flavors of other food in the freezer.

When coffee beans are roasted they release their essential oils and the beans’ natural sugars of the gourmet coffee beans caramelize, giving the coffee its delicate layered flavors.  Freezing breaks down these volatile oils and removes their scents.  If you have purchased several pounds of coffee and really must store it in the freezer, then make sure not to take it out and return it again, as this will definitely hinder the taste.

And by the way, never refrigerate coffee.

Does it matter if I buy Kona coffee bags that are vacuum-sealed vs. valve-sealed?
Valve-sealed bags are the best because they let the harmful caffeine gases (carbon dioxide) escape from the bag in the days after roasting.  Freshly roasted coffee beans should not be sealed in a bag because it will trap the gases which can break down the coffee and rapidly degrade the taste, and the gas can also burst the bag.

Leaving the coffee unpackaged is not good either because moisture, oxygen, and sunlight are all bad for the coffee.  The best solution, then, is to immediately package the coffee in a valve-sealed bag that allows the releasing gasses to escape, yet prevents any oxygen from getting in.

“A fig for partridges and quails,
ye dainties I know nothing of ye;
But on the highest mount in Wales
Would choose in peace to drink my coffee.”
- Jonathon Swift