Alton Brown has served up plenty of tips to help us brew better cups of coffee. Whether adding a pinch of salt to ground beans or using chicory to make a cold brew, Brown has tinkered with various methods and means to offer us a creative culinary compass for making mugs of comforting bliss at home.
In an Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit to promote 2019’s “Good Eats: The Return,” Brown was asked a number of questions from fans, one of whom wondered about his stance on how to store coffee beans. “I’m going to vote for airtight freezing,” Brown replied. But while Brown promoted the idea of airtight freezing, he noted one caveat. “Once you take them out and open the container, it’s tough to put them back because the moisture formed from condensation can cause a lot of degradation,” he wrote.
Moisture, air, heat, and light can all impact the flavor of your coffee. Once coffee is moved from its original packaging and placed into a separate container, condensation from the freezer can impact the integrity of the coffee beans, resulting in a less-than-perfect cup of Joe.
Preserving better tasting coffee
To reduce the chance that large bags of coffee lose their richness over time, Brown suggests buying coffee in smaller batches from reliable, small-batch coffee roasters. Buying large bags of coffee beans may seem like a cost-effective approach, but the budget-friendly move may not be ideal when it comes to the quality of your morning brew. Similarly, pre-ground coffee may seem convenient as you move about your kitchen in an early morning blurry-eyed state, but ground coffee begins its decline as soon as it comes into contact with air. To keep purchased coffee as fresh as possible, store smaller bags of beans on a cool, dark pantry shelf and grind them as soon as coffee cravings kick.
Whether you store coffee in the freezer or keep your beans in an airtight container beside your coffee maker, note that frozen roasted coffee beans can keep for up to four months, while ground coffee stored at room temperature will maintain freshness for about a week or two max.
