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Storing Coffee Green (unroasted) coffee stays fresh for months. Every time something is done to coffee, its life of freshness is shortened.
Lifespan of Coffee
After coffee is roasted, it will last two to four weeks with good flavor when properly stored. Once ground, it stales in a matter of hours. After coffee is brewed, it will last one to one and a half hours in a thermal carafe or 15 minutes if left on the burner of the brewer in a glass carafe.
Storage Container
To keep your coffee fresh, store the beans in a clean, airtight container out of the sun. Put the airtight container in the freezer for even better preservation. Avoid storing in refrigerators as coffee absorbs odors better than baking soda.
Air is coffee's ultimate enemy, as it destroys flavor. The surface area of coffee exposed to the air is least in bean form and greatest in ground form. If you don’t have a grinder and buy your coffee ground, it is most important that you keep it in an airtight container and in the freezer to maximize its lifespan. I keep all of my coffee in the freezer.
Storing Coffee in the Freezer
Storing coffee in the freezer is an area of contention, as many feel that one should just keep it in an airtight container in a cool place. My opinion is based on personal experience over the years, and one experience stands out from the rest. A friend of mine invited my family over for dinner. After dinner we were served coffee with our desert. Now this family drinks far more tea then coffee, but when I come over, they serve coffee. The coffee was quite good, and I asked our hostess where she bought it. She replied that it was my coffee. Now the last time that I'd given this person coffee had been 8 months prior to that! At first I was appalled that she would even keep coffee that long without throwing it out. But then I was amazed that it still tasted great! That cast out all of my doubts about freezing.
There may be a bit of a problem with very dark roasted coffee, which has a very oily surface. Since I don't roast to that degree of darkness, it has never been an issue with me. But with very dark coffee, the brittle coffee oils are totally exposed on the surface. With that roast of coffee, you may want to store it in an airtight container in a cool area away from the sun.
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