How to Extend Coffee Shelf Life in Seven Easy Steps

Drinking coffee is fun, but storing it is not so much. Light, moisture, and improper handling can decrease your coffee’s shelf life. There’s no short answer to the problem of storing coffee. Whether you’re thinking about starting your own coffee business or want to serve coffee at home, you are at the right place.

Read on to find seven practical tips on how to extend coffee shelf life so you can save your time and money!

Store it Away from Spices

The first thing is that coffee is more of a lone wolf.  You need to store coffee away from kitchen items like spices. Coffee can very easily absorb the smells around it, thus making its flavor turn bad. You can get coffee shelves for this very purpose to store it away from spices.

This is why coffee is placed in perfume shops to serve as a , helping customers in smelling different scents and not mixing them. 

You can use a small airtight jar so you can place coffee next to spices if you don’t have space for a separate coffee shelf. 

Maintain the Right Temperature

The second important lesson is to choose a high or low temperature for storing coffee.

Coffee can be stored at room temperature but storing it for too long can contaminate it with bacteria, and light will affect its taste too.

This is why coffee should be stored in a cool place. But keep in mind that it should not be stored in the fridge as it needs a consistent temperature. Repeatedly opening and closing of the fridge door starts the condensation process. 

So, what should you do? You can create a coffee batch to keep it safe for a long time. 

When Will You be Using the Batch?

If you are preparing a batch that you will be using within 12-14 hours, you should store it at room temperature, in a cool and dark place. 

However, if the batch will be used within a day or two after it’s made, the best option will be to freeze it. Here’s a tip for you; if you store the coffee properly in the freezer, it can stay fresh for as long as six months. So choose the storing method as per your needs.

Keep Coffee Safe from Moisture

Coffee can quickly lose its flavor and starts breaking down when it comes in contact with moisture. And it’s not only about moisture, even humidity can wreak havoc on your coffee batches and destroy your efforts altogether. 

This is why you should store your coffee away from the kitchen and places where there’s abundant use of water. Coffee also absorbs moisture from the air as well. If you have bought shelves for coffee cups, place them away from the kitchen and store your coffee there. 

Keep it Away from Light

Exposing coffee to light, both natural and artificial, ends up in rancidity and loss of natural oils. This process is called "Photogeneration.” Even if you have coffee tables with shelves, you need to place them in a place where there’s no light. The best option to place coffee packaging is in the pantry because it’s mostly a light-free zone. Or you could buy a shelf that can reflect light and keep coffee safe from photogeneration. 

Store it in Airtight Containers

While asking how to extend coffee shelf life, most people suggest storing it in glass jars. It can be effective as these jars are airtight. But there’s a drawback to that — the jars allow light to pass, and light can make the coffee go stale. 

This is why you should store your coffee in airtight containers other than glass jars to avoid photogeneration. One of the alternatives for glass jars can be mylar bags. You can use these bags to store your coffee and place them in a cool and dry place since they don’t allow the light to pass through. 

Mylar bags are made from BoPET material. This material can keep the light and moisture out to ensure the freshness of coffee and other food items inside. Plus the mylar bags can also allow you to reuse coffee whenever you want.

Store Coffee In Small Quantities

Coffee is exposed to light and air each time you open the batch, which eventually turns the rest of the batch stale. Storing it in small quantities means using the entire batch in one go. You can use mylar bags for food to store your coffee in smaller quantities. 

Weigh the coffee, label it, and store it so you know which batch will be appropriate for different occasions.

Use The Older Batches First 

The older your coffee batch gets, the more the chance of it getting stale. So, the simple rule that you have to follow in this quest to extend your coffee shelf life is to use the old batches first. Keep track of all the batches you’ve made so you know in which order to use the batches.

Summing it All Up!

Now that we have covered all the important aspects of how to extend coffee shelf life, it’s important to practice these aspects,  so you can see the results yourself. You can use mylar bags for coffee storage as they are convenient to use and ensure the freshness of coffee. 

Whether you’re trying to impress someone this holiday with your coffee skills or launching the brand in the market, remembering these steps will surely help. Make sure you implement these tips so you can figure out the ones that are best for your coffee storing needs.