Do you vacuum seal them first? I am wondering if perhaps rather than putting the sealed bags on top of my fridge (where admittedly it's a bit warmer than actual room temp perhaps around 78 deg vs 71/72) I should store them in freezer to keep them from "gassing"? Now with some excellent coffee makers (my Breville Precision Brewer and both of my espresso machines), I am finding I notice the degradation of my coffee even though I try to store a started bag remainder carefully.
I store the unopened bags only in the freezer, once opened then I put the bag near my coffee machine which gets used up fairly quickly (within a couple weeks).
Would sure like to hear from someone who actually vacuum seals and stores. I think Chris chimed in on this at one point but did not say if he stored in refrigerated/frozen space or room temp
I don't know that I can distinguish between freshly-opened beans vs those that have been opened for a while but I'm sure @Chris Allingham will respond to you soon if you serenade him and send him a good morning message everyday for a couple weeks.
Great minds think alike. I am considering doing just that. I will report and then I will see if perhaps should I whisper some sweet nothings in Chris' ear he may chime in
My wife is the coffee drinker, not me. She vacuum packs and freezes them. She is not a picky coffee drinker and has not complained about quality/taste over time. She drinks her coffee black with no sweetener, so she's getting the straight flavor after storage and seems happy with the results.
Hey, thanks for that. I am going to try a pack vacuumed and freezer stored. While I am certainly no pro coffee taster I do sense the difference in taste and degradation on coffee that's been opened awhile. I've not timed it, but if I open a 2lb bag it takes about 2-3 weeks to finish it, and by a few days in I can already sense the loss of character. So my goal is to package it into 2 or 3 day supplies. Open a pouch fresh at no more than 4 days.
I open a bag of beans, fill up a 4.7cup Rubbermaid Brilliance container*, then vacuum seal and store the rest of the beans in the pantry at room temp. When the Rubbermaid container is empty, I refill it from the vac-sealed bag, and reseal it. I usually buy 2.5 - 3lb bags from Costco. My go-to is San Francisco Coffee Co. French Roast, or Mayorga Cubano, or Starbucks French Roast....whichever is on-sale. I've never had an issue with coffee beans off-gassing or any issue with vacuum sealed bags.
I will have to give that a look when we're done watching some of the news reports we're looking at
Older beans (perhaps even well past their prime beans) = less or no crema. I can't remember the compounds in coffee that are responsible for crema formation under pressure, but they dissipate as the beans age..... If the shots taste great, that's a bonus!
I've never understood the fascination with crema. My remark isn't directed at you, but at coffee people in general, and your post reminded me about a conversation I had with my Mom. She's older now, and a Nespresso is much easier for her to use, and she was going on about how much better the coffee is, (as opposed to that nasty Keurig that it replaced), and raved about the crema it produces.
Not me! I paid for it I'm drinking it!