coffee shelf life

[Leadeye]

Any coffee folks out there? I was wondering about coffee storage, beans, instant or ground. The day just isn't the same without a cup or two in the morning.

 

[jeremy]

For Vacuum sealed grounds about 2 years...

 

[melensdad]

Full bean coffee, packed in a sealed nitrogen flushed mylar bag or can will stay fresh for quite a while. Ground coffee, stored in the best containers, has a limited shelf life. Buy whole roasted beans in good containers and a grinder. You'll be set.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Even ground, storing them as tightly as you can and in the fridge will give you 4-6 month storage life. Don't freeze 'em.

-J-

 

[irishfan]

Vacuum seal would add some shelf life I would guess. For those who can't stand it(me) it is a good inexpensive item to have for trade later.

 

[cosermann]

Depends on your tolerance for stale coffee!

My current pound of whole beans was roasted on 12/29 and is stored in an airtight container. It takes a couple of days for the flavor to peak and I'll start to notice the flavor degrade 10-14 days from roasting.

IMO, if you really want to store coffee for any significant length of time (like in terms of years) one has to store whole "green", unroasted beans.

That's the way to go for long term coffee storage.

Stored in the proverbial "cool dryish" place, green coffee can easily go a year just in the bag. If you start sealing containers, vacuum packing and other things, you can extend it to 10 years or so.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I've heard you can feed the beans to wild cats and later reclaim them........most expensive cat crap on the market....

 

[SWAMPMASTER]

I have some Instant that is going on 21 years old and still tasts the same

 

[Brian87]

Vacumm seal sounds like the way to go, you could do it small amounts to us as needed.
In hard times the smell of a good cup of coffee would be its weight in gold.