The quality of your freshly roasted coffee can be greatly impacted by a number of external elements. Among them are light, oxygen, temperature, and moisture. If not stored properly, whole bean coffee will begin to loose its fresh roasted quality within one week, ground coffee as soon as one hour.

In order to protect your freshly roasted coffee from our roaster to your door, we use high quality, heat sealed, foil lined bags with one way de-gassing valves which eliminate exposure to light and oxygen (click here for details on our bags).

But what can you do to prolong the quality life of your coffee once it reaches your door? Following these simple suggestions will greatly improve your coffee experience.

Remember, your coffee will be negatively affected by light, oxygen, temperature, and moisture.
We recommend that you store your coffee in an air-tight container and place it in a dark, dry place at room temperature.

Light / Moisture: Using a dark, solid or at least translucent container will protect your coffee from the harmful effects of light. A clear container will work fine, but keep it out of direct sunlight. In fact, we recommend finding a place inside a cabinet for storing. Be sure the cabinet is away from the sink, dishwasher or anything else that could produce moisture. If you do not have an air-tight container, keep your coffee in the bag it is shipped in; roll it down tight (squeezing the air out) and close it with tape and/or a rubber band.

Oxygen: Use an air-tight container. Oxygen will speed up the natural aging processes of your coffee, taking away the just roasted qualities.

Temperature: Your fresh roasted coffee should be stored at room temperature. It is not advisable to store your coffee in the refrigerator or freezer; this is a common misconception. While refrigerator and freezer storage may prolong the overall life of your coffee, the negative effects of such storage are far worse. Refrigerators tend to contain moisture and odors. Remember how baking soda in a fridge will absorb odors? Coffee as well will absorb odors. You don’t want your coffee to smell or taste like left-over’s. In the same way, odors can get into freezers and your coffee could be tainted by these odors. Additionally, freezer storage will draw the natural “oils” and moisture out of your coffee and could even create freezer burn.

The bottom line: Order your coffee from us in small enough amounts that you do not have to store it longer than a week or two and keep it in an air-tight container, away from light and moisture.