coffeestorage-lifetime
I love coffee, in many of its forms, and have recently started playing around with grinding my own, brewing it and so on. When I grind beans, I usually use a specific amount by weight, and go from there.
The beans that are not ground are kept in the bag in which they came, which is kept sealed, with as much air squeezed out as possible. How long should the beans last?
You do want a coarse grind for french press coffee. The key is letting the coffee steep for long enough to make a strong brew. I have good results with a 5 minute steep time. Be sure to use a timer, and compare different times to find the optimal brew. As a general rule, if you are at altitude, then you need to add time because boiling water is cooler. (Note that I am at 5000ft, so 5 minutes may be too long for you.)
Below is a picture of the coffee chunks in a coarse grind on top of a US 5 cent coin (21.21 mm in diameter).
The picture is from this article.
EDIT: The reason to use a coarse grind for a french press is that finer grinds will get stuck in the filter and/or push their way through. This has three potential problems: 1) it will be harder to press down the filter, possibly leading to spillage or breakage; 2) your coffee will have grinds in it; 3) the coffee may become bitter, as the finer grinds that passed through the filter remain in contact with the coffee for too long.
You're using a fine grind? I've always found grinding it myself to extra-fine works best for cold-brew. – Bruce Alderson
and
I pour it through a standard mesh a few times, then a mesh + cone filter. The resulting coffee is thick, dark, and has very low acidity (very nice over ice with a spot of condensed milk). – Bruce Alderson
If the beans themselves have been sitting on the shelf for longer - it means they have lost a lot of their fresh, volatile flavours. May not be the only reason - but it definitely affects the flavour you'll get. – Taryn East
Is the ambient temperature cooler, perhaps? It doesn't sound like you moved, but maybe it's a cooler beginning of summer, or you're using more AC? [...] – Jefromi
Best Answer
Coffee beans will retain their essential oils and flavor compounds longest if stored in a dry, dark, airtight container. Refrigeration and freezing are therefore not desirable options since they will almost always cause moisture to form on the surface of the beans.
Note that for the first couple weeks after the coffee has been roasted it will naturally release a lot of carbon dioxide, so the airtight container must have some sort of one-way vent valve to let the gas out. Therefore, the pre-sealed coffee bags that are now ubiquitous in stores are ideal since they have a built-in one-way valve. There are also some vacuum container devices specifically designed for storing coffee beans that have a small pump to pump out the air once or twice a day.
Once the beans are roasted, their essential flavor compounds immediately start to degrade. Therefore, do not buy beans unless you know their roasting date. If stored in ideal conditions, the beans should remain in peak condition for at most one month.