HOW TO STORE GREEN COFFEE BEANS

A delightful cup of coffee with all the rich flavor notes and that unmistakable aroma always starts with some high-quality beans. Besides making sure you buy the best grade coffee beans, you need to store the green beans properly to maintain their quality. Green coffee beans retain moisture and are highly porous, absorbing humidity and aroma from the surrounding area. For example, suppose you store your green coffee beans next to onions. In that case, they will absorb the onion smell and flavor, which ruins your coffee experience. The secret to mastering how to store green coffee beans lies in understanding the greatest threats to the beans’ freshness.

HOW TO STORE GREEN COFFEE BEANS

• Keep moisture levels between 8 & 12.5%
• Store at room temperature
• Do not expose to direct light
• Keep pest under control
• choose appropriate storage container

Under the right conditions, green coffee beans can easily stay fresh for up to a year. But, there is no complicated technique you need to know to store green coffee beans. All that is required is to ensure the conditions are right. Here are a few points that explain what you need to do when storing green coffee beans.

KEEP MOISTURE LEVELS BETWEEN 8 & 12.5%

Moisture is among the main threats to green coffee beans’ freshness. If the moisture levels are too high, coffee beans get moldy, and if it is too low, they tend to dry out and lose their flavor and aroma. Hence, it is vital to ensure you keep it at just the right level throughout when storing green coffee beans.

When first harvested, green coffee beans will have moisture levels at around 50%. Still, processing reduces this to about 11%, depending on the processor’s preferences. It would help if you also kept the moisture levels around this 11% to maintain the beans’ freshness. However, anything between 8 and 12.5% is still acceptable, according to the International Coffee Organization.

Besides knowing the specific moisture levels your green coffee beans require, it is crucial to ensure it remains consistent throughout the storage period. It would be best to control the temperature and oxygen levels of the space where you keep the coffee beans, as both can quickly alter the humidity levels.

Note: Some specialty coffee grades will have different moisture standards. The levels will not be the same as the 11% for regular green coffee beans. Therefore, if you buy them as green beans, you need to know their ideal levels for proper storage.

STORE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

An environment that is too cold or hot will ruin your coffee beans, whether you store them for a few days or months. But, the temperature is perhaps the easiest factor to deal with when it comes to green coffee beans storage as you only need to keep them at room temperature.

Depending on who you ask, room temperature can be anywhere from 60 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Still, anything in this range should be okay for the green beans. It is also worth mentioning that sometimes you can even store the coffee beans at a different temperature than this and still preserve their freshness when using special packaging. For example, if you use some specialized airtight bags, you can store the green coffee beans at temperatures down to -22 degrees Fahrenheit or as high as 194 degrees Fahrenheit. 

DO NOT EXPOSE TO DIRECT LIGHT

Direct light will ruin your green coffee beans as it ages them prematurely. After harvesting coffee beans, they need a lot of direct sunlight to dry. Drying coffee under direct sunlight helps take the moisture level down from 50% to around 11%. This natural drying process can take up to 20 days. However, once the moisture levels are at the desired level, the days of the coffee beans sitting under the sun are over. Exposing green coffee beans to further light only dries them out, which ruins the flavors and aroma. Storing your green coffee beans in dark places or using opaque containers is what many experts will recommend, as this keeps out most of the unwanted light.

KEEP PESTS UNDER CONTROL

Green coffee beans are food for pests like coffee weevils and psocids. If either infests your beans, you can be sure they will not give you the same coffee experience and will probably also not be safe for roasting to make coffee. Additionally, a pest infestation can reduce the weight of the coffee by at least a third in just 6 months as the pesky creatures feed on the beans. Hence as you prepare your beans for storage, you need to keep pests in mind and find suitable ways of keeping them under control, such as using airtight packages. Pests need air to survive, so simply ensuring there is none in your coffee bean sack or container provides a simple but effective way of killing them. Regardless of how you choose to control the pests, it is a good idea to avoid using any kind of pesticides on your coffee beans before storage. Pesticides not only affect the coffee quality but also have serious health concerns.

CHOOSE APPROPRIATE STORAGE/PACKAGING

One of the best ways to keep out everything that can ruin your green coffee beans from moisture to pests is by choosing an appropriate storage and packaging method. Low-cost materials like jute sacks and burlaps are the most common packages for green coffee beans, but this does not make them the best. These traditional storages are not effective at keeping heat, moisture, or pests out, and so if you plan to store the coffee for a long time, avoid them. Instead, go for those that include multiple layers of protective barriers like plastic as they ensure the coffee storage environment remains stable.

 For regular coffee drinkers with fewer green coffee beans to store, small specialized containers and bags should do the trick. There are many container types out there that can create an airtight environment for your few pounds of green beans. They include the Airscape container that forces air out and vacuum-sealed containers. Valved bags with a special seal for keeping moisture and air out can also work well enough.

BEANS STORAGE FAQS 

Q: Should You Refrigerate Green Coffee Beans?

A: Absolutely No! Keeping green coffee beans in the refrigerator means they can absorb the smell of everything else in there. Also, the extreme temperatures tend to ruin coffee flavor significantly.

Q: How Long Should You Store the Green Coffee Beans?

A: Around 1 year. There are varying opinions on this. Some enthusiasts and experts claim that green coffee beans can remain fresh and flavorful for up to 5 years and only get better with time. But, the chances are the beans will lose all the natural oils that give them the flavor and aroma if you leave them in storage all that long.

Q: How Can You Tell Green Coffee Beans Are Not Fresh?

A: The easiest way is through their appearance. Beans that are not fresh due to improper storage tend to either look too dry or moldy. Also, fresh green beans should have a creamy green color and a pleasant grassy scent. Anything else is a sign of poor storage.

Q: How Do Roasters Store their Green Coffee Beans?

A: Coffee roasters will not keep a large inventory of green coffee beans to ensure customers get the freshest beans possible. However, most roasters still have air-conditioned warehouses for storing green coffee beans.

FINAL THOUGHTS

You need to know how to store green coffee beans if you are a roaster or a coffee lover that prefers to make their daily cup using freshly roasted beans. Proper storage ensures you do not lose the rich flavors and aroma that define good coffee. However, storing green coffee beans does not have to be complicated. You only need to control moisture, temperature, light, and pests by ensuring you use proper containers and bags.