Here's another gourmet coffee topic that could be debated, and many people claim good results from polar opposite approaches!
Some very good friends in the industry that keep tabs on these things much more than I, says, “freeze it”. The theory is that the less the little molecules are bouncing around, the less the coffee beans can age.
I have researched storing roasted coffee beans before, and found opinions from “leave it in a glass jar on the counter” to “seal it in an air proof pouch and put it into the freezer”. Some sites claiming to be experts at all things coffee say never freeze or refrigerate. There seems to be no expected or universal school of thought on this matter. (But keep reading, we have done some tests and have our own news for you a few paragraphs down!)
We try to keep only enough roasted organic Kona Comfort Coffee Beans to use in a week or so before we get fresh. Then we only grind what we intend to use for one pot from our current stash of roasted coffee. There is of course some left over ground coffee between perked pots. We don’t go nuclear and sweep up all the leftovers, we actually let them stay in the grinder and use them the next round -- we make two or three pots of coffee a day, so it does not sit very long.
In the past we tried putting coffee into the refrigerator, and as well into the freezer. I could tell little difference between these stored bags and bags left in a cool dark closet or cupboard. But then we never kept it for months and months at a time.
Update -- we have had more time to experiment. This is what seems to us the best method/s to have the best freshest Kona coffee:
(1) First, anticipate what you will brew for a period of time. Do you use 8 ounces in a week? If so order your coffee in 8 oz. bags. The reasoning is that if you use what you open within a week your coffee flavor will be at it’s peak.
If you only drink Kona Coffee as an occasional treat -- do you think you will brew only 4 ounces in a week? If so, order 4 oz. bags.
(2) If you order multiple bags of Kona Comfort Coffee, only place the bag you intend to use for the week on your counter. And only open that bag to air. Any other coffee bags you have received in your shipment, place them promptly into the freezer. Don’t take them out until you have used the last open bag. Of course keep your current bag closed with it’s zip lock between uses. (All our roasted coffee comes to you in re-sealable zip lock bags of course.)
(3) Do not take a large bag of Kona Comfort Coffee, open it, and attempt to re-distribute it into smaller bags and freeze or refrigerate.
Once you have let air into the bag, the coffee will age and you are fighting an uphill battle. If you can’t avoid exposing a sealed bag to the air, then an alternative is to take the remaining you don’t think you can use and seal it the best you can and freeze, but in our tests this does not provide the same prime taste as bags left in the freezer and never exposed to air.
(4) You want to keep as many layers of protection in place for your coffee until you are ready to brew. We take care of storing and producing the best coffee on our end, on your end:
A. Order whole bean, grind on demand (get a good grinder -- you don’t want powder!)
B. Order bag sizes that will fit what you can use in a week.
C. When you get your shipment, put all the bags into the freezer that you don’t intend to immediately brew.
D. Resist opening a large bag of Kona Comfort Coffee and trying to re-seal it, you can’t keep the air out with that method.
When we roast our Kona Comfort coffee for you right before we ship your order to you -- we place the fresh roasted beans into air-tight foil bags. All but the small 2 oz. bags have a one-way valve that allows excess gas to go out from the bag but nothing to come back in. This is perfect -- the beans naturally create gases that pushes out all the remaining oxygen in the bag. If oxygen were allowed to remain the coffee would fast deteriorate. When you get your coffee it is as well preserved in that bag as it’s possible to preserve roasted coffee. Only when you open the bag and oxygen gets back in does the aging process have something to accelerate it. But don’t worry -- your coffee will be in its prime for at least a week, and be still extremely good for two weeks. Just order smart, follow a few basic rules, and you will enjoy Kona Comfort Coffee at its best!