I Asked 3 Coffee Pros the Best Place To Store Coffee Beans—They All Said the Same Thing

Keeping them here will help them taste great for as long as possible.

As a coffee lover, my morning routine isn't complete without that first glorious cup of Joe. Whether a bold, smoky dark roast or a bright, fruity light roast, there's nothing quite like the smell of expertly roasted coffee beans to jump-start my day.

As someone who takes their coffee seriously, I've often wondered, what's the best way to store those precious beans to keep them tasting their absolute best, day after day? After all, coffee is a delicate product, sensitive to just about everything. Exposure to air, moisture, heat, and light can quickly degrade even the highest quality beans.

So, I reached out to three coffee connoisseurs I've come to trust and asked each of them to break it down for me. Their responses were remarkably in sync.

The Experts I Asked

• Ever Meister: Author of New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History, she’s a coffee professional and journalist from St. Paul, Minnesota, with 24 years of experience in the specialty coffee industry

• Chris Poirier: Owner of The Cannon coffee shop in Hamilton, Ontario, artisan coffee roaster, and regional and national judge for the Specialty Coffee Association's barista competitions

• Allison Van Rassel: Decades-long food journalist, CBC radio host and contributor, co-founder of deTerroir Café in Quebec City, Quebec, and producer and host of Brewing Quebec, A Foodie Guide to Quebec City, and The Art of Coffee

The Best Way To Store Coffee Beans, According to the Experts

When it comes to preserving the freshness and flavor of coffee beans, the experts all agreed that an airtight container is the way to go. "For top-of-the-line coffee freshness, an airtight or one-way or vacuum-valved container will do best to keep out the three things that negatively affect roasted coffee: moisture, light, and air," says Meister.

Poirier and Van Rassel both recommend glass or ceramic containers, as they do an excellent job of preserving freshness. Van Rassel personally keeps her coffee in a ceramic jar with a thick cork lid, away from heat sources and light.

Read More: The Best Coffee Maker Worth Buying Is Under $100 (Expert Recommended)

Can You Keep Your Beans in the Original Packaging?

"If you don't want to buy a special container, anything that seals will do the trick—including the original packaging if it has a zipper-lock or other close-sealing element," stresses Meister. "If your coffee comes in a brown paper Kraft bag, you're almost always better off putting it into something less porous," she adds.

Poirier agrees that you have to know that the beans have been well-packaged. For Van Rassel, this means the bag "should have an airtight ziplock and block light from reaching the...beans." She also adds that it's best if the beans have been roasted within the month.

Is the Freezer a Good Place To Keep Coffee Beans?

The answer is a bit more complex than expected, and our experts had varying perspectives. Poirier advocates for freezer storage if "your grinder is lower-budget or [you have] less control over [the] grind size." In this case, grinding frozen beans can "create a much better grind for brewing at home," he says.

On the other hand, Van Rassel cautions against this practice, sharing that the beans may "absorb various odors from your food" and "lose their own aroma and flavor in the process."

In a somewhat middle-ground approach, Meister says the freezer is fine, "if you store the coffee in portions." "When you take the bag out to scoop what you're going to brew," she explains, "you risk the rest of the coffee starting to defrost and being exposed to condensation, which can negatively impact flavor."

If you opt for freezer storage, following Meister's advice to store in portions and avoid repeated thawing appears to be the safest approach.

Read More: I Asked 3 Baristas To Name the Best Single-Serve Coffee Maker—They All Said the Same Thing

How Can You Tell if Your Coffee Beans Are Fresh?

"The roasting date is the best indicator of how long the coffee has been sitting on a shelf," says Van Rassel. And the experts agree that roast dates are the best way to gauge freshness. Van Rassel's number one tip, in fact, is to never buy coffee without one!

You can also assess quality by the color. "The darker and oilier the beans, the more bitterness you'll taste," she explains.

Poirier, also a roaster, shares that after roasting, the "CO2 starts to slowly dissipate, having a few different effects on brewing and taste of the coffee." There tends to be a "sweet spot," he says, where the beans have "let off enough of that CO2 to make the coffee… [easier] to taste, but not so much that it becomes flat and boring." He adds, "I've seen "sweet spots" range from...one week off-roast to six months off-roast."

And while we might worry that our coffee beans are too old, like some styles of aged cheese or a great bottle of wine, they can also be too young. As a general rule, he suggests waiting to brew your coffee until it's "at least two weeks past its roast date."

No matter how you've been keeping your beans, Meister reminds us not to stress too much. "Everyone (myself included!) has opinions about coffee, and some of those opinions can make people feel like they're doing it 'wrong.' So, I'd just like to say that while coffee is something we can all relate to in a way, it's also deeply personal. Don't let anybody yuck your yum: At the end of the day, if it tastes good to you, that should be good enough for all of us."