All coffee is highly perishable. The lifespan of a newly opened bag of coffee is about the same as a fresh loaf of bread. If left exposed to air, coffee will become stale after only a few days. This is particularly true of ground coffee since so much more of a ground-up bean's surface area is exposed to flavor-robbing air.
Ideally, coffee should be removed from an oxygen environment immediately after roasting. But there is a problem: fresh-roasted coffee lets off a delicious smelling gas for several days after roasting, but this "gassing off" is powerful enough to burst any package containing the coffee. Historically, roasters would let the coffee "gas off" for several days, or would poke holes in the packages to prevent the bags from exploding. Both of these practices allowed coffee to start going stale.
Our fresh-roasted, coffee beans go straight from the roaster into a vacuum packaging and/or a nitrogen-flushing machine. This removes the oxygen from the freshly roasted beans. On the front of these bags is a built-in, special one-way valve. As the coffee emits gasses, they escape through this valve but no air can get back into the package. This keeps the coffee absolutely fresh until the bag is opened. This process is by far the best way to keep coffee fresh and yields better results than any other packaging method, including nitrogen flushes. However, in order to use a valved bag to its greatest potential, it is necessary to practice strict oversight. While some roasters let freshly roasted coffee sit around in bins before packaging, as soon as roasted coffee is cool enough, we immediately fill and seal valved bags. We're proud to have designed and developed several kinds of vacuum/valve bags.
Unopened bags will keep for about one year. Once the bag's seal has been broken, flavor loss starts. Once you open the bag, you should keep your coffee inside a reasonably cool, dark cupboard closed with a bag clip. Or pour it into an airtight container. Refrigerating or freezing opened (or unopened) coffee does not extend its shelf life. In fact, it might actually result in freezer-burn of the beans.
When you grind the beans, be careful to grind them to the level that's appropriate for your coffee maker. Grinding too fine for a drip coffee maker, for instance, will typically result in a bitter flavor.
How to Store Tea:
Like coffee, tea has a shelf life once it is exposed to air. Tea should be stored in a cool and dry place and away from light. Tea should also be stored far away from strong-smelling odors, as tea tends to absorb other odors very easily. Storage in an airtight, tea tin is recommended.
