Kaffee Richtig Aufbewahren

When you finally have your favorite coffee blend at home, the first question that arises is how to enjoy it for as long as possible. Because the aroma of a good coffee is fleeting and grandma’s old coffee tin may look nice, but it’s not necessarily the best place to store the fine powder. And if you don’t have your trusted roaster right around the corner, you often have to buy larger quantities of coffee. So how do you still keep your favorite beverage fresh while storing it at home?

First of all, you should know a few “enemies” of coffee powder that you should avoid. Heat, oxygen, moisture, odorous substances and light must always be kept away from the coffee. The complex flavors of coffee come from the oils in the bean. At room temperature, these oxidize faster and can become rancid and lead to an unpleasant aftertaste in the coffee.

Keep coffee in the fridge?

Contrary to a widespread recommendation, however, it is not advisable to store them in the refrigerator. Because food is stored here and, accordingly, different smells and aromas, which the coffee should not take on as far as possible. Since coffee practically “attracts” odors of all kinds, it should generally not be kept near other foods or herbs. However, if the temperature fluctuates too much, condensation can also form, which can penetrate the powder and thus rob it of its aroma. Storage in a dry place that is slightly below room temperature is therefore ideal.

Coffee is best stored as whole beans

If you have the opportunity to grind your coffee yourself, it is best to store the beans and only grind them immediately before preparation. The innumerable aromas unfold during the grinding process, among other things, and the shorter the interval between this and the brewing of the coffee, the more intense the subsequent enjoyment. Of course, it’s not always possible to store coffee as a whole bean – after all, not everyone has a coffee grinder and maybe doesn’t have the time to freshly grind their coffee every morning.

Coffee cans for ground coffee or coffee beans

An opaque ceramic box with a rubber seal is recommended, especially if you buy ground coffee, but also for storing coffee beans. This keeps light, moisture and oxygen away from the coffee. Material that may have an odor of its own, such as Tupperware or other plastic containers, is therefore not suitable for storage. Finally, the coffee tin itself should always be kept in a cool and dry place. If you want double protection, you can store your coffee beans in a bag in such a tin – they are practically doubly “flavor-protected”.