Coffee Storage

How to Store Coffee

Coffee stores best in whole bean form. If you have a grinder (burr grinder is best – blade / spice grinder tend to slice the beans giving you inconsistent grind with some particles too coarse and some too fine) keeping the coffee in whole bean form will help it stay fresh.
If you have been putting your coffee in the fridge or freezer to keep it fresh, do both you and your coffee a flavour: STOP!
Coffee deteriorates in moist environments and freezing crystalizes and breaks down the oils and esters and that affects the flavour.
Coffee is best stored in an airtight container in a cool dark place. Glass, ceramic or porcelain are best. Plastic, metal or wood tend to trap oils and they eventually go rancid.
Coffee is at its prime between 18 hours and 12 days of being roasted. It is best to purchase coffee in quantities that you know you will drink within 2 weeks. After 3 weeks the coffee is best used to fertilize acid loving plants, or in winter something to add friction to icy sidewalks. (Some use it to freshen footwear.)

Coffee Grinders

Grinding Coffee

You can usually grind coffee where you buy it. However, it will stay fresher in whole bean form. It is best to grind the coffee right before you brew it.

If you have a blade grinder it’s best to shake the grinder while grinding, and tilt it. The idea here is to get as close to a uniform grind as possible. This is possible to approximate but impossible to actually pull off since blade grinders slice the beans and inevitably will leave you with grounds that are inconsistent, mixed with coarse and fine.

The better grinder is a burr grinder. This allows for a more consistent grind. But how fine should you grind? You will want a slightly coarse medium grind for french press, a medium fine for pouring fresh drip, a fine for auto drip (if you use a filter) and very fine for espresso.

The best way to find if you are getting a proper extraction is to weigh the coffee before, then afterwards dry out the grounds and weigh them again. In a proper extraction, the grounds should weigh 19% less. If its weight loss is more than 19% then it was over extracted and needs a coarser grind; if its weight loss is less than 19% then it was under extracted and needs a finer grind. If you use 2.5 oz of coffee per pot, (.156 pound) then after brewing and drying  the grounds they should weigh 2.025 oz (.126 pound), any more and the coffee is over extracted and your grind is too fine, any less and your coffee under extracted and your grind is too coarse. The same can be done for espresso. A Standard Coffee measure is about .33 oz (.02 pound) after drying it should be .27 oz (.016 pound)

If you don’t have a scale that is that accurate you can time your espresso shot. If it takes less than 20 seconds it is likely under extracted and too coarse. If it is over 30 seconds it is over extracted and too fine.

Braun 4540  Cuisinart DBM-8

My experience with grinders has been that the Cuisinart is good for auto-drip but not able to grind fine enough for espresso and turkish/greek coffee. Braun has a burr grinder (model 4045) that can grind fine enough for espresso.

I will add grinders to this list as I test them.