Keeping your coffee beans fresh is essential to having quality coffee in the mornings. However, sometimes keeping coffee beans nice and fresh is challenging, so knowing the best ways to ensure freshness is crucial. But can you store coffee beans in mason jars?
You can store coffee beans in a mason jar. Mason jars are airtight containers, which are the best containers for storing coffee beans. Coffee beans need to be kept dry, and sealing them in an airtight container like a mason jar will ensure the quality stays fresh.
The rest of this article will discuss the best ways to store coffee beans for optimal freshness, how long they last if appropriately stored, how long they last if not stored correctly, and various ways you can store them. I'll also explain how to tell if coffee beans are stale and what to do if they are.
In This Guide...
How Does Packaging Affect Coffee Bean Freshness?
How you package and store your coffee beans is crucial, because your coffee beans can become stale and lose their intense aroma without the proper packaging. However, when it comes to packaging and storing, there are many steps to ensure optimal freshness.
Packaging affects coffee bean freshness because, without proper packaging, coffee beans can become stale and lose their overall taste and smell. Therefore, it's essential to package and store coffee beans in an airtight container with little light to preserve the aroma and flavor.
Packaging is essential, but there are many other critical factors to remember when storing coffee beans to ensure the best quality. Below, I'll go over the crucial aspects to remember before storing your coffee beans.
Air Exposure
When your coffee beans are exposed to air, they immediately age, which is called coffee oxidation. If left exposed to the air for an extended period, the coffee beans will become stale. Therefore, keeping them in an airtight or sealed container is ideal as it keeps them fresh and preserves the delicious aroma.
Light Exposure
Light affects coffee beans more than you'd think. Coffee beans exposed to light can accelerate their aging in a process called photodegradation.
Therefore, you should store your coffee beans in a pantry or an area with little to no light.
Believe it or not, it's not only sunlight that causes coffee beans to lose their freshness. As lovely as coffee beans look sitting out on the counter, your overhead kitchen lights could cause them to stale more quickly.
For best results, keep your coffee beans away from all types of light.
Moisture
One of the best things about keeping coffee beans in mason jars or other airtight containers is that it keeps moisture away from coffee beans, which is essential to preserving their taste and flavor.
Moisture is in the air, so moisture can make its way to the beans when coffee beans aren't sealed. Therefore, airtight containers are the best way to store coffee beans.
Temperature
Coffee beans are best stored at room temperature. This means that it's best to keep coffee beans in a cupboard or pantry in your home, as storing them outdoors will cause them to age faster. This results in stale coffee beans.
If kept too hot, condensation could form inside the container with the coffee beans, which introduces moisture to the beans. And if kept too cold, they can be exposed to dampness if not sealed properly, and cold air can cause the beans to lose their aroma.
It's best to keep coffee beans in a room temperature or moderately cool area for optimal freshness.
How Long Do Coffee Beans Last in a Mason Jar?
While mason jars are a great way to store coffee beans, you're probably still wondering how long they stay fresh when stored in them compared to other storing methods. However, storing coffee beans in a mason jar or other airtight container will guarantee the most extended shelf life, as long as the temperature and lighting are correct.
When stored in a mason jar, coffee beans last around six to nine months. However, the temperature and light exposure needs to be monitored to stay fresh that long. If all of the proper steps are taken for storing coffee beans, you can enjoy fresh coffee for up to nine months.
Therefore, you can buy a large number of coffee beans and put them away for quite a long time, as long as you store them correctly.
How Long Do Coffee Beans Stay Fresh if They’re Not Stored?
If you bought coffee beans and just kept them in their original bag without sealing them, you might be wondering when they're no longer fresh. While it sometimes depends on the coffee beans themselves and when they were roasted, it usually takes around the same time to lose its freshness.
Coffee beans stay fresh for about a week or two if they're not stored properly. If the coffee beans are exposed to air, they’ll begin to oxidize and lose their flavor and smell, which leads to stale coffee beans. Other factors, such as temperature and light, can cause the beans to be stale quicker.
Unless you drink enough coffee to use a whole bag of coffee beans in a week, which is totally okay, you should probably store them in a mason jar and out of direct sunlight. This will ensure every cup of coffee is as fresh as the last.
The Best Ways To Store Coffee Beans
There are a few different ways people choose to store their coffee beans, all of which can work. However, the best practices for storing coffee beans include not allowing air or moisture in and keeping them away from light and varying temperatures.
While people will have varying opinions on the best way to store coffee beans, there are a few suitable ways.
Use an Airtight Container
While mason jars are airtight containers, you can get many other types of airtight containers. Some containers are even specifically made for coffee beans, making it even easier to store them.
If you want a step up from storing your coffee beans in a mason jar, I recommend checking out the Star Coffee Airtight Coffee Storage (available on Amazon.com). This coffee container is an excellent choice for those wanting to store coffee beans because it comes with a date tracker on top so you can track the coffee's freshness.
Along with the excellent design, the container comes with a strong fastening, a scoop, CO2 filters to prevent oxidation, and even a free e-book about the history of coffee.
Can You Store Coffee in Tupperware?
If you're like most people, you probably have a variety of Tupperware containers in your kitchen. So, when you're looking for something around the house to store your coffee beans in, you might reach for the Tupperware. However, that's not always the best option.
You can store coffee in Tupperware. However, Tupperware won't keep coffee, either ground or beans, fresh for very long, so it's not the most recommended option for storing coffee. Coffee stored in Tupperware containers will usually go stale in about a week.
Ziplock Bag
Ziplock bags are easy, and you most likely have some around your house.
So, storing your coffee beans in a Ziplock bag is an easy go-to if you don't have any mason jars or other airtight containers around. However, while Ziplock bags create a strong seal, they're not necessarily airtight. Therefore, air will eventually get into the bag.
Because of this, I wouldn't recommend Ziplock bags as your go-to, although they’re great for when you're in a pinch.
However, the KIVA.WORLD Silicone Reusable Bags (available on Amazon.com) that look and act like Ziplock bags, except they have an airtight seal. So, if the ziplock bag look is for you, I recommend checking them out.
Original Coffee Bag
Many people like to keep their coffee beans in the original bag, whether for the aesthetic, to remember which beans they bought, or just because they don't feel like storing the beans differently. If you're someone who likes to keep coffee beans in the original bag, that's perfectly fine- as long as the top is adequately sealed.
You'll want to make sure you have a big enough clip to cover the opening of the bag. I recommend the YIDADA Wood Coffee Scoop with Bag Clip (available on Amazon.com). This is both a spoon and clip in the same utensil, which is neat to have after you've grounded your coffee.
However, like Ziplock bags, using the original packaging won't keep the coffee beans as fresh as an airtight container will. So, if you plan on keeping the coffee beans for a while, this shouldn't be your go-to storage solution.
How To Tell if Coffee Beans Are Stale
Unlike some foods, such as bread, you won't always be able to tell if coffee beans are stale from looking at them or feeling them. Therefore, to have fresh, delicious coffee in the mornings, you'll need to know how to tell if coffee beans are stale.
Coffee beans have a specific and strong aroma associated with them. This smell is favored by many everywhere, and if coffee beans are stale, you'll notice because the scent is either gone or has changed significantly.
Stale coffee beans often have a dull smell and sometimes smell musty. If the coffee beans smell any different from the standard, strong smell, they're likely stale. Unfortunately, stale, musty-smelling coffee beans mean you'll have a musty-tasting coffee.
It's also important to note that without properly storing your coffee beans, they'll most likely become stale before the expiration date. Therefore, even if the expiration date is a while away, your coffee will seem expired because of the smell.
Is It Okay To Use Old Coffee Beans?
If you've discovered that your coffee beans are past expiration or smell a bit stale, you're probably upset about it. If that's your only option for coffee today, don't worry. There's still some hope that you'll get that necessary cup of joe despite the expiration date.
It’s okay to use old coffee beans. Consuming old coffee beans won't make you sick. However, it’ll make your coffee less flavorful and intense, so it won't taste how you're used to it tasting. Consuming coffee beans within a few weeks of purchasing is recommended for the best flavor.
Therefore, if you don't have the time to store your coffee beans properly or want to get your money's worth and use up the rest of some old coffee beans, you can without any issue.
However, you shouldn't expect expired coffee beans to taste or smell as delicious as fresh coffee beans. If you can't stomach the taste or smell, there are a few things you can do to spice up your coffee, which I'll go over next.
How Do You Revive Stale Coffee Beans?
Stale coffee beans are every coffee connoisseur's worst nightmare. Craving that cup of coffee but having to deal with the smell and taste being off is horrible. Luckily, there are ways to make your stale cup of coffee taste a little better.
You can't revive stale coffee beans. Once they're stale, it's impossible to get them back to their original strong flavor. However, adding spices or syrups, such as cinnamon or honey, can help mask the stale taste of the coffee beans.
Therefore, you can still enjoy the benefits of coffee without dealing with the smell and taste being off (at least somewhat). While it won't ever be the same as delicious, fresh coffee beans, it’ll be something to give you a little boost for the day.
Final Thoughts
Storing coffee beans in a mason jar is ideal. Mason jars have airtight lids that keep foods fresh for extended amounts of time, so mason jars are great to keep coffee beans as fresh as possible.
The best way to ensure your coffee beans stay in good quality in a mason jar is to store them in a room temperature area without light. Putting your coffee beans in direct sunlight can cause them to be stale quicker. So, keeping the coffee beans in a mason jar in the pantry is the best way to go.