How To Store Coffee Beans
This is my latest video on simplifying home espresso, and in this one, we're discussing coffee bean storage and how/why it can impact on dialing in.
Links:
Simplifying Espresso - Ratio
Simplifying Espresso - What is Dose?: • Simplifying Home Espre...
Simplifying Espresso - Shot Window: • Let's Simplify Espress...
Simplifying Espresso - What to do if espresso tastes bad: • Why Does My Espresso T...
Links:
Freshly roasted high-quality coffee beans from The Coffeeworks (my website): cworks.co.uk (use discount code yt25 for 25% off your first order).
Coffee blog: coffeeblog.co.uk
Buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/coffeeblogkev
Current Gear:
Quick note. I'm including all of this info because when I was starting out, I found it really difficult to figure out what gear to use, so I'm hoping if there's anyone looking to set up for KZhead, this might help. If you need more help just email me, kev at coffeeblog.co.uk - if I don't know the answer I'll ask the professionals.
I'm listing the current setup first that the pros are using, and then my original more budget setup.
The pro stuff (new studio setup, with brickovenmedia.co.uk)
Blackmagic Pocket 4K amzn.to/3EnYAKJ
Samyang 35 mm T1.5 VDSLR II Manual Focus Video Lens amzn.to/3RB4Q4I
VILTROX EF-M2 II Focal Reducer Booster Adapter Auto-Focus 0.71x compatible with Canon EF mount Lens to M43 Cameras amzn.to/3e37Qcp
Glide Gear TMP100 Adjustable iPad/Tablet/Smartphone Teleprompter Beam Splitter Glass amzn.to/3C7hRgt
Promptsmart Pro bit.ly/3CAhXPl (tablet prompter app, includes voice tracking, very good! If you have it more than a couple of metres away from you, just use a lav mic with an extension so it can year you).
Aputure LS COB 300D II LED Continuous Fresnel Light 300D Mark II amzn.to/3SVy4ft
Aputure Accent B7C 7W RGBWW LED Smart Bulbs amzn.to/3RD0ABu
aputure light dome ii amzn.to/3M5XjcY
Sennheiser MKH 60
Sanken Cos 11 Lavalier
If you're interested in any of this gear but you don't want to buy new, check out www.mpb.com/en-uk
My budget setup (prior to working with Brickoven):
Canon M6 Mark ii amzn.to/3zoczes (quick note, knowing what I now know I wish I'd have gone for the pocket 4k, which you can get used from MPB for a few hundred more.
Blue Ember Mic (used mainly for voiceovers): amzn.to/3pT6WR1
RØDE VideoMic Pro: amzn.to/3DV7xHg (note, it's good for the £, but with what I now know thanks to the guys at Brickoven, I'd recommend the RØDE NTG4 amzn.to/3M8nIXy or RØDE NT5.
Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface: amzn.to/3e3qwFn
Amaran 100D LED Video Light, 130W 5500K (Key light): amzn.to/3oQYrqY
Aputure Light Dome SE Softbox: amzn.to/3ESdHcJ
Neewer Bi-color 660 LED Video Light and Stand Kit (Fill light): amzn.to/35jUtwp
Neewer Portable 56 inch/142 cm Aluminium Camera Tripods (I have a few of these, very good value) amzn.to/3pPlCke
Cayer BV30L tripod with fluid head amzn.to/3fJdEbr (mega tripod for the money!)
Please note, affiliate links included above.
Timecodes:
0:00 Intro
0:26 The First Rule...
1:07 Coffee Storage Tick List
2:28 Fridge?
2:52 Freezer?
3:15 Hopper?
5:13 So where SHOULD we store coffee beans?
6:28 One final tip
6:58 Useless movie fact
7:22 Tatty Bye
#coffeebeans #coffeestorage #homebarista #coffee #coffeelover #coffeeaddict #espresso #coffeestorage #flatwhite #latte #coffeebeans #airscape #coffeevac #espressocoffee #coffeelife
You tube algorithms are OFF! The quality of your videos are in the top 1-5%. Your follower count deserves to be in the high 6 figures. And you make me laugh whilst getting me to make better espresso.
Wow, thanks Elaine, I'm glad you get my sense of humour :-) Cheers Kev
In defence of hoppers (of clear container variety), they are primarily meant to be used in a cafe where beans go quickly and you want to see how much left. They also look nice which is important for a cafe. So yeah, they are not meant to be a storage space.
Totally agree about hopper storage leading to wild changes in espresso. Took me ages to figure it out! I think sunlight coming through a nearby window was the worst cause; changing the temperature in the hopper as the sun moved through the sky.
Great to see your subscriber count shoot up. Well deserved as you can tell the amount of planning involved and a few Gremlins along the way. Keep it going 👊🏼
Thanks! 😃
i was going to get the airscape. but breville had there on on special when i got my machine, looks the same as your one that pushes out the air. great vid
thanks for this video Kev! Would love to see a video about your favourite UK roasters!
Hi Jo, I will add this to my list of videos, I do have a best roasters blog post:coffeeblog.co.uk/list-best-uk-coffee-roasters/ Cheers Kev
Hi Kev, thank you so much for a very useful video. On my Sage Barista Pro I had been filling my hopper with your delicious beans but I had multiple dialling in issues. Like you said I’d dial in and get it spot on then a short while later had to redial in again! I resisted kicking the machine but it has been so frustrating. I do not fill my hopper any more and use a steel sealed storage container. You have saved what little sanity I have, happy days!
Hi Mike, Glad my video helped you :-) Cheers Kev
I have a couple of the Fellow Atmos canisters with the pump built in to the lid. I wondered if they might not last long, but I’ve had one for about three years and it still feels fine, so I’m happy to recommend. Airscape also seems v good. Thank you for another great video.
Thanks Dyfrig, glad you liked my video ;-)
Life saver! Just got fresh roasted beans delivered 10 mins ago and had no idea if the air value on the packet was okay to leave them in or if I needed to find a better container. My coffee grinder hasn't arrived yet so this video just saved me from making the mistake of opening the packets and ruining my fresh beans ❤
Fantastic, I'm glad my video helped you :-)
thankyou so much for this information. I've been keeping mine in my hopper on my grinder and wondering why it tastes so bad when I'm coming to the last beans. Obviously it's getting slowly worse as days go by. I will now invest in a airscape container. As ever a very useful and full of great info video. thanks Kev
Thanks Donna, very kind of you to say 😃
Nice well explained video.I live in Cyprus where, as you’d expect it’s very warm. My machine is an Oracle. The coffee is for me, usually one per day, sometimes two, plus the occasional drink for any visitors. I buy a 1kg bag of beans from my local roaster, which lasts 4-5 weeks. I divide that into 4 250g portions, and put 3 into vacuum sealed bags which are frozen and the remaining 250g goes into the Oracle hopper, so those beans are effectively exposed to heat etc for around 7 days. I do notice that if I do 2 consecutive drinks, the second one will usually yield a bigger dose, based on what I’ve read I suspect this could be down to the heat in the grinder. I also think there is a fair bit of retention in the grinder, so the next day the first bit of the grind is ‘old’ coffee, so a quick grind of a couple of grams can help ensure the fresher beans in the hopper are ground. As I’m learning, I think in future, if the grinder were to fail, I’d invest in a good single dose grinder and use the Oracle for extraction and steaming. I’d keep the storage regime the same but go for something like the AirScape - which I first heard about on a James Hoffman video, and dose the grinder from that.
I re-use a big coffee tin with a plastic lid. I'm not sure it's not perfect, but it's fairly air tight, and I store the beans in their bag inside the tin can, so there's some double packaging going on which I hope improves their freshness.
Thanks for the video Kev! Have you ever tried coffee gator containers? Got one of them after hearing some great reviews but not sure if this is really slowing the ageing process…
All you say is sensible and I already apply most of it. For the bean I currently use I know I need 21/22g of ground coffee so I put only that amount in the grinder.
Cheers Frank 👍
When's the next bdb video coming?? Can't wait
This time next week 🙂
@@Coffee_Kev thank u! Looking forward to it
This is a great video! Thank you! The beans I purchase do come in a bag such as yours. I do push all the air out of the bag. Is it normal that every time I go to use my beans, there seems to be air in the bag again, yet the bag has not reopened, it is still closed?
I've been drinking your Milk Chocolate & Caramel Decaf Peru coffee it's great
It is very popular at the moment :-)
@@Coffee_Kev what would be the best medium roast you have
I use the original bags. I only put as much as I'm going to need into the hopper and I re-close by rolling the top down as far as possible and put a clothes-peg on it. If I'm careful I can get a scoop of coffee out of the bag without opening it very wide. BTW, since the Airscape piston is going to suck in a lot of fresh O2 as you withdraw it, you could limit this by breathing into it as you do so. Just don't tell anybody.
I shared the video to my husband. This morning when he brought me my morning cuppa he said...I thought going too the cinema was expensive but after watching your video said he's now going to be £60 lighter 😆😂..Great video..explains a lot about the timing of our shots 😊👍.
Glad you found my video helpful Sara, oh and expensive :-)
Hi! Thanks again for making this informative video. Love ❤ them! I have a vacuum operated canister from Amazon. It continuously vacuums out gases out of my beans and I would guess it’s the CO2 from the beans. Is this good for the beans or not? I am under the impression that it keeps out oxygen but does it actively remove the CO2 that makes the crema during extraction? It doesn’t have a mechanism that stops it from automatically vacuums the air out. It just does it all day long. Until I suppose it runs out of charge. Please and thank you
Another great video Kev. Airscape looks good, but I would advise to check pricing as Amazon are very expensive compared to other sites offering the same containers
Thanks Kenny. Yeah Amazon looks very pricey for Airscape at present! Ta, Kev
I store my beans in the freezer. I have a work flow where from decanting 18g resealing the bag putting the bag back in the freezer and starting the grind in my Niche Zero takes about 30 seconds in total. I have also collected a few small empty herb jars with scew lids that hold 36g and often when I gat a bag of beans decant into those and freeze them so I'm not opening and closing a whole bag. Works a treat.
I have a bunch of instant espresso jars that I was trying to figure out what to do with. They're really nice and have a decent seal and plastic lid. I think these would be perfect to decant a few doses of beans in and freeze separately so can use them one at a time! Thank you so much for this idea! I live in Michigan where we can have a relatively high level of humidity and we're so used to it we don't even notice big swings and high humidity so taking something in and out of the freezer and opening it up is a very bad idea 😁
Hi Kev, I've a new barista pro and your videos have been a great help for me! I've taken to weighing 19g of beans each time and letting the grinder run for about 20secs to grind it all, but this often results in a second or two of the grinder running without any beans in. Will this cause issues long term? Or is it an OK way to go about making sure I get the right dose.
Letting your grinder run is not bad for it and it's an easy way to make sure there's no leftover beans. If you just leave it on for a long time ( walk away and forget it for half an hour) that would be bad for it but for a few extra seconds, It's Perfectly Normal procedure
What is the best and least wasteful method to clean out any previous retained ground beans from a grinder ?
I've been storing beans in the original foil packet (250g) in the freezer with the top rolled down & pegged. Up until 2 days ago I've just been using a cafetiere, but just taken delivery of a Gaggia Magenta Milk using your discount code and lots of research on your KZhead channel before purchase (so many thanks for that) and looking at making a better cup of coffee. Following watching this video I've today received a Coffee Vac canister for my bean storage. So my 3 questions: 1. How long can beans stay in the bean hopper of the machine before they're considered going stale? 2. Is it ok to now store my coffee vac canister in the freezer or is it best in a cool dark cupboard away from any heat source? 3. If in the freezer do the beans need thawing out before use? As if they're roasted and dry I wouldn't have thought there'd be a need for thawing, but I welcome being corrected as I guess there could possibly be a small moisture content left in them? Thanks in advance for any advice 🙂
You should not store the beans you're currently using in the freezer. If you want to divvy up a large quantity and freeze part of them to maintain freshness, that would be very smart. Every time you open a container from the freezer, you're going to get condensation on the beans, adding moisture and Expediting the staling process of your beans if you don't let them come up to room temperature first before opening the container. If you pull beans directly out of the freezer and throw them in the grinder, they are going to grind very differently than if they were room temperature because they will be more brittle. There's nothing inherently wrong with that but you're going to have a different grind profile at room temperature. 1) store beans you aren't using in the freezer, yes that's a really good idea 2) Do not store the beans you're currently using in the freezer. Moisture settling on the beans will accelerate staleing, increase variables to your Grind profile due to the beans being more brittle when Frozen and more pliable when room temperature. 3) the bag your beans come in is a perfectly viable option for storing them directly in the freezer until you're ready to open the bag. 4) If you want to take some beans out and then put an open bag back in the freezer, you should really let the bag come up to room temperature before you open it. Hope this helps P.S. I intentionally did not get a grinder with hopper. I dunno leaving beans out any open air call me back she goes stale fairly quickly but it's not like they're going to be bad in a couple days. This is very dependent on the temperature and humidity in the room and light exposure. I understand light is very detrimental to coffee and that's why a lot of Hoppers are smoked/have a tint like sunglasses to filter out light, which manufacturers will also tout this in advertisements as a benefit. If you're concerned about leaving quantities and a hopper and you're not going to be emptied out within a couple days I would say you're smart to be concerned and just to not store it there at all. I personally only go through 10 to 40 G of beans per day so most of my coffee is in the freezer and I store half a bag at a time in an airscape. When I think I'll need coffee for the next day I get the next half bag out to be room temperature and ready for the next day
I like the look of the Airscape....up to now I've stored mine in the bags (your bags).
They are great Trish, I would definitely recommend using them to store your beans. Cheers Kev
How long is too long to keep coffee in the hopper. Does it really matter when one gets through the whole coffee in the hopper in less than 5 days? I know it's not ideal, but it's convenient, so I try to find excuses:)
Haha, I'd highly recommend putting roughly a 5th of the coffee in the hopper only, so you're only keeping it in there for one day, but if you're not having any issues and you're not finding that the last few shots taste like dirt (well, it was just ground, lol) then no worries.
I thought that said How to Score Coffee Beans for a minute, there... XD
haha :-0
I was wondering if it would be useful to maybe use that machine that sucks the air out for food storage. The names not coming to me right now. But it's a very common appliance.
Food Saver?
Can’t believe im keeping my beans in the hopper! So should I just weigh the amount i need each time. V good video btw. Love the humour Recently subscribed to your beans as a result of your YT channels. Pretty satisfied. What’s your favourite blend?
Hi Gaz, Yes, I would put in the correct amount of beans in each time, Thanks for subscribing and for trying my coffee, The Chocolate Brownie Blend is my favourite :-) Cheers Kev
@@Coffee_Kev I’m using classic Italian blend. Will give that a try. Have a sage setup - bambino and dose control grinder.
I have switched my sub so will find out tomorrow if I like choc brownies
Are you saying you can tell the difference between beans in a hopper for an hour? If you store them in an airtight container you are constantly opening and closing the container many times a week, exposing it to lots of fresh air
Nah I'm not saying that, I'm saying that when you dial in, and you go back to your machine a bit later and find you're no longer dial in, I suspect from the very non-scientific tests I've done, that this is because of the changes in the room (temp, humidity, possibly more the latter) and the hopper doesn't give the same protection from room conditions that air tight storage does. Yeah you're right re fresh air, that's why I recommend storage solutions that the air can be pushed out of. Cheers, Kev.
@Coffee_Kev thanks. I was trying to figure out what "a little bit later" is, like an hour, a day or a week. I put 2 days worth in a hopper. I've left in for 4 or 5 days on a Eureka Specialita and blind taste tested beans left in hopper vs those in air tight container and none of my friends or family have ever been able to pick the "better" cup.
so any airtight food container should do right?
Any airtight food container is better than a container that isn't airtight, oxidation is the main cause of staling. I think a solution which allows you to remove the air in the container is better than one that doesn't, though, also one that protects against light I reckon is better too, so I prefer metal or ceramic over glass. Ta, Kev.
No. I’m not storing my beans in the hopper.
😂
gg
"97" 😂
Why did you have to say s*** there are some of us on here that don't want to hear that kind of thing now granted most of us do but I don't!!
Sorry! I wouldn't have expected that word to offend anyone, I was clearly wrong so apologies for that.
@@Coffee_Kevif someone can't take s... in a video then they must be offended daily and may be a bit oversensitive. Personally I think your video is great and you gained a new subscriber! Although 5star on your response!
Thanks, I'm so glad you are enjoying my videos 🙂@@zoltanlaszlo6673
When I open a new bag of coffee, I make sure to brew the whole bag and just keep all the espresso in a jug in the fridge. Just pour some out and microwave it when you fancy a brew. Et voila - no stale beanth 🤌
Thanks, Kev. It was me who asked for this 😊 as I was discovering if I left my beens in the hopper overnight. I had to change my grind size in the morning. Normally, I had to go finner, then when I loaded new beens I would choke the machine 😢and would have to make the coffee more corse. So I don't keep coffee in the hopper. A monkey would have learned quicker 😅