How To Store Green Coffee Beans Before Roasting? – High-quality coffee brewing is essential to running a successful coffee shop, as all excellent coffee roasters are aware.
High-quality beans are the first step, followed by an efficient roasting apparatus and brewing system. However, quality checks that result in consistently great coffee start before roasting.
Here’s where it’s important how to store green coffee beans properly. How to store green coffee beans after harvest will affect how your clients taste it after brewing.
The knowledge of how to keep coffee beans has increased since the ’90s coffeehouse boom in the United States.
The value of maintaining quality
A general rule of thumb would be that green coffee can maintain its good sensory and physical quality for up to a year after harvest under ideal circumstances.
Unfavourable environmental factors can quickly reduce this lifespan, but they can also be increased with clever strategies.
It’s also important to remember that green coffee can last very long without endangering the customer (often at reduced sensory quality).
Although “aged” coffees are less widespread among speciality coffee roasters than they once were, they are utilized frequently in particular situations.
However, modern speciality roasters are more concerned with the freshness of the green coffee they use than only the freshness of their roasted product.
Therefore, one of the most crucial quality preservation measures a roaster can take is properly storing green coffee. Certified coffees can be kept intact, green coffee can be kept in a safe environment for consumption, and flavour can be preserved.
Poor storage techniques expose green coffee to physical harm and deteriorating flavour qualities. Let’s examine some typical issue areas, and best practices roasters can use to make the most of their green coffee.
What different ways are there how to store green coffee beans?
Green coffee beans are hygroscopic and porous. This indicates that they easily take in and hold moisture. For instance, if you keep new green coffee beans close to garlic, the coffee will start to smell and taste like garlic!
The typical individual envisions burlap or jute bags of coffee beans when they think about bulk coffee storage. It’s customary to see images of farmers holding up stacks of these sacks.
However, it’s a fact that putting porous bags on coffee beans causes moisture content issues. Plastic bags are on the other end of the spectrum from permeable woven bags. Condensation buildup in plastic bags is an issue.
Therefore, there are issues with moisture content once more. Green beans that have lost their flavour and aroma may result from this. Beans that have gone bad could result.
The two extremes of packaging coffee beans are when it is overly porous and not porous enough. Fortunately, packaging professionals keep developing new ideas while considering the following crucial coffee bean storage factors.
Temperature
The temperature at which green coffee is stored significantly impacts quality. High temperatures can be especially harmful to green coffee because they can cause taste and aromatic components to evaporate.
Moisture loss from high temperatures can also result in a reduction in flavour complexity over time. Problems can arise from low temperatures as well.
Industry-wide best practices usually agree that temperatures between 50 and 75 F are ideal for typical warehouse storage.
Humidity
If coffee is kept in a temperature-variable environment, relative humidity will likewise change. The coffee may be in ideal storage conditions at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 60 % humidity overnight.
Still, suppose the warehouse temperature rises to 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day without adding a new humidity source. In that case, the relative humidity will significantly decrease, and the likelihood of the coffee beans drying out will increase.
Light Intensity
Most farmers use the sun to dry their picked coffee beans. Bright light is just what the coffee bean needs at this point in its development. The moisture content will decrease from approximately 50% to 11%.
The beans will lose flavour and perfume due to drying out further in the sun. According to experts, green coffee beans should be kept in a dark area or an opaque container.
Pests
Even though rodents and bugs don’t typically like coffee as food, pests still present an issue for stored coffee and must be watched over and managed.
Don’t let problems have any opportunities to infest (like holes in your walls and spilt coffee on the floor). Insects and rodents should be addressed seriously because they can risk one’s health and safety and be destructive.
Time
More extended storage periods may cause the beans’ quality and quantity to diminish.
The good news is that if you store green coffee in a stable, cold, dark, and pest-free environment, you may keep it for up to twelve months without losing significant flavour and fragrance traits.
Make sure these times are taken into account when making your storage plans.
Options for storage and packaging
The affordability and environmental friendliness of jute or burlap coffee bean bags contribute to their appeal. On the other hand, the producers and roasters cannot afford to lose a shipment due to insect, heat, or humidity damage.
Many layers of high-barrier polyethene are used in the containers made by packaging businesses to stabilize the storage environment. Consider your unroasted coffee beans like other fresh plant items when deciding on the best storage alternatives.
All new plant items’ flavour and quality are impacted by light, heat, air, moisture, time, and pests.
Just another reminder that there are many people involved in getting coffee from the tree to your cup, that the supply chain is lengthy, and that there is always a possibility that something unexpected could happen.
Even the most unlikely situations may be better with how to store green coffee beans, adequate storage solutions and continuous communication with your supply partners.