Lets take a look at how to grind and properly store your coffee beans at home. Grinding your own coffee beans right before you brew them is a rewarding experience, whether you use a simple automatic pot or some more complicated method. Buying good beans is not cheap so the right way to store them is essential, because beans that are stored correctly make a better tasting coffee, just the way you like it.

Despite the coffee beans being flavorful and aromatic, once the beans are roasted and ground those qualities dissipate quickly and even adding to the dissipation when they come into contact with direct sunlight and the oxygen we breathe. It’s therefore a good thing to keep in mind before grinding all the coffee beans you brought home from the store today.

While the beans are whole they will retain their flavors and aromas for much longer as they are protected inside a shell. As soon as you grind those beans the protective casing is cracked open and the wonderful flavors and aromas that it was protecting now escape.

If you want to keep the quality of the beans and not to loose all the complex flavors it is important to grind the beans just before you brew the coffee. What happens if you grind the beans prematurely is that you will get, stale and flat tasting coffee and you will have wasted your money.

Storing the beans in a cool and dry place and away from sunlight is recommended in order to get the best results when brewing your coffee every time and the beans can keep for up to three weeks after roasting.  After roasting the best way to store the beans would be in an airtight container that has a one way valve on it that let´s the CO2 that builds up in the coffee bean when roasting out of the airtight container and at the same time keeps the oxygen out.

If you would happen to find a very good deal on coffee beans in bulk quantities and store them for later use, a freezer will come in handy to store all those beans. There are however two rules that you must follow in order to make this possible and keep the beans fresh in the freezer.

1. Because the coffee bean is porous it will absorb flavors and smells present in the freezer which will compromise the both the flavors and aromas of the coffee beans.

2. Store the beans in the freezer in an airtight container or zipper pouches coffee bags, preferably with a degassing valve, that way they can keep for up to six months. It is vital to let the container and beans to warm up to room temperature before opening it. This will avoid messing with the humidity of the beans to much. Never re-freeze the beans after they have thawed.

Remember that when you select the texture or the grain size is going to make an impact on the caffeine extract and the taste of the brew. When hot water is added to the grind the “flavor cells” are activated and the aromas and flavors are released. If the ground isn’t of the right size for the type of coffee you are making, then the brew might turn out to be a underdeveloped and weak brew or it might be over extracted and bitter.

In order for you to choose the best type of grind for the method you are using, you can use the following guidelines.

Coarse Grind is used in a percolator and french presses. The grounds are in contact with hot water for 3-4 minutes using these methods.
Medium Grind is most times used when making coffee with vacuum pots and drip brewing machines.
Fine Grind is used when brewing coffee with filters and some drip brewing machine as well.
Espresso Grind is often difficult to get just right. The ground has to be fine enough to allow pressure to build up in order to extract the flavor from the ground and then allow the liquid to be pushed through the filter. If the ground is too fine it can block the filter and prevent the flow of the liquid.