Keep Every Cup Fresh: How to Store Coffee Grounds, Beans, & Used Grounds

Whether it's beans or grounds, you want to ensure that you keep your coffee as fresh as possible for as long as possible. That way, you preserve every bit of delicious flavor and aroma. To do that, you'll need to learn the correct way to store coffee beans and grounds.

Below, Mystic Monk Coffee breaks down the best ways to store each and offers reasons why you may want to consider keeping those used coffee grounds as well.

How to Store Coffee Grounds & Beans

According to the National Coffee Association, coffee beans typically stay fresh for around one to three weeks, depending on their storage conditions.

On the other hand, coffee grounds only last around one to two weeks.

In order to prevent them from losing their freshness, there are a few elements you should avoid exposing your coffee grounds and beans to:

• Moisture
• Airborne aromas of other foods (fruits, vegetables, leftovers, etc.)
• Heat
• Oxygen

These elements tend to spur chemical reactions within your fresh coffee, which can reduce its quality over time. While there is no way to completely prevent them from going stale, several methods can be employed to slow down the process and keep them as fresh as possible.

Those methods include:

Store Coffee in Airtight Containers

One of the most effective ways to preserve the taste and aroma of your freshly roasted beans is to store them in a vacuum-sealed container. Removing the flow of oxygen and moisture keeps in all that freshness you want to lock in.

Keep Beans Dry, Dark, & Cool

Where there's light, there's heat, and where there's moisture, there can be mold. That's why we recommend storing your coffee away in a dark and dry, but reachable, corner of your cupboard or pantry.

Freeze Your Coffee

This may be an unusual tactic, but freezing coffee beans can help maintain their freshness for up to four months. It works well because it prevents any moisture, odor, air, or heat from reaching your frozen beans. However, the catch is ensuring that your beans or grounds are frozen without any residual moisture. Do this by placing all your grounds or beans on a baking sheet and leaving them in a sunny spot for several days to air dry. 

Vacuum Sealing in Plastic

Another way to keep your beans fresh is to store them in vacuum-sealed pouches, which are made airtight using a machine. With this method, ensure that every pouch is filled with a week or two's worth of coffee. That way, you get the most amount of freshness possible from each pouch. You can easily do this by measuring out how many tablespoons you need for each cup you make in a day, then multiplying by the number of days.

While there are various airtight containers to choose from, we at Mystic Monk Coffee offer our own Coffee Vault. Made from odor-resistant stainless steel with an opaque design, our Vaults are designed to prevent air, light, heat, and other offensive smells from contaminating your precious beans.

How to Store Used Coffee Grounds

Once you've used up your beans or grounds, you shouldn't let those leftover coffee grounds go to waste. Instead, it may be a good idea to store your used coffee grounds for future use.

Why store used coffee grounds?

Even after giving you your daily brew, coffee grounds have even more desirable uses, including:

• Compost: When added to compost piles of other organic materials, such as vegetable or fruit scraps, grass, dry leaves, and cardboard, you get a nutrient-rich mixture that helps improve soil quality in your garden.
• Odor Absorber: After drying them out, place your used grounds in a bowl or pouch. Then, place those into your fridge, closet, or old shoes. The grounds will absorb the moisture and odor in these areas, allowing you to easily remove their unpleasant scent.
• Pest Deterrent: Used coffee still retains a strong enough aroma to repel bugs such as ants, snails, slugs, mosquitoes, and other pests.

What to Do with Used Coffee Grounds

Preparing and storing your used coffee grounds isn't a difficult task. It just takes a few steps and a little effort. Here's what you need to do:

1. Ensure that you store all your used grounds in a relatively dry and dark location. Check that they aren't moldy either.
2. Once you collect enough, layer your grounds on trays with dry newspaper on top. Layers should be no more than one to three inches thick.
3. Then, dry your coffee grounds by placing them near a well-lit area, preferably outdoors. The sun and the wind will naturally dry all the moisture from them.
4. Mix the grounds around every so often so that the damp layers of coffee grounds underneath the surface get a chance to dry out.

Eventually, you should have dry, used coffee grounds ready to be used in various ways. If you want to keep them for later use, simply store your dried coffee grounds in glass or plastic jars and keep them in a dry location.

Commonly Asked Questions About Coffee Beans & Grounds

Do Coffee Beans/Grounds Ever Expire?

Not necessarily. Coffee beans and grounds simply lose their peak flavor and aroma after a certain amount of time. Regardless of the storage method you use, coffee eventually goes stale.

While coffee doesn't expire, it can get moldy under humid and moist conditions. If you ever notice that your coffee has a musty smell or an unsavory flavor, something is likely wrong with it, and it should be discarded.

How Do You Get The Freshest Coffee Possible?

The best method of getting the freshest coffee to brew is to purchase green coffee beans and roast them yourself. Then, you can grind the roasted beans whenever you want to brew a cup for yourself.

Important note: Ground coffee is often at its freshest around two weeks after its roast date.

Keep Your Coffee Fresh & Get the Best Coffee From Mystic Monk Coffee.

Key takeaway? Avoid letting air, heat, or moisture come into contact with your beans or grounds for too long. Keep them dry and cool, and you'll be able to enjoy the crisp, savory taste in every cup for a long time to come.

And if you're looking to get freshly roasted coffee beans or delicious grounds in exotic blends and flavors, consider browsing our wide selection at Mystic Monk Coffee.

From light to dark roast, and specialty flavors you won't find anywhere else, try to find your new favorite brew, made with the artisan hands of our dedicated Carmelite Monks. Discover the blessed flavor of Mystic Monk Coffee today!