Look for a one-way valve (the black hole of espresso delight) on your coffee bags – this lets unwated gases out, keeping coffee fresher longer.

Storing coffee beans demands a great ability to ignore most of the nonsense trotted out in the community about fridges, freezers and airtight containers.

In essence, you want to keep your beans safe and happy until you are ready to consume them.

Before we get into the coffee storage tips, we need to be clear on the enemies of coffee:

• Heat
• Air
• Water
• Time

Roasted coffee does not enjoy being exposed to heat, as that increases its urge to release its goodness too early, leading to stale coffee.

Nor does it like being exposed to air (oxidisation spells the end of palatable coffee) or water (it spoils the beans too soon).

Finally, time allows all these enemies to make advances, even in the best storage conditions, so consider a coffee clock is ticking the moment your beans have been roasted.

Be that as it may, most discerning coffee lovers will actually find properly roasted and packed coffee can quite handsomely remain tasty for a good six months in the right bags and storage conditions. Yes, really fussy coffee drinkers will demand coffee roasted within the week before consumption with a whole gamut of personal theories on time between roasting and drinking. Some people swear by drinking just hours after roasting (even though most beans will still be too volatile), to 2-3 days, to 8-12 days, and every shade in between.

In fact, you could write a book called the 50 Shades Of Brown and dedicate it to people’s preferences for coffee roasting to drinking time.

However, at the sane and realistic end of the spectrum, you should find that the convenience of having coffee roasted and packed for you (and ground too if you don’t own a ‘proper grinder’) will meet and most likely surpass your coffee needs at home and in the office.

So, with the enemies and quirks out the way, here are some tips for you for storing coffee.

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