If you order a bag of Queer Coffee, not only will you support an LGBTQ+ nonprofit, you’ll also receive a fresh roast of fair trade, organic, whole coffee beans within days. And while we know you’ll want to try a cup of Queer Coffee immediately, we also want you to know how to store coffee so the freshness lasts for days and even weeks.
Coffee is More Like Bread Than Chocolate
Coffee is a food that tastes best fresh, even though many of us leave it in the cupboard for weeks or even months at a time. Queer Coffee’s Peruvian blend has been quality tested for a three-month shelf life. It will taste better if you brew it earlier than that, but it’s still as fresh as a drag queen’s sass for a season.
Cool, Dry, and Airtight
The best place for coffee is in a cool, dry, airtight space. At home, our coffee is currently nestled in an Airscape Coffee Canister from 802 Coffee, an ideal environment. Bonus: when lifting the lid off this cannister, it’s heaven. You can smell the freshness even if the beans are a few months old.
If you don’t have an airtight container, though, just be sure to store your coffee in a place like a cupboard or a dry spot on the kitchen counter, away from splashes and sunlight.
Coffee in the Fridge?
You can place your coffee beans in the refrigerator or freezer, although we wouldn’t personally recommend it.
Food & Wine magazine has a great story on baristas freezing beans for competitions, and how we can freeze with success at home. If you’re going on vacation, the freezer can certainly preserve the beans while you’re away.
But we don’t recommend cooling your beans on a daily basis. Every time we’ve tried this, our beans gathered up the fridge or freezer smell, and everything in the fridge ended up smelling like coffee. Stronger glass containers would probably help with this, but we’ll just stick with our countertop Airscape cannister.
Besides, we’re not taking any breaks from coffee around here, so the beans stay within arm’s reach of the French press at all times.
Where do you store your coffee? Let us know in the comments, especially where you land on the freezer debate!
Grind Before Brewing
Your Queer Coffee whole beans will arrive within a few business days of your order. Once you find a suitable way to store them, we recommend keeping them whole until you’re ready to brew.
Get yourself a Grindr, oops: a grinder! You can find them online for as little as $15. Or, butch it up and go down to the hardware store and see if they have a home good’s section.
Order Less or Drink Faster
Queer Coffee comes in 12 oz bags. Some coffee can be purchased in 16 oz / 1 lbs bags, or even 5 lbs bags! If you’re not a big coffee drinker, consider buying smaller bags when you shop for coffee. Or you could split a bag with a friend. You could also drink more coffee or serve a big pot the next time you host brunch.
You’re now knowledgeable about how to store coffee, so let’s get a bag of Queer Coffee into your hands!