Roasted Coffee Beans

Roasted coffee beans generally last for about three to seven days before losing their flavor. If you seal them in an airtight container, you can extend the shelf life to a week or two. However, you should only buy as much coffee as you will need in a few days, because once it is ground, it begins to lose its flavor in an hour.

How to Store Roasted Coffee Beans
Roasted coffee beans can be stored for a few weeks but ground coffee loses its flavors and begins to stale almost immediately. Its essential oils begin to evaporate. In order to make the best possible cup of coffee, you should grind it yourself. That way, you know exactly how fresh it is.

If you buy your coffee from a specialty retailer, find out when the beans were roasted. If the store does not know, do you still want to shop from them? Roasted coffee beans should be as fresh as possible--buy them as soon after roasting as you can, or you can learn how to roast them yourself.

The bottom line is that whole beans will keep longer than ground coffee. There is less exposure to the things that make it stale, like light, oxygen, and temperatures. If you freeze your ground coffee to keep it fresh, remember to only freeze it and thaw it once, or you will ruin its flavor completely.