Nitrogen packaging

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
Frenchman
Posts: 402
Joined: 14 years ago

#1: Post by Frenchman »

Most everybody uses a CO2 valve on their beans packaging nowadays. But I don't know if that also means the beans are nitrogen packed. How does one know? Ask the roaster? I figure that since this has both a cost and a benefit, it would be advertised by the company?
LMWDP #712

ira
Team HB
Posts: 5497
Joined: 16 years ago

#2: Post by ira »

The CO2 valve is there to let the pressure caused by the beans outgassing escape. Beans are packed in nitrogen to exclude oxygen from the package and help keep the beans from oxidizing until you open the package. The fact that it's called a CO2 valve is just a long standing coffee name. It will happily relieve the pressure no matter what causes it, like putting in on an airplane.

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Frenchman (original poster)
Posts: 402
Joined: 14 years ago

#3: Post by Frenchman (original poster) »

I guess my question was: does everybody pack using nitrogen? Even the local small production roasted? And can one know without asking them?
LMWDP #712

ira
Team HB
Posts: 5497
Joined: 16 years ago

#4: Post by ira »

The machine to make nitrogen is expensive, $25,000 plus I believe, so it's unlikely that small shops will do this. It's mostly important for coffee that might sit on a shelf for a while as if it's going to be opened in 5 days, it hardly matters. I have a small nitrogen generator for soldering, it would work but would take a minute or more to fill a coffee bag and would be $2-$3,000 to replace it.