How long can you store green coffee?

#1: Post by **bilsch** » June 26th, 2022, 6:18 pm

Subject says it all

How long do folks think is the longest you should hold onto green beans?

I have some beans that are like 2+ years old. When I roasted last they tasted fine but I did not notice some of the nicer flavors I had in the past. But with the roaster ( behmor ) that could very easily be explained there!

#2: Post by **tompoland** » June 26th, 2022, 6:39 pm

From memory the book Dear Coffee Buyer recommends 5 months maximum in cool dry conditions but you will hear of people enjoying their beans two or three years later.

#3: Post by **Ken5** » June 26th, 2022, 6:51 pm

I bought some bags of daterra a couple of months ago from George Howell that had a harvest date of July-August 2020 on the bag!!!

Ken

#4: Post by **littlenut** » June 26th, 2022, 7:52 pm

UP FRONT - I have never done this or have first hand experience with this.

Some here have vacuum sealed green beans and stored in a chest freezer for years. Maybe one of 'em will stop by. -LN

June 26th, 2022, 8:02 pm

If stored properly and don't lose their moisture, one year easy, and many on here go more. Storage is key. Since I don't have any room, I shoot for using them within 6 months max of my receipt. Try to buy fresh harvest.

#6: Post by **JohnB.** » June 26th, 2022, 8:23 pm

littlenut wrote:UP FRONT - I have never done this or have first hand experience with this.

Some here have vacuum sealed green beans and stored in a chest freezer for years. Maybe one of 'em will stop by. -LN

I've had good results roasting greens that were vacuum sealed & stored in our upright FF freezers for 10-11 years. Just recently roasted 1 lb of 10 year old Yemen greens that produced some very tasty shots.

#7: Post by **Mbb** » June 26th, 2022, 9:20 pm

Easily at least a year.

Most of that green coffee is already 6 months old by the time it gets to you. It's a long process to get it to you

#8: Post by **Capuchin Monk** » June 26th, 2022, 10:28 pm

I thought the unroasted coffee bean shelf life is measured in years. Last I checked, it's up to 2 years in room temperature. That was 20 years ago so maybe some updated info came out?

June 27th, 2022, 1:33 am

Most likely it varies a lot from crop to elevation to regional differences to personal preferences. Tantalizingly, there is only one way to be sure: drink for coffee!

#10: Post by **Peppersass** » June 27th, 2022, 1:43 pm

George Howell freezes his greens immediately after delivery. He has said that loss of flavor is continuous after processing and can be detected in a very short period of time after he receives a shipment. I can't recall if he said within one week or a few weeks, but it wasn't long. I don't know if he vacuum seals the greens before freezing, but it seems unlikely with the large volume of greens he goes through.

I vacuum seal and freeze my greens, though the freezer of my kitchen refrigerator isn't as cold as a chest freezer. I've had excellent results with greens that have been stored that way for 4+ years.