# airtight container...



## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

Basically I bought some of Rave's signature blend, tried it out the day it arrived in my chemex and it was really good - not a coffee I thought would go particularly well with my chemex but anyway it was really good.

Because Rave don't ship their coffee in resealable bags, and because I didn't have any spare, I put the beans in an airtight jar... Long story short, the smell of the beans and their flavour seems to have suffered adversely.

Should I avoid storing in airtight jugs? Something to do with the CO2 having nowhere to escape?


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## Milanski (Oct 10, 2013)

Rave do resealable bags with valves that you can buy from their website.


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

Milanski said:


> Rave do resealable bags with valves that you can buy from their website.


Yeah I will buy some soon, so are airtight jars a bad idea because they lack a valve? I can't think of any other reason why my beans changed in flavour/smell, maybe I got a dodgy batch but doubt it as they were fine the first day.


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## Milanski (Oct 10, 2013)

Is the jar glass? Should be fine. Some plastics can impart smells if they're strong.

Ideally you'd want to fill out the rest of the jar with cotton wool or something that would expell all the excess air. Would'nt say a valve is necessary on a jar but it prevents a bag from exploding...


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

Was under the impression a valve was essential as the co2 has nowhere no to and this can degrade the coffee?


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

How long were they in the container for before you tried them again? Where was the container?


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## Milanski (Oct 10, 2013)

risky said:


> Was under the impression a valve was essential as the co2 has nowhere no to and this can degrade the coffee?


Yep, I think you're right there.


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Given that we want to look after those lovely beans, it's worth getting a decent container that allow the co2 out but not in:

coffeevac from Coffee Compass

http://www.coffeecompass.co.uk/shop/accessories/coffeevac-storage-container-500g.html

or the gorgeous airscape from, ethical addictions

http://www.eacoffee.co.uk/ourshop/prod_2256436-AirScape-64-floz-by-Planetary-Design.html

or even the Friis from CoffeeHit

http://coffeehit.co.uk/friis-coffee-canister


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Milanski said:


> Yep, I think you're right there.


Once the beans have finished degassing then theoretically they should not produce much if any gas to sit in.


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## Xpenno (Nov 12, 2012)

I store my beans in resealable bags with a one way valve. When I've finished dosing I reseal and then push all of the air out each time. The less oxygen in the bag the better as its this that degrades the beans.

If you use a jar then everytime you open it it will refill with air and start degrading the beans.

I'm not saying the bag scenario is perfect but I believe it keeps the beans fresher for longer.


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## Xpenno (Nov 12, 2012)

risky said:


> Was under the impression a valve was essential as the co2 has nowhere no to and this can degrade the coffee?


I think it's to stop bags exploding during shipping and just in general. Think its oxygen in the air that degrades the coffee, co2 should be OK in that respect.


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## bronc (Dec 10, 2012)

It shouldn't be too hard to make yourself a DIY degassing jar. You just need the valve from one of those bags and with some elbow grease you can have this (the photo isn't mine):









Any jar that has a lid which can be cut into can be used. Here is a guide: http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/one-way-valve-jars-home-made

The problem with these types of containers is that as the amount of beans inside decreases, the room for oxygen increases which as we know does bad things do coffee. So maybe bags are better.. I've had some luck with reusing Rave's previous bags which were black on the outside and had some shiny coating in the inside which allowed for cleaning. I'm not sure if they still stock them.


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

bronc said:


> The problem with these types of containers is that as the amount of beans inside decreases, the room for oxygen increases which as we know does bad things do coffee. So maybe bags are better...


The airscape handles that issue.


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## bronc (Dec 10, 2012)

How? Unless you create a vacuum inside the jar there will be air trapped between and above the beans. With a bag you can easily push the air out.


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

@jonc said



> The airscape handles that issue.


and @2bronc asked



> How? Unless you create a vacuum inside the jar there will be air trapped between and above the beans. With a bag you can easily push the air out.


One of the reasons that I like the airscape is that you push the lid down onto the top of the beans so that air is expelled. There is an interesting series of video on the orphan espresso site about trying to minimise air contact with beans - he uses airvac containers.


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

bronc said:


> How? Unless you create a vacuum inside the jar there will be air trapped between and above the beans. With a bag you can easily push the air out.


Exactly - what @Phil104 says is right!


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## bronc (Dec 10, 2012)

Uh.. I mistakenly thought 'airscape' was a name for the one-way valve. I just Googled it..







This doesn't look bad either: http://prepara.com/collections/evak/products/evak-compact-handle?variant=1248981319


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

I have one of these, which worked well when I took some ground coffee into work kept it fresher much longer than without using it, IMHO http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vacu-Vin-Coffee-Storage-Container/dp/B000XTFQZM


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

exposure of the recently roasted bean to the air, starts the degassing process. The end result of that is [email protected] and the likes. The aim of the one way valve is to allow the gas to escape but it does not really do that. Try leaving a bag of freshly roasted beans to sit. The bag expands. try squeezing it and not a lot happens. Open the bag to expose it to the air and you start the process off again.

This is why 10 years ago vacuum bags became very popular but they had issues as well


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