How to Store Your Coffee + 5 Top Coffee Canister Choices

You've spent hours researching the best coffee to buy and have hopefully chosen one free of mould toxins, pesticides and heavy metals. You've paid a premium for quality coffee and now want to know how to store it. Below are our top tips on how to look after your coffee followed by a review of 5 top quality coffee canisters. Coffee is hygroscopic meaning that coffee will absorb moisture from the air around it, as well as any odors and tastes in the air. If you want to consistently create a "gold cup" of coffee full of flavour you need fresh coffee. Here are some general rules to follow to ensure your coffee is at it's freshest possible.

1. It is always best to buy beans and grind as you go. Ground coffee has a bigger surface area and has had the beans protective shell ground down.
2. Always use an airtight, dark container to store your coffee.
3. Avoid sunlight (never store in a clear container on the bench).
4. Avoid heat (keep away from radiators, ovens etc).
5. Avoid steam (keep coffee away from coffee brewers, stoves, etc.).
6. Avoid moisture (don't store near your sink, and definitely don't store coffee in the fridge due to the moisture!)
7. If you buy in bulk - coffee beans (not ground coffee) can be stored in the freezer but the container must be super air tight!

So now you know the basics - here are 5 coffee canisters that we would recommend along with our thoughts on each (if you click on each one it will take you to a web page to purchase). The order is our recommendation on best to least best (although all are good):

1. Planetary Design Airscape Kilo (also in White) - £49.99 (stores 1kg of coffee beans): This one is expensive but ticks all the boxes in terms of coffee storage. The canister itself is stainless steel so doesn't let any light in. The lid when pushed down evacuates most of the air/oxygen inside the canister so is as airtight as you can get. Great piece of kit. I've not tried it on ground coffee so am not sure if it may block the lid filter? This one scores extra points because it can hold up to a kg of roasted beans which is why you have a coffee storage canister in the first place (buying in bulk).
2. Prepara Evak Glass - £21.99 (stores 500g of coffee beans): I love this canister apart from the fact it's clear glass (lets light in) and it only stores 500g of beans. It has a similar lid air/oxygen evacuation system as the Airscape. You could however buy 2 of them for the same price as the Airscape and as long as you kept them mostly in a dark space away from light it would be a great choice. The glass is a clean storage option that won't impart any flavours, and is easy to wash up. Just be careful with the lids though as sometimes they can malfunction or fall apart (there is a stainless steel bit over the valve that can come away - I just removed mine and it still worked perfectly!).
3. Tightpac Tightvac Solid Airtight Jar - 2,35 l - £23.99 (stores 1kg of coffee beans) - I like the tightvac as it's relatively cheap, has an air escape mechanicsm (although it doesn't flush out all the oxygen inside), and keeps out light, moisture and odours. The only downside (besides the fact it doesn't expel as much air as the Evak or Airscape) is that it's made from plastic so there is a very small risk of your beans soaking up the plastic flavour. That said the company itself is very environmentally aware (runs a solar powered plant), and the canisters are very light yet strong. If you want to store a large amount of coffee and don't want to splash the cash on an Airscape this is a good compromise in my opinion.
4. Friis Coffee Vault - £21.97 (stores 500g of coffee beans): This one doesn't remove all the air inside but relies on the CO2 released from freshly roasted beans to escape slowly and create a natural "CO2 protection cocoon" around them. It's stainless steel like the Airscape so no light can get in. It's very similar to the Coffee Gator (has similar high ratings and design) but is cheaper, so slightly pips the coffee gator.
5. Coffee Gator Storage Canister - £25.99 (stores 645g coffee beans): Same design as the Coffee Vault but slightly larger storage capacity and a more expensive price. It does have some good features in that you can clip the label from the coffee stored within (not that I buy multiple brands of coffee at once).

Lastly another option if you buy coffee beans in very large quantities (to save money) is to buy vacuum bags and a vacuum sealer and store in small portioned out quantities in the freezer taking out what you need for say the week and storing that in one of the above containers. Here is one option for £39.99 (4.5/5 rating for 1,119 ratings on Amazon) that comes with 15 reusable bags so you can also store other food leftovers in your fridge!