Storing

Beans should be stored in a cool, dry, and dark place.

Immediately after roasting, beans need to be rested for about 2-3 days by leaving in an airtight opaque container in a cool area. After resting, they may be placed in a vaccum sealed container to prevent oxidation.

For most people, the vaccum sealing is simply unpractical considering the container will need to be opened and vaccum sealed each time. For this reason, it makes more sense to use a bag with a one-way valve. This allows the carbon dioxide and nitrogen to escape without additional oxygen getting in (while closed). I use 12oz bags which contain little enough coffee consumed quickly enough that flavors stay well within ../core-concepts/the-curve during its lifetime.

Brewing

Coffee should never come into contact with boiling water. The fragile, volatile flavors of a freshly roasted bean will be killed off at 100 degrees C. Instead, it's best to use "almost boiling" filtered water with a low TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) at about 98-98.6 degrees C. If you don't have a thermometer, boil the water and wait keeping it in a closed container for about a minute and a half to approximate.

Filtering

Certain materials can too rapidly cool down the water and beans when brewing. There's a lot that varies here between brewing methods, but generally speaking, plastic is better than metal is better than ceramic.