Green coffee beans are famous for their many health benefits. Many people like to drink it after their meals and many just drink it through the day. There is no doubt, people love coffee but do coffee lovers know where their coffee comes from and how it grows? And more importantly, how long do green coffee beans last?
Unknown to many people but coffee beans are actually green. They retain their highest medicinal properties when they are fresh and green in color. In other words, when they are unroasted, they provide more health benefits than the roasted one. After roasting, they lose a chemical called chlorogenic acid that can be helpful with certain health conditions.
Let’s find out, what are Green Coffee Beans? How to use them as coffee and how does it benefit us? But, before answering all these questions, let’s get some know-how about the green coffee beans themselves.
What Are Green Coffee Beans?
Green Coffee Beans are seeds from the Coffea plant that are ready for roasting. They are fresh coffee seeds, from cherrylike coffee fruit that are green in color, and change their color when they become mature. At maturity, their color changes from green to yellow and gradually dark red or brown. These seeds turn brown when roasted dry or wet.
Green Coffee Beans have many engaging names. In some parts of the world, they named as Coffea Liberica, Café Verde, Arabica Green Coffee Beans, GCBE, Coffea Arnoldiana, and many more. An interesting fact is that green coffee beans have a high quantity of chlorogenic acid, which has many health benefits. Chlorogenic acid helps in regulating blood sugar, boosts fat metabolism, controls cholesterol, and triglycerides, and also helps in managing obesity.
The host of a very famous TV Health Show, Dr. OZ, considers it very helpful in weight reduction. He claims that after consuming it, a person does not need any rigorous exercise or dieting. Apart from this, it is believed to help in controlling high blood pressure, type II diabetes, high cholesterol, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Best Types Of Green Coffee Beans
Like any other green product, green coffee beans vary in flavors due to the climate of the region. Like American beans, they taste different from the ones produced in the African region. Green coffee beans grow in Asia, and the Middle East taste different from others. The taste mainly depends on the acidity levels of the coffee beans.
The flavor of the green coffee bean also depends on the altitude they grow, the quality of soil, atmospheric temperature, rainfall, and the exposure to the sun. Coffee producers select uniform mature coffee cherry beans to keep a distinctive flavor. Different green coffee beans have their separate taste and attributes.
There are many types of green coffee beans available in the market. These are mainly ranked on the level of acidity. Moreover, acidic means strong flavor and more aromatic coffee. American coffee tastes citrusy and floral, while Costa Rican green coffee has a nutty citrus flavor. Mexican coffee is famous for its organic chocolaty and nutty flavor.
Columbian coffee is well-known for its smooth, bright, and fruity taste and is popular in the commercial market. Brazilian green coffee beans liked for their delicate and sweet flavor. Hawaiian coffee is famous for its mild and fruity flavor. Two green coffee beans named Robusters and the Arabica beans are trading well in the commercial market.
The Best Green Coffee Beans You Can Buy
- Guatemalan Huehuetenango Green Unroasted Coffee Beans
- Tanzanian Peaberry Green Unroasted Coffee Beans
- Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Green Unroasted Coffee Beans
- Green Unroasted Brazilian Cerrado Coffee Beans
- Brazilian Adrano Volcano Unroasted Green Coffee Beans
Things To Consider When Buying Green Coffee Beans
The cost, availability, and other practical points are necessary to consider before buying unroasted coffee. You can select fresh beans keeping in view their taste, aroma, sweetness, acidity, and their feel in the mouth. Also, the origin of growth, the available variety, and the processing method will help you to buy the right kind of coffee good for you.
Green Coffee Beans Storage options
The best option to keep green coffee beans that last for long is to keep them in a dry and cool place. To store them in the refrigerator that is too moist or in the deep freezer that is too dry will destroy them. At home, you can store them in long airtight containers.
The best practice is to keep them in colored containers to avoid direct interaction with light. Light may change its distinctive taste. Another option is to store them in plastic zipper bags if you want to keep them for a short period, maybe up to 3 months. You can also store them in plastic sacks for long periods. Keep the bags open more carefully for air circulation and shake them from time to time.
Once opened, green unroasted coffee beans retain their freshness for at least two weeks. You can store them in airtight containers for one month. They are safe at 40 degrees Fahrenheit at room temperature. Take all precautionary measures as you take to store other beans.
Another excellent way to store them is vacuum sealing. But keep in mind that these beans release CO2 so, it is good to exhale air from the bag intermittently. If you follow the rules, you can store them for at least 3 to 6 months easily with all freshness.
Signs That Your Green Coffee Beans Are Stale
According to a study, green coffee beans never go stale by themselves but, if they somehow become moist, they can develop mold or fungus. Then it is better to get rid of them at your earliest.
Another way to check them is to put some beans in a ziplock bag, take out all air from it, and leave it overnight at room temperature. If you see in the morning, the bag fills with air then, your beans are good to consume. But if the storage bag remains flat, then they are not okay for consumption, they are dead.
You can refresh them by adding some cinnamon powder or sticks to the coffee beans. Another way to revive them is to put a few drops of vanilla extract in the container. That will refresh them at their best.
In Summary
If you are fond of green coffee, enjoy it with its full benefits. The best thing is to research its pros and cons and side effects before starting using it. Everything, if kept at the standard limit, will please your buds.
Enjoy a cup of Green Unroasted Beans Coffee!