Here’s a little money-saving hack that came to me as I was drifting off to sleep last night. [Never can tell what will enter the brain in those last fleeting moments of consciousness, or how they get there, but I’m always pleased when I can remember them the next day.]

At issue: keeping fresh coffee beans their freshest as long as possible.

Reason: I enjoy coffee as espresso shots with an equal amount of water (Americano) or touch of steamed milk (Cortado or Macchiato style) and consume far less than when I used to keep the pot brewing all day long.

I stopped buying whole bean coffee in one pound bags a few months ago because even on my most coffeeholic days I pull a double-shot in the morning and another in the afternoon. And at that pace it takes at least 3 weeks to finish a pound. 

Storing the beans in the bag, or a tin, means that on week 3 the shots are pretty flat and lifeless.

So… It dawned on me last night (or maybe it dusked on me) that the bottle of wine I recently finished would make a perfect place to keep my beans, and the reason for that is because the bottle is a nice dark green (light is bad for beans) and the little vacuum pump wine bottle stoppers could double as bean savers (air is even worse for keeping the little black jewels fresh).

This hack probably exists out there in webland already, but I wanted to post it here as my very own “original” idea before looking. Too often I just don’t bother once I’ve found another source, and to be blunt, that just stifles the imagination.

Now I just need to find a funnel to get the beans into the bottle. Cheers.