How to Keep Coffee Fresh Longer (And Why We Built a Refill Program Around It)
If you are buying freshly roasted specialty coffee, proper storage matters.
Once a bag of coffee is opened, exposure to oxygen, moisture, light, and heat begins to degrade flavor. Most coffee bags are designed to transport coffee safely. They are not designed for long-term storage after opening.
If you want your coffee to taste the way it was intended, an airtight container is one of the simplest upgrades you can make.
At OZO, we recommend Airscape canisters. We also built a refill program around them. Here is why.
The Best Way to Store Coffee Beans
To keep coffee fresh longer:
- Store whole beans, not ground coffee
- Use an airtight container
- Keep it in a cool, dry place away from light
- Grind just before brewing
Oxygen is the primary reason coffee loses flavor over time. Even when you fold and clip a coffee bag shut, oxygen remains inside the bag and continues to impact the beans.
An airtight container limits that exposure and slows the loss of aromatics and flavor clarity.
If you are investing in quality coffee, proper storage protects that investment.
Why We Recommend Airscape
Airscape canisters are designed specifically to reduce oxygen inside the container.
Unlike a standard jar, an Airscape has an inner lid that presses down directly onto the beans, pushing excess air out before sealing. That reduced-oxygen environment helps maintain flavor and freshness longer than traditional storage options.
We use them. We trust them. And we sell them because they perform.
But we did not stop there.
The OZO Airscape Canister Refill Program
Our refill program makes better storage even better.
Bring any Airscape canister into any of our five OZO café locations. We will refill it with one full pound of freshly roasted coffee for the price of a 12oz bag.
You receive more coffee for the same price. We eliminate a single-use bag.
Each location offers a rotating refill menu that typically includes our core blends, seasonal coffees, and select single origin offerings from Africa and Latin America, depending on what we are roasting. Ask your barista what is available.
There is no membership required. Bring your canister back when it is empty and we refill it.
It is simple, practical, and built for repeat use.
Measurable Impact
In 2025, our community completed 14,877 Airscape refills.
That prevented an estimated 595 pounds of coffee packaging from entering landfills in one year.
That is thousands of single-use coffee bags that were never produced, shipped, or discarded.
We track these numbers intentionally. Sustainability should be measurable. If we say it matters, we count it.
The refill program is not a marketing concept. It is an operational system that reduces waste while improving product quality.
Sustainability at OZO
OZO Coffee Roasters was founded in Boulder in 2007. Since the beginning, we have focused on quality sourcing, responsible relationships, and long-term sustainability.
The producers we work with in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Colombia, and other coffee-growing regions are directly affected by climate variability. Long-term environmental stability matters to the future of specialty coffee.
Reducing packaging waste at the retail level is one part of that responsibility.
The Airscape program is one of several measurable initiatives we operate. In 2025:
- Our Own Cup Program kept 42,250 disposable cups out of landfills
- Our in-house cashew-almond milk program eliminated more than 3,300 cartons
- Our Brute container program replaced over 6,000 single-use bags
These are tracked outcomes, not projections.
A Better Way to Buy Coffee
If you are looking for the best way to store coffee beans and reduce waste at the same time, this program is designed for you.
An airtight container protects freshness. The refill system reduces packaging. The pricing rewards participation.
You can purchase an Airscape canister in our cafés or online. Once you have one, you can refill it anytime.
Better storage. Less waste. Practical impact.
That is the point.
Find your nearest OZO location
OZO Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee company founded in Boulder, Colorado in 2007, with five café locations and in-house roasting since 2009.