How I Drink So Many Different Coffees at Once
It might look a bit ridiculous at first glance, a lineup of half-full bags of beans and containers scattered across my bench. But no, I’m not drinking all of these coffees at once. I just like variety.
At any given time, I’ll have several different coffees open, each at a different stage of freshness. I find it keeps things interesting and helps me explore more flavours day to day.
Over time, I’ve found a few habits that make managing multiple coffees easier and more enjoyable, from how I store them, to how I track what’s what.
1. Coffee Bean Storage
How you store coffee has a huge impact on how fresh it stays. I’ve experimented with a few approaches and each has its place depending on how much coffee I’m working through.
There's a number of factors that contribute to how quickly coffee ages, we wrote a full article discussing this in depth and if you're interested I highly recommend you give it a read. 'What We Know About Coffee Ageing'.
Airtight Canisters
The Airscape Coffee canisters is one of my favourites. It uses a plunger-style insert that physically pushes out excess air, a simple but effective way to reduce oxidation. Although it’s marketed as a one kilo container, it can actually fit closer to 1.5kg.
Another great option is the Fellow Atmos. I’ve had mine for years and it still works perfectly. The original version uses a mechanical pump, while the newer Fellow Electric Atmos does the same thing electronically. Both remove air from the container to create a partial vacuum, slowing staling and extending freshness.
If you already have an Atmos we actually sell the E-Atmos Lids individually, these are compatible with all of the Atmos canisters (any size / material).
Airscape vs Fellow Atmos
Choosing between the Airscape and the Fellow Atmos really comes down to how you use your coffee. The Airscape is best for everyday drinkers who go through beans quickly and want something simple, reliable, and low-maintenance, it keeps coffee fresh enough for weekly use but isn’t ideal for long-term storage since it only reduces air rather than removing it completely. The manual Fellow Atmos is better suited for people who buy more expensive beans or want their coffee to stay bright and complex for longer; it requires a bit of work to repump every few days, but the freshness difference is noticeable.
Meanwhile, the Electric Atmos is the top choice for busy coffee professionals, competitors, or anyone who wants maximum preservation with zero effort, it maintains a vacuum automatically, making it perfect for long-term storage or ageing rare coffees.
Ultimately: Airscape for convenience, Atmos for preservation, and Electric Atmos for hands-free, high-performance storage.
Read the full product comparison between the Airscape Vs Fellow Atmos canisters
Freezing Coffee
Freezing is another excellent way to preserve special coffees, the ones I don’t plan to drink right away. I usually freeze beans that are meaningful to me or ones I want to enjoy later down the track after I've finished with the other open bags of coffee beans.
There are many ways to freeze coffee but the two methods I like to use is in Single Dose Centrifuge Tubes / Coffee Tubes and just freezing coffee in it's original packaging.
- Single-dose tubes or vials these make portioning easy but create extra plastic waste.
- Original packaging: convenient, though paper bags are more oxygen-permeable than plastic, so freshness won’t last as long.
In short, if you’re freezing coffee, aim for an airtight, low-oxygen setup.
2. Taking Notes
As coffee ages, its flavour profile changes. Acidity softens, aromatics fade and sweetness can flatten out. Adjusting your brewing parameters helps you get the most out of each roast as it develops.
I don’t take physical notes for every brew because I've been doing this for such a long time and am able to keep track of where each coffee is at, but I mentally track where each type of coffee is in its lifecycle. For example, when I reach for an older washed coffee, I might grind slightly finer or raise the brew temperature to bring out a bit more flavour intensity.
Whether you jot it down or just pay attention as you go, noticing these small shifts helps you adapt your brew method, understand your coffees better and helps get you drinking better coffee each time.
3. Labelling
When you’re juggling multiple coffees, labelling becomes essential. I label each container with the coffee name, roaster, origin and roast date, even a simple note like “Brazil Geisha, Seven Seeds” does the trick.
It saves a lot of guesswork later. I’ve had times where I’ve found an unlabelled jar, brewed it and realised I had no idea what I was drinking. Not a great feeling, especially when it turns out to be something old or unremarkable.
Having clear labels helps me track what’s fresh, what’s nearing its end and what’s worth revisiting.
4. Managing Expectations
This is probably the most important part of how I approach coffee.
I value variety over perfection. I’d rather have five different coffees open (all at slightly different stages) than one perfectly fresh bag that I drink day after day. It keeps things interesting, broadens my palate and reminds me that coffee isn’t about chasing a single “ideal” flavour, but enjoying the diversity of experiences it offers.
If you prefer consistency, it might make more sense to invest in one large airtight canister and focus on a single coffee at a time. But if, like me, you enjoy exploring, smaller containers or even freezer storage might suit your workflow better.
The key is to understand what you value most in your coffee routine, freshness, variety, experimentation, or simplicity and build habits around that. And remember, it’s perfectly fine for that to change over time.
Coffee doesn’t have to be a rigid routine. Whether you’re storing multiple beans, keeping notes on flavour changes, or just experimenting with what you enjoy, the process should be fun and flexible.
If this topic resonates with you, check out the video version of this post on YouTube, and let me know how you store and manage your coffees at home.
