When we think of coffee, a dark colored beverage comes to mind. Did you know that when coffee beans are harvested from farms, they have a greenish hue? At that time, the beans are full of water, sugar, potassium, caffeine, lipids, and many other substances. These green beans do not have even a trace of the delicious aroma that we associate with coffee. The fragrance comes only after the beans are roasted.
If you buy your roasted coffee from a reasonably good quality setup, you might have noticed round valves on your coffee bags and wondered about their utility. They work towards keeping the powdered beverage fresh so that the characteristic wonderful aroma remains intact.
When the coffee beans are roasted, carbon dioxide is pushed out. The result is the familiar brown colored coffee which is seen in coffee pouches. If there was no exit for the carbon dioxide in the pouch, it would puff the bag up, and it would end up bursting. Providing small holes would not help either, as they would let the dust and air enter the pouch, making the coffee stale. Valves are the only solution.
Coffee beans keep giving out large quantities of carbon dioxide for many hours after they have been roasted. Due to this offgassing process, coffee beans and powder are stored in pouches with valves. This ensures that while carbon dioxide is allowed to escape, oxygen is not allowed to enter.
The use of bags having single-way air valves has allowed suppliers to pack coffee immediately after roasting without any offgassing worries. This way they are able to provide freshly roasted coffee to consumers. These pouches offer a great coffee packaging solution and are known to provide a reliable barrier against oxygen, resulting in retaining the freshness of the beverage for a longer time.
Now that you know why coffee bags have valves, try looking for some freshly roasted coffee in the store, packed in pouches with valves. And while you are brewing a cup of that delicious drink in the morning, don’t forget to thank the guy who came up with the idea of valves in stand up pouches!