Best Stainless Steel Coffee Canisters | Camping & Home

When bringing your fresh beans on your next camping trip it will be essential to store them in an air tight container so they don't loose their quality. Ensuring your beans are stored correctly is essential for a good cup of coffee, you can have the best camping coffee maker, have the best portable grinder and the best technique however if your coffee isn't fresh then all of that will mean squat....

Why should you store you coffee in a canister?

Most people would think freshness right? And that's correct when coffee beans are exposed to the raw air they can oxidize. The trick is to keep them away from light, moisture, heat and the raw air. Think of your coffee beans like magical beans that need to be kept safe and sound! 

One of the tenets of perfect coffee is to buy high-quality whole bean coffee, store it properly, and then grind right before you brew. This is a crucial step and I can’t emphasize enough how important this is. Ground coffee loses its freshness and flavour many times more quickly than whole coffee beans (ground coffee starts to degrade within half an hour).

All you have to do is follow the coffee commandments:

• Always, always ALWAYS buy whole bean. Upon penalty of bad coffee.
• Buy in small quantities. Less is always more when it comes to coffee. (Yes, it’s possible to buy too much coffee – never buy more than you can use in about a week.)
• Store coffee beans in an airtight container. You can find both ceramic and stainless steel vacuum canisters – we’ll get to that in a minute.
• Store your coffee container in a cool and shady place – cupboards or pantries are the perfect places.

How should you actually store your coffee?

All different people have different theories on how to store coffee from the freezer to a paper bag. The truth is that as long as you avoid moisture, raw air, heat and light then your beans should be top notch!

What to look for in a coffee canister?

There are a few important things to look for when looking for the best coffee canister: 

• Air tightness – Don’t assume that the more complicated the coffee container is, the better it will be for your coffee’s freshness. If it comes with a user manual akin to the manual for your car, pass it on by.
• Keeping the beans dry – Any coffee container that does this will also protect those precious beans from the perils of light and heat too.
• Durable - The canister should be durable be able to take a bit of a beating without opening up or cracking . I mean your taking this thing camping, us campers aren't the most gentle of creatures...

The 3 best coffee canisters for camping and home

Below are our top three picks for the best coffee canisters for camping and home, there are hundreds of products out there so nailing them down to just three should help you when making a decision! 

Coffee Gator Canister

The "Coffee Gator" covers the bases of a good coffee canister, it is airtight and stainless steel. The Coffee Gator has a lid that tracks how long your coffee has been in the canister, this is helpful incase you forget and the beans are "off"

Its stainless steel construction prevents light from damaging your coffee beans, and the vacuum seal protects against both air and moisture. This means all you have to take care of is storing it in a cool part of your kitchen, and you’ve got all four threats – heat, moisture, oxygen, and light – neutralized.

2X Coffee Canister

Our very own canister is deigned to ensure your coffee beans are kept to the highest quality, the canister is extremely airtight and keeps your beans from oxidising. The 2X Coffee Canister has a dial on the lid of the canister that keeps track if how old your beans are to ensure you don't make coffee with old stale beans...

The canister has a capacity of 1.5L - 1.8L depending on what size you end up choosing. When travelling through the wilderness you want your gear to be durable and the 2X Coffee Canister is just that, it's stainless steel build allows for drops, bashes and slams...

Friis Coffee Vault

This stainless steel canister can hold up to one pound of coffee. It has a one-way valve filter to help vent carbon dioxide, which may keep your coffee fresh longer.

But when a product has “vault” in the name, it creates some expectations about airtight seals. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with this coffee container. Because the filter doesn’t allow for a completely air-tight seal, this canister is best for people who go through their coffee quickly. To add to that, the carbon dioxide filters need to be replaced on a regular basis and are thus an extra, ongoing cost. We do need to mention that the manufacturer sends you filters for free for up to a year after you register the canister online.

Our Favourite?

We'll not to be biased but our favourite is the 2X Coffee Canister...In the end, we find true air-tight vacuum seals to be the most important characteristic in a coffee storage container.

When you think about the four main things for keeping your coffee fresh - air, moisture, heat, and light – this helps to thwart three of them. The fourth, heat, is every coffee lover’s duty to avoid themselves.

What sets the 2X Coffee Canister apart is the design. Not only does it have a valve to release carbon dioxide and air, but it also allows you to lock the lid down in order to make sure you’re getting the tightest seal possible by forcing all of the air out of the container. The control it gives you over air exposure is what makes it a clear winner in my book.

You may have started drinking coffee out of necessity for one reason or another, but you now drink coffee out of enjoyment. So, don’t sell yourself or your coffee short by failing to store your beans properly!