So I have read a few references to coffee beans potentially being damaged by heat in transit, but a search didn't turn up any full discussions on the topic.

I know wine can be damaged by heat, so I am curious to learn if any tests have been performed on coffee to determine the potential damage cause by exposure to high temperatures. I buy my coffee from a local micro-roaster but would like the option to branch out, if I can reliably get undamaged beans to me.

I'm curious about this as well. By the time I got home from work on Friday to get my bag of CC out of my mailbox the bag of beans was noticably warm to the touch. I haven't noticed any taste or crema problems though.

Ill just go out on a limb and say that drastic temperature changes are probably what you want to avoid. If its in a sealed coffee bag, the humidity shouldn't have that much of an effect. Especially if this is 2 or 3 days only. I am very cheap and my apartment is usually pretty hot as I hate putting the AC on. I don't note many issues. Now when I used the Vario, that hated the humidity but had nothing to do with the coffee.

I may have had this happen recently for the first time. I contacted the roaster, and they suspected it might have happened, and they replaced my coffee (without asking). They say it is very rare.

Increasing storage temperature increases the rate of oxidation. That means stale sooner.