Hello! I'm a new forum member and I found this discussion both fascinating and enlightening. You guys certainly know a lot more about this than I do and I value your knowledge.

I was told to avoid the freezer with roasted beans no matter what. The idea was that it would dry out and take on the smells in there and besides, taking the coffee beans in and out, opening the bag and closing it would ruin any seal or benefit of preservation.

Am I on the right track?

Thanks so much... you guys are terrific!

Lisa

Lisa, welcome to HB!

You might want to check out:

• Better Espresso Through Freezing;
• Coffee: To Freeze or Not to Freeze?;
• Best way to store roasted coffee;
• Quick Guide to Freezing Coffee

. . . among others.

Cheers,
Jason

coffeeloverlisa wrote: told to avoid the freezer with roasted beans no matter what

Nahhhh.

check out Jason's links.

A number of us are freezing with no negative problems at all.

OK, so I read the article on freezing and I still stand by by "do not freeze" advice for customers and I will tell you why. The instructions you have for freezing have lots instructions to avoid damaging the coffee - degassing, thawing, waiting x days, taping the hole etc. I can tell you, at $50+ a pound, I do not want to hear complaint one about my coffee tasting off after freezing.

I look at my own coffee habits and those of folks I know, and we are just not smart/clever/patient enough for the freezing techniques you describe. Hey, we are only mortals

Cheers!

Lisa

I don't know how complicated it is, I take the bags I get, and put them in a zip lock bag, and toss them in the back of the freezer. Although I only freeze beans because it's cheapest to buy a few pounds at once to save on shipping, and I don't use them all up while they're still fresh.

But I guess if I was paying over $50/pound for coffee I would just order 1 pound at a time and not care about the shipping. It might already be a week old by the time I get it, but I'm sure I'd use it up pretty quickly.

Of course I'm still working on my technique to getting the best out of all the artisan roasted beans recomended on here (and from the site's sponsors), I don't know if I would be up to taking a chance and "treating" myself to some rare Hawaiian Kona, or Jamaican Blue Mountain.

Lisa,

I can certainly understand your reasoning and rationale. I do think the language is overly complicated, but then again -- with Mason/canning jars, it's not. That aside, however, which is better: to have stale coffee beans, or to freeze them so they stay fresh? In other words, what do you tell them about keeping their beans fresh?

Cheers,
Jason

It is not complicated, and we never re-freeze the coffee. I use a vacuum freezer bag and put the entire coffee bag inside, vacuum, freeze.

The more careful you are with your freezing technique, the less the flavor will degrade. Naturally, some people will be more forgiving of faults in coffee than others. Likewise, for enthusiasts in a situation where fresh roasted coffee is not readily available, freezing is the best choice, and certainly a step up from stale coffee.

The pearl in that oyster of a paragraph is that freezing always degrades the flavor. Just experiment with a simple method and add additional complication as is required to meet your taste standards.

Good morning!

Here's the variable that I like best... once the children leave home, who the heck knows what they do? So if someone wants to freeze them, hey, go for it.

I try to be as educated and reasonable as I can, in as few e-mails as I can. I love the vibe here - very balanced. One of my friends told me my coffee was stale after a couple of weeks (and he froze it while he went on holiday for a week). It was roasted the day before I sent it out, but gee it was still pretty good. Perhaps this is the basis for my freezer paranoia?

Just came off 3 days of the Wine and Cheese Show and between tipsy tasters and educating folks about Kopi Luwak , my big message is Fresh Roasted. Hope they drink it while it is fresh and yummy!

Cheers!

Lisa

sweaner wrote: I use a vacuum freezer bag and put the entire coffee bag inside, vacuum, freeze.

You mean something like that?
http://www.vacuvin.com/Vacuum_Coffee_Sa...6_920.html