Don't want to answer for Ken, but that has been my exact finding: vac-bag sealed coffee did nothing for coffee destined for the freezer. Freezing coffee in containers with an excellent seal, and with little leftover space in them (i.e., completely full with freshly roasted beans) does work fantastic. At any one time, I'll have 1-4 Mason jars full of coffee in my freezer most all the time. Some of it may be a month or two "old". Always tastes fresh after it's thawed. YMMV.

andrewpetre wrote:You're saying here only that the vacuum part is irrelevant, not the freezing, right? O.o

Hypothetically speaking, I think that if you could reach a near total vacuum, and keep the freshly roasted, non-degassed coffee at an incredibly low temperature (like -40F), ala Sivitz, then you could probably extend the life of coffee frozen in this manner almost indefinitely. As it is, I'm convinced that you can get at least 4 months (as far out as we have tested) just by using a nearly full valve bag with the valve taped over, or a mason jar, in a very cold freezer (-10 to -20F). Presumably, you would get somewhat less time using a less-cold freezer, such as the freezer compartment of a refrigerator-freezer.

Since few home users have a need to extend the life of roasted coffee indefinitely, you probably will get enough time out of this basic method as you will need, regardless of the specifics of your storage container or of your freezer.

ken

The only way Ive tried freezing coffee was with taped over valve bags, and Ive had mixed results. I have a deep freezer, which is about-15F, -20F. Mainly we use it for freezing bulk purchases of protiens, IE Chicken, Roasts, Large amounts of tomatoe gravy, etc etc. Anyway..

Depending on the valve bag, sometimes i couldnt tell any difference, and sometimes it was like i never froze the coffee. The bags I got results from, were from Klatch, and Counter Culture. Both of them 3 days PR, taped over the valve, never opened. I squeezed out anything i could when I got them, and into the freezer they went. 2 months, literally 60 days later, I took both bags out, and let them come up to room temp for 6 hours before opening. Since I put them in 3days PR, they werent drinkable until they were at least "5" days PR(two days out of the freezer, at room temp, airtight container).

Bags I had bad results with, were still one way bags, but paper-ish bags. Almost like the bags SM sells, brown, lined with Glassine(I think). I did the same thing with these bags as I did with the Klatch/CCC bags. Took them both out at the same time, 60 days, and gave them the same rest time at room temp, 6hrs before opening, 2 days before using. The coffee in these types of bags were as stale as if they had sat in an airtight container for 60 days. Shots poured out like they do when you use stale coffee. Watery, thin, bitter, and BLACK.

So, freezing DOES work, provided you do it "right". I dont have the need to freeze often, so it isnt a huge issue, but I do freeze now and then, espescially when I get overzealous, thinking ill drink 5lbs in 14 days.. 3lbs is what I buy on my orders, and its gone in 14 days. If there is a sale, or something special I want a lot of, thats when I freeze. I actually have 1lb of Yemen Mokha Sana'ani, that a friend VacSealed for me, in the freezer now. Its been there for almost 3 months. That particular Yemen was my absolute favorite Yemen this year, so far, and when SM was running out, i stocked up. I blew through my remaining green, so when I roasted the last lb, I decided Id freeze it and save it for a special time. That time is my up coming Bday.

JmanEspresso wrote:Bags I had bad results with, were still one way bags, but paper-ish bags. Almost like the bags SM sells, brown, lined with Glassine(I think). I did the same thing with these bags as I did with the Klatch/CCC bags. Took them both out at the same time, 60 days, and gave them the same rest time at room temp, 6hrs before opening, 2 days before using. The coffee in these types of bags were as stale as if they had sat in an airtight container for 60 days. Shots poured out like they do when you use stale coffee. Watery, thin, bitter, and BLACK.

I've never frozen coffee in "paper-ish" bags. Most of the time I use mason-type jars, and the results are the same as I get with proper plastic valve bags with the valve taped over.

ken

No mason jars, but after reading Ken and Jim's exhaustive testing, I freeze roasted coffee this way. So far, no adverse effect.