Post-roast Freezing

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
coffeemmichael
Posts: 393
Joined: 9 years ago

#1: Post by coffeemmichael »

Curious to see how long anyone here waits post-roast before freezing.

I've been waiting about three days before doing it, but I have no reason to have arbitrarily picked that amount of time ("degassing")

Three part question:

1. I saw that Kyle Ramage's USBC routine involved freezing his LWW commercial bean cellars in dry ice. If we're using coffee for espresso, and wish to avoid the side-effects of too-fresh coffee, will putting coffee in the freezer for several days just "stop the clock" and have the coffee (once pulled from the freezer) behave as it did on the same day it went in? Or will the degassing/resting have still occurred, and we'll be a-ok for using it as spro?

2. Let's say I pull a batch straight from my cooling tray and put it directly in the freezer within several minutes post-roast. Will degassing still occur?

3. Is the best solution to avoid horribly acidic espresso to put coffee straight into my bean cellars from the roaster, wait several days, and then put them into the freezer?

Definitely should have taken physics in high school, never thought I'd say that

Devin H
Posts: 157
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by Devin H »

"https://baristahustle.com/blogs/subscri ... 017-mamuto"

Above is an article from Barista Hustle (Matt Perger) that talks about a coffee (from George Howell) that was harvested in 2013 that is being sent out with BH's subscription service. The greens were frozen in 2013 and roasted recently. In the same write-up on the coffee, George Howell is quoted as saying the following:

"Our vintage roasts are an historic first in the history of coffee, as far as we know! We have been freezing our green coffees for over 10 years. Vintages are a great way to test and prove the freezing model. We have also been recommending freezing roasted coffee once the package is opened for at least the past ten years, contrary to popular specialty recommendations and even contra-indications. It looks like that may be getting a second look too."

Based on George's comment above my take away is that when the coffee reaches 'peak' flavor, freezing it under proper conditions should be just fine. When 'peak' flavor occurs and when to freeze is up to you and your taste buds.

I freeze my home roasts anywhere between 1 day and 10 days for my own personal use with great results. I don't have the article but I think I saw somewhere that Matt Perger recommends grinding frozen beans for a more uniform grind (don't quote me on this).