Pre-heating the beans before grinding

[jbeecham]

I have an observation/question for you. I usually freeze coffee beans after roasting them. They are kept frozen in an old chest style freezer (not frost free). The usual routine in the morning is to place the appropriate amount of beans in a steaming pitcher and place them on top of the warming espresso machine. My wife has noticed that the espresso tastes much smoother than it does when the beans are not pre heated and are simply room temperature before grinding.

I have not measured the temp of the beans before grinding, but they are usually on top of the espresso machine for 30+ minutes and are definitely warm to the touch. Has anyone else has tried this before and noticed a difference in taste and quality of the espresso? I can speculate that heating the beans slightly may help liberate more of the oils and make grinding more efficient. Any comments?

[popeye]

interesting observation. I know that heat during grinding is supposed to be bad. I have no idea how much heat - or probably temperature - they're talking about. But your wife's observation got me thinking: perhaps beans grind differently at different temperatures. I know that a lot of substances are more brittle when they are cold. I'll have to give this one a try. On the other hand, it could also be a lucky combination any number of factors that made that shot different. Keep experimenting!

[another_jim]

The usual routine in the morning is to place the appropriate amount of beans in a steaming pitcher and place them on top of the warming espresso machine.

Just checking the ABCs: The beans are in a watertight container in the freezer and stay there until they have fully defrosted, so they don't get killed by condensation or frost bite?