I think I'm ready to take the plunge now in experimenting with freezing my beans. I have noticed with my 1lb purchase of my favourite bean ( daterra yellow ),- I would say the last week of my bean stock doesn't seem to hold the group pressure, even if I grind finer and/or tamp with more pressure. The taste is not there either. Let me explain; I own a Lindonium, in the first 2 weeks of my fresh bean purchase I grind, tamp and load, I drop the lever and the group fills with water, I wait 5 seconds and lift the group, out comes a beautiful shot. Now in my last week of my bean stock I use same method, except I'll grind a bit finer, when I drop the lever the shot starts trickling out even before I lift the lever. Strange, I chalk it up to stale grinds.
Now I will experiment freezing my batch. Looking forward to this whole new experience.

I've been freezing my beans for years and have seen no problem at all in the condition, flavor or brewing of the beans for delicious coffee.

The secret I've found is to take the beans and put in a high quality zip lock quart bag. Then I take three of the bags and place them in a large gallon bag.

When I need new beans, the afternoon before, I remove one of the quart bags, re-zip the gallon bag and place back in freezer, leave the removed quart bag on the counter, open it up after a few hours then close, then before bedtime, take the beans and pour into one of my stainless steel coffee containers. The next morning, grind the beans in the Macap M4 and then pull a double shot in the Cremina 67.

Never have had a problem, always an excellent espresso or latte.

Climb14er wrote:The secret I've found is to take the beans and put in a high quality zip lock quart bag. Then I take three of the bags and place them in a large gallon bag.

When I need new beans, the afternoon before, I remove one of the quart bags, re-zip the gallon bag and place back in freezer, leave the removed quart bag on the counter, open it up after a few hours then close, then before bedtime, take the beans and pour into one of my stainless steel coffee containers.

Just curious, but how did you determine that this is the best way? What alternative approaches did you try?

There must be over 10,000 words on how to extend the useful life of roasted coffee. There are multiple approaches that work. Small batch freezing works and the batch size is determined by each individual user based on when that individual has determined the coffee has exceeded its unfrozen useful life. There is no canned answer to the question.

I like this answer. There are different methods used by different people to do small batch freezing. Keeping things airtight helps. Vacuum sealing can help, and a cold freezer too. People find their own favorite workflow.

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Interesting article and discussion of most of the factors that go into the flavor profile of the finished product.

I do however think the did not consider on key measurable. The did not consider the temperature change that the bean experiences as a result of being sheared in the grinder. This is a key interaction with the start temperature of the beans and the grinder that may well have a greater impact on the flavor profile than the particle size distribution.

Particle size issues can be overcome by manipulating the brewing conditions, but the shear can impart very high localized temperatures within the particles that can release alot of the bitter oils in the bean that are typically avoided by brewing at lower temperatures (180F-195F).

I the end it says the same thing, colder bean result in a better grind. Just for all the statistical analysis they did they missed an important factor.