When to freeze coffee, the roasting day or wait?

[tcampbells]

Hi,

I have a question about storing coffee and my searches can't seem to find the answers.

Say I purchase coffee from my local roaster, he roasted it this morning. I know I do not go through the coffee that fast, so I feel moving it to smaller Mason jars and freezing it is the best policy.

However when do I freeze it?

Since it was roasted this morning and I just purchased it, it is in the standard gold coffee bags with 2 way valve. I assume now it has not fully degassed and there is no expansion on the bag, so it would not be the best time to freeze it. Correct?

Do I wait until the perfect time, meaning 2, 3 or 4 days after roast to freeze it? The roaster say the coffee roasted for espresso would be best in 2 days from now, and the Yirgacheffee would be best in 3~4 days from now. What would your suggestions be?

Thanks

[cafeIKE]

I like to freeze as soon as possible after roasting. The roaster bags the coffee in ½ pound sealed bags for an extra 50p. Squeeze all the gas out, put a sticky dot over the valve and chuck 'em in the chest. They puff up a bit over several weeks.

I recently froze some coffee past it's prime and it did not travel well.

[another_jim]

The sooner you freeze after roasting, the better. Also experiment with your post freeze resting times; for some coffees, the time can be shorter.

[tcampbells]

So if I place it in a few small mason jars, seal it up now and freeze it, no chance of bottle exploding in freezer from CO2 buildup?
If I freeze it today and it is usually best after 4 days from roast, then after I remove it from the freezer down the road, do I wait 3 more days before cracking opened the Mason jar to have it the ideal time, or has the time changed?

[cafeIKE]

The jars won't explode.

As with all things coffee, YMMV, so [ your ] taste is the final arbiter.

You may want to look at this and the follow-on thread Rate of Coffee Staling

[tcampbells]

Glad to hear they won't explode. I know Ideal is to drink more coffee so it is fresh, but the freezing thing works for me if I can.

[HB]

In case you missed it, Ken's article Coffee: To Freeze or Not to Freeze provides ample information on this topic.

[tcampbells]

Thanks Dan and everyone else.
Quoting the article Dan suggested, one part is where my question falls.

If the coffee one contemplates freezing is not "fresh" to begin with, it is doubtful that freezing will do much of anything positive. To me this means that freezing is probably of no value when dealing with purchased coffee of uncertain age. In the case of coffee that has partially degassed, that is perhaps several days out of the roaster, it is unclear from this experiment whether freezing will extend shelf life significantly. Since this is going to be a fairly common scenario for home espresso enthusiasts ordering online, it deserves further comment.

The coffee I buy was roasted on Sunday and I picked it up sunday night, so it has already been degassed a Day now.

The other question: Why tape over the one way value, if it does not let anything in, and only allows the oxygen out, what does it hurt?

[gabriel]

...it is unclear from this experiment whether freezing will extend shelf life significantly.

The experiment was done with freezing in the same day of roasting, so it was correct to add a disclaimer that you can not deduce from it about freezing done in a later stage

However from my experience I can say that even freezing 7-10 days after roast date makes a huge different in shelf life and that freezing is the way to go.

I'm usually ordering about 5-6 pounds of coffee from the my favorite roaster in the states and ask friends coming to visit here in Tel-Aviv to bring it with them. Usually I get the coffee one week after roasting (and sometimes even 10 days after roast date). With freezing I can use the coffee few weeks later (I'm usually going over a package in about one week time) and the coffee behaves like fresh coffee (crema, aroma ...)

One thing I noticed is that coffee lifespan after freezing is shorter than non-frozen coffee even when freezing was done 1-2 days after roasting (that will be me driving like crazy from work to the airport and making a quick stop at Terroir )
Also on the first day after defrosting the coffee is really hard to work with, compare with non-frozen coffee.

/gabi

[mike]

The sooner you freeze after roasting, the better. Also experiment with your post freeze resting times; for some coffees, the time can be shorter.

Agreed with Jim. I put the beans into canning jars immediately after roasting. I have heard, and would believe, that freezing suspended the degassing process. I have also noticed perhaps a bit less time needed for degassing after defrosting, but not anything too significant. My containers hold about 3 days worth of beans, so I pull the next one out of the freezer when I open the one that had been resting - ie. 3 day cycle. Easy process for even my feeble brain to remember

[cafeIKE]

The other question: Why tape over the one way value, if it does not let anything in, and only allows the oxygen out, what does it hurt?

The 1-way valve lets CO2 out. When the bag is cooled, particularly if the coffee is still warmish, the pressure inside the bag drops considerably. Taping over the valve prevents the bag from sucking in any air.

[tcampbells]

Is that even possible. How can a 1 way valve suck in? That is the purpose of 1-way value, it only works ONE way (out)

[cafeIKE]

We're talking about a very rudimentary valve designed to let a slight over pressure escape from the bag at room temperature, not withstand a few PSI back pressure at sub-zero temperatures. Some valves may work well, some may not.

Better safe than sorry.

[tcampbells]

OK, thanks