Couloirman wrote:So, whats the longest anyone has frozen roasted beans for and then used them to brew espresso? How'd it taste? Ive got a big bag of single origin from intelligentsia sitting in my freezer that I purchased in October,so that is why I am asking.

If you froze it when it was very fresh, and if you have a cold freezer, it should be fine.

I have frozen roasted beans for as long as 6 months, although seldom do I keep beans frozen for more than 2-4 months.

ken

My beans were just fine. I use them in an espresso blend. As long as they are properly stored, they should be just fine. They need kept in an air tight container, I vacuum pack them and drop them in the back of the chest freezer at around -20F.

Guys,

I just bought a chest freezer and will be picking up a vacuum sealer tomorrow. I had a bad experience putting beans in my regular freezer in their original, unopened valve bags.

My plan is to get a few jelly jars so I can break the coffee down into about 2 day portions and be able to re-use the jars.



Can someone tell me if I am going the correct route? Should I use vacuum sealer bags instead?

I am not worried about the cost of storage materials as keeping the beans in top shape is my main concern. I just need some good guidance from those of you who have done it before.

Thanks!
Jackson

Jammin: I use small canning jars with the 2-part lid to freeze bean orders upon arrival. I find the 2-part lids seal better even if they are more awkward. I switch to a single lid after taking a jar out of the freezer, thawing, and opening it. I like hearing the whoosh when I open a thawed jar.
The small size jars are good for keeping a only a small quantity of beans at hand for use. And I think they are easier to measure out doses from than bags (I do weighed, single dose grinding). I believe I read that Dan Kehn also uses small canning jars, but not sure of the lids he uses.

As a longtime proponent of freezing, it pains me to say this a little, but here it is. I guess it's not surprising, and as always YMMV.

I store my coffee in carefully sealed mason jars. I believe they are the half pint jars—they hold about 1/3 lbs. of coffee. I'm short on real estate here (please, restrain your laughter for a minute), so I don't have a deep freezer at the moment, and my coffee goes in the crappy auto-defrosting freezer. This has worked great for me for periods of at least 2 weeks, maybe a bit more.

Earlier this year I got 4 lbs. of CCC Shakisso SOE and I froze the bulk of it about 5 or 6 days out of roast, taking out a jar of it every few days as I was ready for it. This worked great for about a month. As 'bad' luck had it, I ended up sandwiching another coffee in there that spread out my consumption of the Shakisso so that I was finishing it about 6 weeks after I got it. I really noticed that it had gone quite flat right out of the freezer; I was pretty unhappy with it, and it was a poor way to finish my experience with that coffee. I'm definitely going to stick with much shorter-term freezing in the future, given this setup for freezing. I think a cheap deep freeze is in my future.

shadowfax wrote:As a longtime proponent of freezing, it pains me to say this a little, but here it is. I guess it's not surprising, and as always YMMV.

I store my coffee in carefully sealed mason jars. I believe they are the half pint jars—they hold about 1/3 lbs. of coffee. I'm short on real estate here (please, restrain your laughter for a minute), so I don't have a deep freezer at the moment, and my coffee goes in the crappy auto-defrosting freezer. This has worked great for me for periods of at least 2 weeks, maybe a bit more.

Earlier this year I got 4 lbs. of CCC Shakisso SOE and I froze the bulk of it about 5 or 6 days out of roast, taking out a jar of it every few days as I was ready for it. This worked great for about a month. As 'bad' luck had it, I ended up sandwiching another coffee in there that spread out my consumption of the Shakisso so that I was finishing it about 6 weeks after I got it. I really noticed that it had gone quite flat right out of the freezer; I was pretty unhappy with it, and it was a poor way to finish my experience with that coffee. I'm definitely going to stick with much shorter-term freezing in the future, given this setup for freezing. I think a cheap deep freeze is in my future.

Hi Nicholas,

I think (not unsurprisingly) that you have two two things working against you in this situation. The first one is that the coffee was already about ready to decline when you froze it (true for most coffees at 6 days post roast, in my experience), and your freezer situation isn't optimal. I think that if the coffee was fresher when you froze it, or you had used a colder freezer (especially not a frost free one), that the coffee would have lasted a lot longer.

I'd advise people to freeze their coffee as soon after roasting as possible, if they want it to last for any period of time. If you are not a home roaster then you can't freeze it as quickly as I can freeze mine, and if freezer preservation is going to be an approach that you use, it would argue for obtaining coffee from nearby sources that won't take too long to get to you (at an affordable shipping cost). The reduction in staling is going to be very much related to freezer temperature, the colder the better. So, use your coldest freezer and adjust your expectations for freezer preservation to whatever type of freezer you are using as this is going to make a real difference.

ken

FYI, the coffee I was referring to above, was in the green, not roasted. Greens, vac packed and stored at very low temperatures appear to keep very well for a very long time. Roasted coffee still continues to degas even frozen. My observations, short freezing times are best (few weeks). After a few months, the roasted coffee is still serviceable, but my experience shows it to have an accelerated staling rate once removed from the chill chest. A couple of days, and that is it.

shadowfax wrote:Earlier this year I got 4 lbs. of CCC Shakisso SOE and ... noticed that it had gone quite flat right out of the freezer; I was pretty unhappy with it...

Another possibility: this particular coffee has a narrow window of optimal usage. My bag from CCC was unimpressive, and that's without freezing.

Another possibility: this particular coffee has a narrow window of optimal usage. My bag from CCC was unimpressive, and that's without freezing.

Yes, in my experience characteristic taste of this coffee was gone on day 8. It was flat afterward.

I'd have to disagree with Ken about an Espresso roast being on it's way out at day 6. I let my commercially roasted & home roasted espresso blends & S/O age until 1 to 2 days before it would enter it's peak then I vac bag & freeze it. For the Shakisso, Amaro Gayo & other S/O espresso roasts I've found day 6 or 7 seems to be the beginning of that period so I break up & vac bag my supply so it can be enjoyed in that 6-9 day window.

I just pulled the last v/b portion from a 5lbr of Klatch Amaro Gayo (roasted 12/17/09/frozen 12/21) out of the freezer yesterday. Pulled a shot this morning (day 5) but it still needs at least one more day before I'll get the classic "milk chocolate covered berries" the A/G is known for.

As for the Shakisso I"ve gone through 2 bags (1 opened 4-5 post roast & one v/b/frozen for a couple weeks with 4 days rest) and neither has lived up to all the hype IMO. I was disappointed to see oil on the beans only 4 days post roast & thought it might have benefited from a lighter roast.