I am trying to buy my first true espresso machine and learn all of the techniques. The problem is my wife and I only enjoy espresso drinks on the weekend, while during the week enjoy coffee. Is it going to be possible to make great espresso only for the weekend. About 8 shots only. How would I keep the beans fresh. I have a whole lot of questions but this is good for now.

No problem! I use small Mason jars that hold enough for 4 doubles. Order fresh coffee, break it up into the small jars (six to a pound) and put them into the freezer. You'll finish the last jar on the third weekend. For the long version, read Coffee: To Freeze or Not to Freeze.

I use Dan's approach as well as trying whatever single origins I have on hand. Trying to learn what gets delivered in an origin. This morning I have a Sumatran from the Cremina, topped with a 1.5 oz tight milk. Much too one-dimensional to please but a good learning experience.

Is anyone doing this in a regular "frost-free" freezer, or do I have go and buy a deep freeze ?

Yeah it seems to work after a fashion (e.g. not as cold therefore not as effective preservation) in a regular freezer.

The problem I had with my regular freezer was the temperature fluctuation. Between my family opening the door to stare at the contents (thinking they will get more interesting the longer you look) and the defrost cycle, my coffee quality was inconsistent. I bought a cheap deep freeze.

The lower the average temperature of your freezer, the longer the beans will stay fresh. So if they're 10 days old when you freeze them they won't keep as long as if they're 2 days old. I split up the coffee when it shows up in the mail (usually 3-4 days post roast) in to amounts we'll go through in a week, and double bag them, and even in my regular freezer they stay fresh for at least a month. I've only had one bag start to get stale on me, and that was when it sat in there for over 2 months, and I was a little late putting it in the freezer.

What I do is a variation of Dan's recommendation. Instead of Mason jars, I use snack-size (not the larger sandwich-size) ziploc bags (actually, I prefer the Target brand). I fill these with coffee I get (typically) from Klatch Roasting, which for those of us in Southern CA, it's one day shipping*, then put the smaller filled bags into a larger ziploc bag. This set-up doesn't take up the space that Mason jars do, and it's easy to get all the air out of each.

*Nice thing is that I order on a day that ensures I'll get the shipment next day (no weekends between ordering and receiving), and then "process" the beans as soon as I can. I just finished up two pounds of Belle Espresso that I'd ordered in October. Near the end, the coffee had faded a bit, but it was still excellent.

Then, I pull one out maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday, and it's good to go on Saturday morning (I'm in the same boat - espresso and cappuccinos are a weekend extravagance).

ohills wrote:I am trying to buy my first true espresso machine and learn all of the techniques. The problem is my wife and I only enjoy espresso drinks on the weekend, while during the week enjoy coffee. Is it going to be possible to make great espresso only for the weekend. About 8 shots only. How would I keep the beans fresh. I have a whole lot of questions but this is good for now.

How about going with a good SO bean that works well for both espresso and coffee?

I'm glad to hear you are doing this with a regular freezer. I had done this previously, but I had it in my head it really should only be done in deep freeze. Obviously that would be better, but I'll certainly give it a try again to help lower average cost of the beans.