Continually opening a container will ruin your beans. You should freeze singledoses or freeze more and defrost in the closed container for a couple of hours minimal.

Personally I use a chamber vacuum sealer that I can fit a few jars at a time in to vacuum out. Fill six jars, loosely position the caps on top the jars, vacuum them out, and screw the caps down (the inner piece of the cap is already very firmly suctioned on at this point anyway) then freeze. I know there exist attachments for certain suction sealers as well for a much less expensive option.

But for what it's worth, I never had any major problems with short term freezing without vacuuming before I got the sealer. Don't expect the same longevity, but it's at very least fine for keeping a coffee consistent for a couple weeks without having to redo dialing in every day.

I use the Tightvac Vitavacs (holds around 20gr max) which pulls air out when you put the lid on. Not really vacuum but good enough for me to extend the bean life for a couple of weeks.

Davidm wrote:Does anyone have a straight from freezer process?

I would like to keep beans in freezer and just take enough out for a shot or two and grind frozen.

Once the beans are frozen can I just leave a container in the freezer or will continually opening container ruin beans?

Hi David,

The procedure I go thru is much like some have already mentioned. First, I might store a whole bag of beans (never opened) in my freezer until ready to use...I've stored this way for up to two months and never tasted a change in the bean, nor a noticeable change from beginning to end (12 oz. bags lasting about two weeks). I do move these frozen bags to the counter top for 8-12 hours to thaw, don't want condensation in my storage containers. That said, my storage containers are Airscape, and I store at room temperature.

I single dose so this is the part of the procedure I think you're after. I use 2 oz. amber glass jars (can get these on Amazon pretty cheap, I paid $16 for 24 jars). Since I drink three double espressos/flatwhites a day, I weigh out 18 grams (they hold up to 20g) into three jars and place in the freezer. Next day, I just take a jar from the freezer, dump into a steel container so I can WDT, then dump into grinder, grind into pf, and pull your shot...then enjoy! As others have said, you need to weigh somewhere along the line, so why not do it as you single dose your freezer jars! Works for me. Hope it will for you too!

I just open the bag and take beans out, then return it to the freezer. In side by side blind tests with sealed single doses I could never reliably tell the difference. I've measured the moisture of the beans treated in this fashion and found there was no significant increase. One caveat is that I live in a relatively cool environment (typically 65-70°F and 60-80% r.h.).

Another caveat is that I was the only one doing the blind tasting. It's possible someone else might have detected a difference that I could not.


But I'm happy that I don't need to single dose, vacuum seal, or wait for the beans to warm to room temperature. It's much simpler. And I'm not the only one who does this.

I have a system similar to what others have noted above.

I buy 5 lb. bags of beans and after 7 days aging at room temp move them into quart Mason jars which I vacuum and then freeze. Any remainder which will not totally fill a quart jar is divided into 18 gr. doses and put in small Mason jars, vacuumed and frozen. When I am ready to extract I pull one of these small jars out pf the freezer, grind and enjoy. When my supply of individual doses gets low I pull a quart jar from the freezer and let it come to room temp. This is then divided into 18 gr. doses, vacuumed and frozen. I usually get about 19 jars for day to day use from the quart. If you do not have a vacuum machine these individual jars will keep quite well for a couple of weeks. I generally make 2 espressos each day so my supply is just over a weeks worth.
It seems like a lot of fooling around but it keeps me from weighing doses with my eyes half closed in the morning and weighing the doses into the little jars is a somewhat zen like thing with the repetition. I actually rather enjoy the procedure. Play some good music and get to it.

erik82 wrote:Continually opening a container will ruin your beans. You should freeze singledoses or freeze more and defrost in the closed container for a couple of hours minimal.

You might think so but that hasn't been my experience. I vac seal the rested coffee in mason jars & store in a short, upright storage freezer. I keep a scale & small plastic container on top of the freezer. When I'm ready to start using that coffee I unseal one of the jars, pour out the dose, screw the lid back on & back in the freezer. The lid is only off only for a few seconds. Been doing it this way for years with no issues.

Yeah, I woulda thought so too...figuring condensation would form on the beans, etc...but I've not seen it either from the few occasions I didn't have the time to thaw my beans before opening the 16oz jar. I would just stick mine back in the freezer, but find it's easier to keep them on the bar at room temp after thawing. Since my house has a well controlled atmosphere, I don't really have staling issues over the three days (max) each jar lasts. I think the real answer is there are multiple reliable and good methods of storing beans. You just have to be smart about it. But for someone getting started, it's good to read the threads and/or ask questions.