Freezing whole bean coffee - Barista Exchange2024-03-29T10:24:17Zhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/freezing-whole-bean-coffee?commentId=1688216%3AComment%3A1005935&feed=yes&xn_auth=noSince I'm a bit too cheap to…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-15:1688216:Comment:10060662011-01-15T01:56:25.469ZJay Caragayhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/JayCaragay
<p>Since I'm a bit too cheap to actually swipe inventory from the company to fuel my home coffee needs, I usually have a few sample bags of coffees that change on an on-going basis. I keep all of those coffees in the freezer. When it comes time to brew up some coffee, I pull the bag from the freezer, weigh it out and then go to town. No "thawing", just straight brewing.</p>
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<p>Now, the hardcore measurement people may start calling out that the frozen coffee leads to a more dramatic…</p>
<p>Since I'm a bit too cheap to actually swipe inventory from the company to fuel my home coffee needs, I usually have a few sample bags of coffees that change on an on-going basis. I keep all of those coffees in the freezer. When it comes time to brew up some coffee, I pull the bag from the freezer, weigh it out and then go to town. No "thawing", just straight brewing.</p>
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<p>Now, the hardcore measurement people may start calling out that the frozen coffee leads to a more dramatic water temperature drop but I think that's bunk. Granted, I've never taken the time to test the temperatures, nor do I really care to. Afterall, it's my personal coffee and I'm happy with the results. Again: how does it taste?</p>
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<p>To allay any fears, bear in mind that the frozen coffee is run through a burr grinder which generates heat and thus "warms" the coffee. This abates a drastic temperature drop.</p>
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<p>Once weighed out, the bag goes back in the freezer until next time.</p>
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<p>Now, when dealing with frozen coffee in a professional environment, pretty much the same applies. For our operations, we started freezing coffee as part of our program years ago as our roaster is quite far away and we needed to find a better way to keep shipping costs to a minimum while maximizing the life of our coffee inventory. And freezing has proven itself to be a worthwhile approach.</p>
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<p>A coffee frozen on Day Six will retain all of the Day Six characteristics when removed from frozen storage days, weeks, months and even years later.</p>
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<p>I was first introduced to the notion of freezing coffee by a grower/roaster I was working with back in 2002. He related a story where he had frozen roasted coffee only to discover the forgotten bag three years later. He pulled it from the freezer, tasted it and it was as good as when it was fresh. From there, I started doing my own small batch testing.</p>
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<p><em>"He should be quite well protected. If he survived the freezing process, that is." - C3PO</em></p>
<p>In October 2009, I put the freezing method to the test once again using a bag of 8 Estrellas that I had received from Square Mile Coffee in April 2009 during SCAA Atlanta. I took it home, left it sitting out for about a week, drank a cup, made detailed tasting notes and then tossed the coffee in the freezer.</p>
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<p>Six months later, during cupping training for the then-new baristas for Spro Hampden, I pulled the frozen bag out and served it up for a blind cupping. When we reviewed the tasting notes compiled by my baristas and compared them with the tasting notes I had written back in April, the similarities were astonishing. The coffee had suffered very little, if at all, during the freezing process.</p>
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<p>Based on taste tests like these we have maintained the practice of freezing some of our coffee inventory.</p>
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<cite>Jeff Hoeppner said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/freezing-whole-bean-coffee?x=1&id=1688216%3ATopic%3A1000472&page=1#1688216Comment1006233"><div><p>Back to my new question, can you take the beans directly out of the freezer and brew? Do you need to let them warm up first? I've found articles taking both sides of this one. Mike M., Jay, you both seem to have the most experience so what are your thoughts?</p>
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</blockquote> This conversation has fascina…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10063302011-01-14T23:48:59.147ZNathanael Mayhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/NathanaelMay448
This conversation has fascinated me. I'm putting a sealed bag of coffee in the freezer this afternoon, and I'll post here again in 365 days with the results of the blind tasting we do with a freshly roasted bag.<br />
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It'll be the longest episode of Mythbusters ever.
This conversation has fascinated me. I'm putting a sealed bag of coffee in the freezer this afternoon, and I'll post here again in 365 days with the results of the blind tasting we do with a freshly roasted bag.<br />
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It'll be the longest episode of Mythbusters ever. We practice small inventory a…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10062332011-01-14T22:35:22.197ZJeff Hoeppnerhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/JeffHoeppner
<p>We practice small inventory and high turnover, so we don't have any beans that are going stale in house, however it's for my education, and the proper education of customers that have asked about it. There may be times that I personally would freeze coffee. Case in point, had I done this research earlier there would be a few pounds of Ethiopia Sidamo Special Prep in my freezer, and now there's no more left on earth. Crap.</p>
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<p>Back to my new question, can you take the beans…</p>
<p>We practice small inventory and high turnover, so we don't have any beans that are going stale in house, however it's for my education, and the proper education of customers that have asked about it. There may be times that I personally would freeze coffee. Case in point, had I done this research earlier there would be a few pounds of Ethiopia Sidamo Special Prep in my freezer, and now there's no more left on earth. Crap.</p>
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<p>Back to my new question, can you take the beans directly out of the freezer and brew? Do you need to let them warm up first? I've found articles taking both sides of this one. Mike M., Jay, you both seem to have the most experience so what are your thoughts?</p> My parents freeze their coffe…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10063152011-01-14T22:13:23.895ZLaura Campbellhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/LauraCampbell
<p>My parents freeze their coffee at home so it doesn't go stale- obviously, being home baristas mean they don't do nearly the volume of a cafe. It means they can still buy 500g at a time. They always put the beans in snaplock bags to freeze.</p>
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<p>There's a reason! Freezing decaf seems to be a good idea as well, especially if you're not in a high volume cafe. My work doesn't freeze any beans though- we go through so much coffee we have a problems with beans being too fresh rather…</p>
<p>My parents freeze their coffee at home so it doesn't go stale- obviously, being home baristas mean they don't do nearly the volume of a cafe. It means they can still buy 500g at a time. They always put the beans in snaplock bags to freeze.</p>
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<p>There's a reason! Freezing decaf seems to be a good idea as well, especially if you're not in a high volume cafe. My work doesn't freeze any beans though- we go through so much coffee we have a problems with beans being too fresh rather than too stale and we don't have a freezer to boot!</p> Rao's book talking about free…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10062262011-01-14T22:00:00.242ZMike McGinnesshttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/miKemcKoffeeakaMikeMcGinness
<p>Rao's book talking about freezing coffee is not new information. Michael Sivetz is a noted coffee professional who has been advocate of hermetically sealing and freezing roasted coffee for decades. George Howell has tested and knows and speaks about the benefits of freezing both roasted and greens. I've been freezing roasted coffee for decades, greens for a decade. The proof is in the cup. Ideally retail coffee would be in a freezer case not at room temperature and actually know of one store…</p>
<p>Rao's book talking about freezing coffee is not new information. Michael Sivetz is a noted coffee professional who has been advocate of hermetically sealing and freezing roasted coffee for decades. George Howell has tested and knows and speaks about the benefits of freezing both roasted and greens. I've been freezing roasted coffee for decades, greens for a decade. The proof is in the cup. Ideally retail coffee would be in a freezer case not at room temperature and actually know of one store that can actually afford to do it and is doing it.</p>
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<p>Have you done blind taste tests of previously frozen versus not frozen? Have you tested and pulled shots of one year plus vac' sealed and frozen coffee yielding 90% crema and delish shots? I have.</p>
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<p>Simply going by I heard this and that over the years by people who themselves haven't done any testing means squat, other than the blindly ignorant following the blindly ignorant.<br/><br/><cite>Mike said:</cite></p>
<blockquote><div>Are we really talking this way... So many reasons this is a bad idea! I think the guy from Hell's Kitchen says it best" F*** No! " And other curse words!!!! We are promoting coffee as a culinary art folks.</div>
</blockquote> Roast Magazine had a great ar…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10061172011-01-14T20:36:41.106ZSandy Honhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/SandyHon
<p>Roast Magazine had a great article a few years ago about this very topic. that's as much as i can help though, sorry. I do not remember when it was published.</p>
<p>Roast Magazine had a great article a few years ago about this very topic. that's as much as i can help though, sorry. I do not remember when it was published.</p> So many reasons, but none pre…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10058912011-01-14T19:57:09.592ZJay Caragayhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/JayCaragay
<p>So many reasons, but none presented.</p>
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<p>Whether or not you freeze should be determined by the exact factors impacting your business. It may or may not be the right choice for you but that's not for us to decide.</p>
<p>So many reasons, but none presented.</p>
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<p>Whether or not you freeze should be determined by the exact factors impacting your business. It may or may not be the right choice for you but that's not for us to decide.</p> i notice you didn't actually…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10059892011-01-14T19:01:20.443ZJared Rutledgehttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/JaredRutledge
i notice you didn't actually state any of the "so many reasons." it doesn't hurt the coffee at all. in fact, our decaf would be way worse if we didn't freeze it, because it goes stale within a couple days.<br></br>
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<cite>Mike said:</cite><br></br>
<blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/freezing-whole-bean-coffee?page=1&commentId=1688216%3AComment%3A1005982&x=1#1688216Comment1005982"><div>Are we really talking this way... So many reasons this is a bad idea! I think…</div>
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i notice you didn't actually state any of the "so many reasons." it doesn't hurt the coffee at all. in fact, our decaf would be way worse if we didn't freeze it, because it goes stale within a couple days.<br/>
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<cite>Mike said:</cite><br/>
<blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/freezing-whole-bean-coffee?page=1&commentId=1688216%3AComment%3A1005982&x=1#1688216Comment1005982"><div>Are we really talking this way... So many reasons this is a bad idea! I think the guy from Hell's Kitchen says it best" F*** No! " And other curse words!!!! We are promoting coffee as a culinary art folks.</div>
</blockquote> Cool. Thanks for the input fo…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10056542011-01-14T14:45:16.387ZJeff Hoeppnerhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/JeffHoeppner
Cool. Thanks for the input folks. The next question then would be, what are the proper measures to talk once removed from the freezer for use? Again, I've heard two different stories on this one.
Cool. Thanks for the input folks. The next question then would be, what are the proper measures to talk once removed from the freezer for use? Again, I've heard two different stories on this one. John-
That moisture is in the…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2011-01-14:1688216:Comment:10056512011-01-14T14:41:48.463ZJay Caragayhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/JayCaragay
<p>John-</p>
<p>That moisture is in the air when you open the freezer. Moisture actually in your freezer crystallizes into ice.</p>
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<p>Considering that the moisture you are mentioning is in the ambient environment around you, I would "worry" more about the coffee sitting in that environment than in a frozen environment. And those "strange aromas" do not act as they do in a refrigerated environment - or haven't you noticed that there isn't a need to put baking soda in your freezer?…</p>
<p>John-</p>
<p>That moisture is in the air when you open the freezer. Moisture actually in your freezer crystallizes into ice.</p>
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<p>Considering that the moisture you are mentioning is in the ambient environment around you, I would "worry" more about the coffee sitting in that environment than in a frozen environment. And those "strange aromas" do not act as they do in a refrigerated environment - or haven't you noticed that there isn't a need to put baking soda in your freezer? It's too cold an environment.</p>
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<p>And there are plenty of reasons to freeze coffee. </p>
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<cite>John Berkness said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/freezing-whole-bean-coffee?page=1&commentId=1688216%3AComment%3A1005935&x=1#1688216Comment1005935"><div><p>when you open your freezer, you know all that fog you see in the freezer. that's moisture. I'd be more worried about that moisture infiltrating your coffee, strange aromas and all, than the coffee oils freezing. Still I don't really understand this debate. There should be no reason to freeze the coffee anyway.</p>
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