Should You Freeze Coffee Beans?

There are many different suggested ways to store coffee beans in order to make the most of your bean to cup espresso machine and maintain coffee bean freshness. One method which we often hear is that of putting the Coffee Beans in the freezer Is storing coffee in the freezer a good way to maintain freshness? What are the advantages and are there any disadvantages

Freezing is a traditional method used to preserve food and in todays modern kitchen with a fridge or freezer it is easy and convenient A diverse selection of foods can be frozen. Meat, fruit & even bread can be successfully frozen with no major loss in taste and vitamin content. Unfortunately Coffee does not on the face of it have the characteristics of an item that would be suitable for freezing

Coffee Beans have four main enemies against freshness: air, heat, light and moisture.

At first, freezing doesn’t seem to contain many of the offending enemies. However, appearances can be deceiving.

One problem is that the Coffee Beans are porous, and freezers are full of many strongly flavoured foods, odours and smells. The porous beans take on the flavour of the other foods in the freezer Coffee tasting of frozen prawns, meat and sausages yuk!!

Coffee Beans can also absorb moisture. Moisture attacks the Beans and causes the taste and flavour to be lost The more often you take coffee out of the freezer and put it back in, the more moisture absorption takes place into the bean. If you absolutely need to freeze some coffee because you have a large excess you’d like to keep, only freeze it once. The more you take it in and out of the freezer, the more damage you do.

Once frozen these oils in the beans begin to break down. The flavours of the coffee are enhanced by the oils it contains. Breaking down the oils means taking away flavour, and let’s face it, a large part of a good cup of coffee is the flavour.

Therefore coffee beans should not be stored in the freezer. The best results and to ensure coffee retains its taste store coffee in a cool, dry and air tight container away from the light and any source of heat. Freezing coffee is possible, and is best if you only freeze it once. The resulting loss of flavour and quality from repetitive freezing makes it a method of storage to stay away from.

Your best bet is to purchase only enough beans or ground coffee to supply you for 1-2 weeks. That way you will enjoy Coffee from your Expresso Coffee Maker or Coffee machine at its freshiest and best.