Quote:
Originally Posted by ApexAZ
Some might disagree with me, but you should be able to freeze it.
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Try a taste test of frozen vs non frozen beans from the same batch, and let me know what you think. It may work okay for your palate, or it may not.
Chemically what happens is the water in the bean crystallizes, and damage is done that causes further breakdown. Once that's done, it can hold longer in that state, but IMO nothing good happens to coffee on freezing. Eliminating oxygen is probably the best way to slow down the degradation of the bioflavinoids and essential oils, but that's not easy to achieve unless you can flush and store in nitrogen.
Even if you can achieve a perfect oxygen free atmosphere, there's still going to be degradation over time once it's roasted, so buying green and roasting your own is about the only really reliable way I've found to substantially extend shelf life.