If you make your own coffee at home, you know that beans have a pretty short window of peak freshness. Coffee tastes best 7 to 21 days after roasting, and after that it begins to lose some of its richness and body. And with coffee becoming increasingly more expensive, you wouldn’t want to let any of your precious beans go to waste.

A great way to keep specialty coffee beans fresh for as long as possible is to freeze them. Like any regular produce, freezing helps slow down the deterioration, keeping its aroma, flavor, and potency locked in. But you can’t just chuck the beans in the freezer, storing them improperly can have the opposite effect and make them go stale fast. In this article, we’ll cover how to freeze your specialty coffee beans so you can enjoy them for longer.

READ ALSO: Roasted Coffee Beans: Which Roast Level Is Right for You?

 

How Freeze Specialty Coffee Beans Properly

 

1. Portion the beans into small batches, approximately the amount you would consume in a week.
2. Store the beans in a small airtight container or vacuum-sealed bag. The most important thing is to ensure the beans will not be exposed to air or moisture!
3. Label each batch so you can keep track of the freeze date.
4. When you are ready to brew the beans, take out one batch and let it completely thaw to room temperature (ideally leave it out to thaw the night before). Don’t rush to open it as you don’t want any moisture to reach your beans.

 

 

 

Tips and Common Mistakes To Avoid

 

1. Avoid freezing the entire bag at once. Frequent opening introduces moisture, so portion the beans into weekly batches instead.
2. Once opened, don’t put it back in the freezer to avoid moisture.
3. If you store the beans in a single-dose container, you can absolutely grind them as soon as they’re out of the freezer!
4. Make sure to store the beans in a part of the freezer with a constant temperature. Avoid the shelves on the door since it opens frequently, that area experiences the most temperature fluctuation.

 

Freezing your specialty coffee beans isn’t complicated, but doing it right makes all the difference. Some have been able to brew high-quality coffee with beans frozen for months and even years after its roast date! Now that you know how to freeze beans and store them the right way, the next step is learning how to grind them for your morning brew. Read our Beginner’s Guide to Grinding Specialty Coffee Beans at Home to get the best results from your freshly stored beans.

 

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