Should you freeze coffee beans? 

A local cafe bought a large number of toilet rolls and gave them out free, without even the need to purchase anything, to the elderly/needy when the shops were empty of them. I made sure to go in and buy a coffee everyday. They now cannot serve people to consume food/drinks at their tables and don't get much business due to the lock down of social gathering places in Australia. Support your local coffee shops or we may lose them.

James: If you’ve ever owned a freezer Me: looking around cave

I'd love to see you revisit this subject with one of your experiments, comparing freezer-kept coffee at different ages/levels of freshness, to work out a rough estimate for how long it can be stored in a typical -18 to -22C freezer, compared to simply keeping it in the cupboard in an airtight container.

Woooo! Nothing better than a James Hoffmann video to keep you company while you're trapped in isolation :D

I have been vacuum sealing and freezing beans for a while (I have an issue with buying an interesting coffee whenever I see it when I already have plenty of great coffee at home). I avoid the whole issue of waste by re-using the vacuum bags. If you open the bag by cutting just behind the current seal, you can re-use it and you'll only "waste" the tiny bit of bag between the old seal and the new seal.

So in essence we need to 'flatten the (oxidation) curve' and in order to do that we have to implement 'social distancing' between coffee and air.

If you want to use a vacuum sealer and cut down on waste then you can reuse the majority of it by using a larger bag than you need then just cutting off the sealed part to open it, then you can reseal the same bag. Means you're using about 5-10mm of bag for each use rather than a whole bag.

“-40 degrees, the magical temperature where it doesn’t matter what units your talking about” *Kelvins, Rankine, Delisle, Newton, Réaumur and Rømer have rage quit*

Amazing James, love your work! As a bartender and barrister who (along with my entire hospitality company) was laid off last week, watching these videos have been great. Best wishes from Melbourne, Australia! Stay Safe all

vacuum bags are kinda reusable, if you just let em shrink slowly out of existence

"do the right thing." Such a powerful statement right now.

Old videos that I haven’t seen, and just pop up are the best. I’ve been storing my coffee in the freezer in an airtight container, for daily use, and grinding frozen beans. Thanks James

One thing people don’t take into consideration, and as a coffee roaster I have cupped many coffees and actually did a test with freeer stored coffee that was stored for one month. Vs fresh coffee stored in a cover vault. The issue is that coffee has oils and we all know when we store items in a freezer that have oils in them the oils break down and separate from the solid mass. This in fact has a lot of the flavor the coffee has to offer.when we cupped the various freezer stored coffees vs the coffee vault stored coffees there was a difference in scoring. The acidity, the mouthfeel, and the flavor were definitely off on the coffee stored I. The freezer. The average person might not notice the difference especially if they add milk, cream, syrups, or sugar. The coffees stored in the coffee vault at room temp definitely scored higher and were more vibrant in the cup. So can you store coffee in freezer? Short answer yes! Does it affect the flavor and cup? Short answer is yes. But it’s really a personal preference to the consumer and how intently they are passionate about that flavor and coffee.

This is the process I’ve been using for a while now and I can second that it works great for me: I get a kilo and freeze 3/4 of it in three separate bags. Each come out as fresh as the first!

-40 degrees? Canada now has a leg up in the coffee world.

Is there anywhere I can buy a “community bag” or something of the sort for you to donate? Meaning I buy a bag and you donate it! If I can help more people get coffee I would love to!

This is an interesting thing to explore. I’m still a student and therefore the only corona effect is that I now have plenty of time for thing such as this. I am now at the point where I realise, that I know so little and (even worse) that I have so little experience. I started watching your channel a bit more than a year ago and this journey has been a great pleasure. Thank you, James!

Would love a video comparing frozen vs room temperature stored coffee. Buy two bags of the same coffee with the same roast date. Leave one in the cupboard and one in the freezer. After week, take the freezer coffee out and let it thaw. Pull some shots/make some coffee with a blind test & see which one tastes better.

Up until he showed the bag of beans I thought he was talking about brewed coffee

I’ve watched most of James’ content and I honestly don’t drink coffee at all. Why do I love this man’s videos?

Quick Tip: You can (kinda) vacuum seal a ziploc bag by filling it with coffee, sticking a straw in it, closing the ziploc as much as you can (so the straw is still sticking out), sucking the air out through the straw, then quickly removing the straw and completely closing the ziploc.

Hey James, just wanted to say thanks again for the coffee giveaway! Pretty much all the local roasters I normally purchase from have also shut down, coupled with umemployment, makes it a godsend. Looking forward to its arrival :)

What a proper lad. He knows there's people who can't afford coffee right now and offers to genuinely help with that. Good man. This is why I like you. You take coffee as serious as I do.

Would you consider cupping frozen coffee at various "freezer ages" to see what happens to it vs. fresh?

Good to know I can just leave my coffee outside in the winter. Finally, something good to come from these -40° Canadian winters!

I use one of those Ikea ziplock bag (and reusing them), and then with a straw (from stainless steel don't cut me) suck all the air out and close the bag. You can get surprisingly good results from it!

JAMES, YOU ARE A WONDERFUL HUMAN & DESERVE ALL THE BEST! I have watched your videos for quite some time now, and have been grateful for your level-headed, clear, inclusive information. And now, that you are doing giveaways for those who need it - BRAVO! Keep on keeping on; your work is appreciated!

There's a nice trick to get pretty close to vacuum. You take a reusable bag and dip it in water, with a small opening. As you introduce the bag the water will displace the air in the bag. Nice video! Really informative. Stay safe and healthy guys ✌️

There are vacuum pots that can be re used. That would remove most of the waste but still have the vacuum element

I always get my beans in 250g bags with a ziplock and airvent, instantly put that in a freezer and do exactly what you did not recommend: take it out when i need it, quickly weigh the coffee and put it back in the freezer; I try to get as much air as possible out of course. I haven't had any ice crystals on my coffee ever, the taste is still very much to my liking and there is still a bloom after several months even. I just love having multiple, different kind of beans to switch up whenever :)

Decades ago I always keep Maxwell House grinds in the can in the freeze. Never had condensation problems. Since they were grounds and not beans, I would use directly from the freezer to the machine. The smell of hot water hitting frozen grinds is stronger and delightful. Coffee and cigarettes were stored in the freezer.

Not only i have so much respect about how knowledgable about coffee and how effortlessly he articulates his thoughts, I also really appreciate how conscious he is about being environmental friendly in a very subtle and not annoying way! LOVE IT!

I want James to meet Gordon Ramsey and make him some espresso and talk about the flavors.

Hi James, Yason from Indonesia A more a weeks ago, I tried to experiment these topic w/ 4 variable coffee : 1. Vacuum coffee 2. Vacuum silica gel coffee 3. Vacuum frozen coffee 4. Vacuum silica gel frozen coffee Roasted (16.3.20) Gayo Honey dose 12gr (same 67 pieces beans) then cupping w/ range of 5 days. So me and my team will cupping together at (21, 26, 31 March & 5 April) The cupping (21.3.20) just legit and exciting, sample no 4 (vacuum silica frozen) have best score and optimum flavor. The taste of Gayo Honey have more pronounce flavor despite another one. Are you agree vacuum frozen and silica can make flavor single origin more pronounce? Thanks

I'm following you like many coffee aficionados do...but just in this video you gained my HUGE RESPECT! because you talk about not liking the waste involved in vacuum packaging coffee beans! Thank you SO MUCH for that!

Hey James. I work for Campos coffee in Australia. If you have any viewers in Australia that need coffee I would be more then happy to help out by providing some coffee!

James Hoffmann: destroying myths one at a time

Mr James Hoffmann. Firstly - I love the content. I'm a avid coffee nerd. Secondly - My question is; What are your thoughts on freezing ground coffee? My grinder broke and I can't get one currently due to Covid-19. I still want to support local roasters as best as I can. So I was think, pre-ground, used in a French press. Now I know pre-ground isn't the best thing. But .... very little options right now.

I have a method that eliminates all the faff and waste from those single use vacuum bags, but still does a good job of sealing stuff away from air. Its a bit silly, but I swear it really works. Using a straw, you suck most of the air out of a freezer bag. Put the straw in the bag, close the seal all the way up to the straw, then suck hard, pull the straw out, and very quickly fully seal the bag.

A couple of yrs ago I froze a lb of roasted whole bean Columbia huila Supremo, vacuum sealed, for 3 months. After defrosting the coffee I ground it all and gave samples to friends that I use as tasters. Four of my tasters normally drank Columbia Huila and the fifth would pretty much drink anything I gave him. HIs favorite was an Ethiopian Natural. The four Columbia drinkers found no fault with the taste of the coffee. The fifth said the coffee was ok but did I have any Ethiopian? I''ve been hobby roasting for 20 yrs using using a half lb Swiss Mar electric drum roaster the fist 17 yrs and a Coffee Crafters Artisian 2.5 lb fluidized roaster for the last 3 yrs.

Thank you for steady pushing out the good content in the time most of us baristas are sitting at home!

Good luck to everyone that needs great coffee in their lifes!

For the last 10+years, I have stored my coffee in 50mL. plastic screw-capped tubes in the freezer with excellent results. This practice has spread to quite a number of family members and associates. The tubes were referred to in the laboratory as “Falcon” tubes. Falcon was a one-time favoured supplier. My practice has been to immediately after roasting beans or purchasing fresh bulk coffee beans to dispense just over 50mL lots into tubes which I store in the freezer removing a days requirement a day in advance, allowing them to reach room temperature before grinding and use. I found these 50mL tubes to be perfectly suited to my need to present the precise portion of beans for a double shot for an E61 basket. The 50mL. disposable plastic screw-capped "Falcon" tubes may be obtained from any biological laboratory equipmentsuppliers at a modest cost (I recycled used tubes destined for the waste which was even more economical).

You're advise is excellent. I use a vacuum sealer and purchase 2 lb. bags of coffee. I store about 12 oz. in a counter top container and freeze the remainder in an over sized bag. When I have to remove coffee from the freezer, I defrost it and then open the bag at the top and fill the container. I re-freeze the remainder in the large bag. When it's empty I re-fill and freeze the next purchase. I can easily re-use the bag 10 to 15 times to cut down waste.

Oh no. I needed to go to bed. One more video.

Short, sharp and informative- thanks for the great content. Been wanting to have this clarified for a while. What would be the maximum time limit you’d leave them in the freezer given they do degrade? Maybe a month or two?

This is why I always keep all my zip lock vaccum retail bags from other coffees (hasbean etc). I use them to portion out when I sometimes buy kilo bags. I can then leave those sealed in a dark space until I can get to them. Last weekend I supported a few local businesses by going out and buying a few kilos of coffee, way way too much for home use, but ive divided it up and will freeze it.

On the vacuum packing point (depending on the form sealing on the bag and quality of co2 valve the roastery is using), you can remove a majority of the air through the valve with a hoover and get a very good vacuum seal without spending money on a machine to do it into some specially designed pouch.

I've been experimenting with grinding my beans directly from the freezer - skipping the defrosting stage. In my experience, I'm finding that my grind is more consistent (using a Baratza Encore), and my cups are either brighter or absent of bitterness. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience?

related refrigeration question: should i keep coffee (beans or ground) in the fridge, instead of pantry?

When you began to mention a person that was in favor of freezing coffee beans, I hoped at that point it was Mr. Mike Sivits you would be talking about. And lo and behold he was the person you were speaking of! I live in the town in Oregon which he roasted coffee, and built roaster parts. It was my understanding he in fact held at least one patent. I was just so sad when he retired. For years I bought his roasted beans. Yes he did freeze them. I knew I was enjoying coffee from him that was very hard to come across. Flavor notes and an ability to bring out each coffees characteristics of it's origin were something to behold. I was told by another food scientist the success in freezing, is also paramount in the precise timing, cool down of the roasted beans etc.. I sure do miss those days when Mr. Sivits roasted and froze those coffee beans! Fortunately, for us in this same town some local roasters have continued on using Sivit's Roasters. No one here freezes any longer though. I agree with this video, that it doesn't work to just throw any bag of beans in the freezer. Freezing beans in a much more scientific and involved process than that. I have had good luck at times freezing beans 30 to 60 minutes after the roast and or cool down. I put them in a mason jar, as was Mike's preferred method for storage of Coffee beans

Thank you, James, for your generosity in giving coffee to those who may not be able to acquire it themselves these days. You are a good person! I'm fortunate enough to be able to subscribe to regular deliveries of coffee from a roaster I love (used to be local, but I moved), and I do, indeed, freeze the amounts beyond what I can use in about a week, and it's been working swimmingly. In these days of self-isolation being able to enjoy a great cup of coffee with whatever else you're doing to maintain your sanity is a small joy that is a true luxury! Thanks for the ongoing videos, and for contributing to that extra joy we can add to our days!

Hello James, thanks for the great content! I wanted to ask you about storing ground coffee (for the moka pot) in the fridge. I know many people in Italy that do that, does that actually help preserve the coffee?

Hey James! I heard that actually grinding cool coffee gives more consistent grounds than warmer ones (warm coffee is harder to cut when warm, similar to wax) and this was shown from some baristas at championships as well were frozen coffee was used. Did you try making coffee from freezed vs. defrosted vs non-frozen beans (sensory, crema, TDS..)? Would be an interesting experiment for sure! :)

so right ona just posted freezing your beans in the freezer couple days ago(on their instagram.) In fact i just bought a vacuum sealer. Pretty excited to try out the method to store the bean I bought as well. Regardless, i'll be posting the result here in about two weeks time(if anybody cares).

Once again I find proof that my creator loves word-play. The last name of a leading coffee expert is a homophone of the name of the creature who scats the most expensive coffee beans known. I love this about my world.

`Help. I can't turn my freezer down to -40 K for some reason.

i overcame all this problems, and started homeroasting 7y ago (i roast the quantity i use up in 14 days - starting at the 7th day after roasting)

Love your videos james, really respect the way you approach waste!! Its so important we are all conscious of the waste we create

This video came at the perfect time, just got a KG from Darkwoods. 1. To support them, my local roasters& 2. To support me during “highly vulnerable” social distancing... got two old coffee bags saved to separate out portions. Thanks James for the tips. I love your content and I hope you are well. 😃

Hi James, do you have any possibility to talk/show/share thoughts about home roasting ?

Any thoughts on how long after roast is ok to freeze? I’ve always thought it was better to wait a week for degassing and then freeze. I use reusable vacuum seal bags and they definitely degas a bit in the freezer.

Vacuum sealing waste can be greatly reduced by making the bag oversized and just trimming off the seal each time and reusing it. Coffee beans are ideal for this as they are dry and don't get all over the sealing surface. I worry vacuum sealing will force the volatiles out and was actually considering a 3-5psi nitrogen storage container.

I roast 3-4 lbs of my favorite coffee every week or two then place them in a re-usable vacuum cylinder and use the vacuum sealer to extract the air and freeze it. I did experiment with the taste between the frozen and fresh beans and found very little difference if any at all. All in all vacuum sealing and freezing is a very good option. Great video Mr. Hoffman. My local roastery, Jittery Joe's, is having a tough time but getting there folks to come to work in the roastery seems to be one of the issues at hand and they cannot even ship beans out. Hope this all ends soon. Stay safe.

its basically 5 am and im watching coffee videos...

Thanks James! I do have one question, and maybe it was addressed here and I missed it (in the 3 times I watched this) -- but if I have beans that were roasted a day ago, would I be better off freezing them ASAP? Or should I wait until they hit the recommended window from the roaster? For example, I have a 5lbs bag of coffee, roasted yesterday with a recommended for use within 10-15 days of the roast date. Would I be best off freezing it right away, or closer to when it hits 10 days?

Thanks for brining waste up! People often forget that these items often end up in land fields or incinerators that affect aquifers and the air.

Detailed and well-explained content in EVERY. SINGLE. VIDEO. Thank you James Hoffmann!

Sooooo are you saying my Gran'father wasn't mental when he used to store his catering size tub of Nescafe Gold in his chest freezer?

Why not to grind them straight out of the freezer in the morning? Why bother defrost it during the night? What good will it do?

First of all: thanks for clarifying the whole freezing thing. There are quite some opinions about it. And secondly: I've put it to practice right away. My local roaster (Dellf, the Netherlands) is facing quite a hard time now, since a huge part of her income is from selling beans to cafés. Since they're all closed and her own shop can't be open either, she decided to start home delivery for local customers. All by bike of course, since we're Dutch and it does help the environment. So I orderd way more than I needed and started freezing it in airtight ziplock bags :-) I'll let you know if the coffee tastes horrible in a few months :-P

I just wanted to say thank you for your videos. It always make me smile to see a new one.

So James let's say I buy 6 weeks worth of coffee at one time and they are all medium to dark roast coffees. What is my best storage option? Freezing is my best storage option until I'm ready to use? I can keep it in the original bag coffee came in and then put coffee inside of a seal tight canister or inside of a freezer ziploc bag? Taking coffee out of original bag and putting it in a seal tight canister is the next best option? Worst option is just leaving coffee in original bag at room temperature? Thank you!

This looks exactly like the guy that would be interested in talking about coffee

You can also reuse a vacuum bag a few times if it was used for dry stuff. It will get an inch or so shorter every time but you can add a few inches to begin with. I know; not ideal. But less wastage than using a new one every time.

The waste of vacuum bags is not so bad - you can just reuse them. You cut off the sealed part, get your stuffs out and seal it again. Yes, you throw away a little bit, but not the whole bag after one use. And it's amazing how much food it actually saves. I almost never throw food away anymore. Anyway, love your channel!

Tell that to Italian people who keep their already brewed mocha coffee in the fridge to be heated up in the microwave the next day 🤦

So, James, i have a big question: where I should store my in use coffee? Inside fridge to minimize oxidation or outside is good enough?

James I just came across this video and your offer to give some people help who needed coffee but could not afford too buy . James your a good man .The world could use a lot more people like you . I thank God I'm ok in life God bless you Sir

That offer to give coffee to those in need was sweet as can be. We are JUST starting a little roasting business and have been learning a lot from your videos, and that is the kind of attutide that makes a business about people, not money. Cheers!

Hi James, what about (sorry) pre-ground coffee? Any value in keeping that in the freezer?

Hi James, I have a completely unrelated question: Sometimes when I order a bag of coffee beans, instead of being a vacuum packed bag, the bag is puffed out. It's still properly sealed and air tight, but full of "air". Is this likely to be a fault in the bagging process or have the beans off-gassed something? Thanks ☕

First: James, thank you so much! I don‘t need your videos, the more I enjoy them and I feel good about supporting you, who supports a lot of people. Simply thank you. As an addition to your suggestions: when you put your bag or whatever sealable container you use in the freezer before you fill coffee in, there will cold and dry air inside which should not harm your coffee beans. Greetings from Germany and stay healthy, Thorsten.

If you want to vacuum pack and reduce waste, use bags that are considerably too large for the amount of coffee. This will allow you to cut off the seal strip and then reuse the bag. It gets smaller each time but you are only wasting the amount of plastic that is in the seal, not the whole bag. Not perfect, but a significant reduction. For dry good that I need to vacuum pack, I always use this method.

Still waiting on the video titled "The Best Cold Brew Coffee Method"

The giveaway is a great gesture! I require some more coffee and normally go to a supermarket for beans (student). I want to buy some locally however (Sussex) after your points about local businesses. Any advice for a first time buyer of 'more' expensive/local beans?

I do not need coffee thankfully, just found a place to buy that's open in my new city yesterday thankfully. But I'm a big fan of the channel already, James, and just wanted to say that I think you giving coffee to those that need done these days is just awesome. Good on you, and thanks for all three great content!

It is possible to vacuum seal things in a canning/mason jar. There is no waste of plastic packaging. Just search RU-vid with "vacuum sealing mason jars" to find plenty of videos showing how it's done. Anyway, that solves the issue of waste and allows removal of the air.

How about keeping beans in the fridge? I live in an upstairs apartment where it can get quite hot, so rather than keeping in the cupboard, could I use the fridge?

Struggling college student/coffee enthusiast that’s almost out of beans and can’t afford more. Please help!

Exactly. I buy a zipped bag with a co2 valve, I evacuate it through the valve (mouth suction is enough to make the bag rock-hard) and freeze it. I try to defrost it as proposed, however, there's not always the time. As the beans have quite low thermal capacity, condensation does not tend to form on them, really. I open the bag and let it open for an hour or two, until it defrosts. I have never seen any condensation on the beans (probably also depends on the air humidity).

Such an amazing thing to give coffee away to people who need it♥️. As an essential personnel my work has remained open and I still have income. But for those who don’t, that service is such a blessing!

James -- Vacuum packing. There is a simple pump to vacuum seal mason jars. Foodsaver jar sealer + Ziploc Vacuum kit/pump. Not expensive. Infinitely reusable. Vacuum seal mason jars.

James thanks for continuing the production of such enjoyable and informative content in these difficult times. My local roaster (in Sydney Australia) have had to shut the cafe but are still roasting and were delivering their excellent beans themselves today when my order arrived, happy I get to continue to enjoy their coffee and will support via online orders till they're open again!

I wonder if - and I'm combining your ideas here with your spritzing coffee beans with water before grinding video - you would now recommend grinding coffee beans while still cold / straight out of the freezer to actually encourage condensation and thus eliminate the need to spritz.

I've noticed my grind size changing by a good amount when I freeze beans and pull them out 2 weeks later. I usually need to grind a few steps finer to get the same flow rate and the taste is a bit more mellow. So I'd say it might slow down oxidation and might keep it more fresh than if it was outside the whole time but the coffee doesnt come out the same.

Use a Zwilling’s medium sous vide bag, put the amount of beans for several days use in a zwilling glass vacuum container. Place the whole roasted coffee bag in the sous vide bag and vacuum pack before placing in the freezer. The one sous vide bag should last months without being contaminated by the different blends you might buy or leave any oil residue that will go rancid over time, almost zero additional waste. Sit the sous vide bag out of the freezer for a couple of hours before opening and no sweating should occur on your beans if air has not leaked in.

A vacuum bag is not necessarily a "once off" wastage. If you buy the plastic by the "roll": cut the length of the bag the same as the width of your vacuum sealer (you may need to cut the length in half as well depending on your plastic and seal that edge too). In this way you have a long thin bag, with plenty extra space. And you can keep opening and emptying and refilling and resealing the small end - slightly shorter than before but with room still to spare ...

My vacuum sealer has a little tube attachment. I do not know how standard that is, but if yours has one, you can use resealable freezer backs, stick the tube in just enough, mostly seal the back, then finish sealing while the vacuum is working, pushing out the tube as you go. There: vacuum-sealed coffee, without wasting a bag.

This is the perfect information I need now. I just got 4 packs of 250g coffee at once because of the social distancing. Now I don’t need to worry about my coffee beans anymore. Pro tips: If you have expensive green tea, you can also seal and store them in the freezer. As a matter of fact, tea wholesaler do this at their store too.