Although many people know that freshness is the key to a cup of high-quality coffee, they still can’t resist the temptation of Front Street Street’s “30% off for 2 items and 50% off for 3 items”. Therefore, during every event, Front Street Street will receive a lot of questions about how to store coffee beans: Can coffee beans be frozen or refrigerated after buying too much? How long can it be stored like this? Do I need to defrost the coffee beans before taking them out of the refrigerator? Can it be frozen again after returning to room temperature?
Obviously, the purpose of the friends who asked these questions is to keep the coffee beans in a delicious state for a longer period of time to achieve the "preservation" effect. For vegetables and fresh ingredients, low temperature can indeed be stored longer and extend the shelf life. So is it a good idea to put coffee beans in the refrigerator?
How to freeze coffee beans
The flavor of coffee beans reaches its peak after being roasted for about 4 to 7 days, and then gradually decreases from 30 to 45 days until it is completely gone. The biggest enemies of freshly roasted coffee beans are air, moisture, high temperature and light. Therefore, lowering the temperature can theoretically allow the coffee beans to be stored for a longer period of time if they are not opened, protected from light and moisture, and the simplest operation is to put them in the refrigerator.
But it should be noted here that low-temperature storage means freezing, not refrigeration! Because the temperature of the cold storage compartment of the refrigerator fluctuates greatly and the humidity is high, coffee beans are prone to odor and moisture. The freezing treatment can greatly reduce the oxidation and metabolism speed of coffee beans, and can effectively "lock" the flavor substances in the coffee beans. According to research, the flavor of coffee beans can be maintained in a good state for 2-3 months when frozen.
In order to find out the difference, Front Street put a 16g pack of Front Street Kafa Forest in the freezer of the refrigerator 2 months ago, and compared it with freshly roasted beans (beans raised for 7 days). The parameters were set to 16g coffee powder, 1:15 powder-to-water ratio, 92°C water temperature, and fine sugar grinding (No. 20 sieve). Screening rate 80%), three-stage water injection, and finally in terms of aroma, the freshly roasted Front Street Kava Forest has the tonality of coffee flowers, sweet orange, blueberry, and butternut, while the frozen Kava Forest mainly has the flavor of berries and nuts. The former is significantly higher in intensity, and more lively in terms of acidity and aroma.
It can be seen from this thatAlthough freezing can stabilize most of the aroma substances of coffee, the beans are in a "pseudo-fresh" state. Even if the flavor is close, it will definitely not taste as good as freshly roasted for a few days. Therefore, if you want to experience the best state of coffee, don't have the mentality of buying more and stocking up in the refrigerator every time.
What's the best way to freeze coffee beans?
Although freezing coffee beans is easy to understand, we still need to gain some experience before putting the coffee beans in the refrigerator.
①Grow the coffee beans and then freeze them
The best tasting period for most coffee beans is 4-45 days after roasting. Why is it 4 days after baking is completed? Freshly roasted coffee beans will not only produce a large amount of carbon dioxide, but also have a strong smoke smell. In the first four days, the coffee beans will rapidly release carbon dioxide through the one-way exhaust valve, and the carbon dioxide will be discharged together with the smoke smell. This period is what we often call the bean raising period. Of course, with the different roasting levels and roasting ideas, the coffee bean cultivation time is different, and 4 days is the "guaranteed" bean cultivation time.
But if you throw coffee beans that have only been roasted for two days directly into the freezer, it will be difficult for the active gas to be discharged and the flavor will remain at the unripe stage. When frozen for a long time, the gas is no longer active, so the aroma may not be exerted.
②Sealed packaging
Freezing coffee beans isn't just about tossing them in the freezer, it's also about sealing them. Since there may be other food in the refrigerator at home, in order to prevent the coffee beans from absorbing other odors and to prevent the coffee from getting damp and accelerating the loss of aroma, it must be sealed before freezing, and it is best to store it in a separate compartment.
If you have the conditions, you can first pack the coffee beans according to the amount of single brewing, or vacuum them, and then write the roasting/freezing date. This will make it easier to take and reduce the problem of condensation. Regarding the time limit for freezing coffee beans, Front Street’s longest experimental parameter is 3 months. The flavor is relatively stable. For food safety reasons, it is recommended not to store it for more than half a year.
If you plan to store the coffee beans for a longer period of time and are too lazy to separate them, you can also put a sealed bag directly on the original packaging (pay attention to squeezing out the air as much as possible), then open it when you need to use it, seal it and return it immediately after taking it out, remember to move quickly and try to shorten the contact time between the coffee beans and the air. Once the frozen coffee beans are thawed, they cannot be frozen a second time.
③ defrosting coffee beans vs not thawing coffee beans
If you are not in a hurry to drink, you can take out the frozen coffee beans one night in advance and let them slowly warm up at room temperature. Be sure not to open the bag first, otherwise the air will make the coffee beans regain moisture, causing a hydrolysis reaction and dissolving some volatile compounds. One advantage of defrosting first and then brewing is that the coffee beans will return to their original hardness and the extraction will be more stable.
Another way is not to defrost, grind and brew as soon as possible after taking it out. Undefrosted coffee beans have a crisper texture, so there are fewer coarse powders after grinding and the particles are more uniform, which is more conducive to the flavor expression of fruit-acid coffee beans. In addition, the low temperature also reduces the loss of aroma, and there is no need to worry about moisture.
For example, this morning, we took out the Front Street cherry tomatoes that had been frozen for 70 days and ground them directly without defrosting. The dry aroma was not good, but the coffee after extraction was extremely sweet and sour, with alternating flavors of raspberry, red bramble, and blueberry. Especially after cooling down, it appeared like a grape-like juice, accompanied by the tonality of stone fruits.
(A customer previously asked if the coffee beans taken out of the refrigerator should be roasted in the oven for a while? Do not do this. Heating will not only not add aroma, but will also significantly deteriorate the quality.)
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
