Is freezing coffee beans a good idea? 

Freezing is one of the basic processes for preserving the freshness of products, and the freshness of coffee is important for its taste. 

Where did this idea come from?

From the British town of Bath, or rather the university located there. Researchers there believe that grinding cool beans results in evenly ground coffee, so the brewing process is also even. The coarser the grind, the longer it takes for the flavour and aroma to "leach out". The room-temperature beans are ground into fines of different sizes (in their micro scale). When water is poured through them, the result is a sour aftertaste from the smaller particles, which brew faster, or a bitter one from the under-brewed, larger particles. Therefore, an experiment was undertaken to show how to grind the grains so that the resulting dust had the most even particles. The scientists went from room temperature to -196 °C. The experiment showed that the cooler the grains, the more evenly they can be ground. 

It will be difficult to carry out a similar experiment at home, as normal freezers reach temperatures of up to -26°C. However, it is worth testing the above-mentioned theory to any extent. 

In practice

1. Coffee beans are porous and therefore easily absorb other aromas. By freezing coffee, we can deprive it of its own aromas in favour of other aromas from the freezer. 

2. When coffee is roasted, its oils and essence are released, so the coffee has an aroma. By freezing coffee, we can also freeze these substances and destroy the flavour of the coffee. 

3. If coffee was designed to be stored in this way, we'd be heading to the freezers in the shops for it 😉

Coffee retains its freshness for a certain period of time, if you have bought a quantity that you will not consume within 2-3 weeks, a one-off freeze is acceptable. However, don't expose your coffee to frequent temperature changes due to moisture, which along with excess air, excessive heat and light is the biggest enemy of our precious beans. When freezing coffee, divide it into smaller portions and place them in airtight bags or containers.