Espresso is a fast-ticking clock. And the tip of this stopwatch is nothing you need. Recent espresso is all about aroma and depth—the fragile notes of toffee or nectarine that make every bean distinct. Previous espresso loses all of this. It tastes as an alternative acrid and flabby, like a cup of moist cardboard.
However freshness is a tough goal. I drink espresso about like a horse takes to water, however I purchase it simply as impulsively. I’m additionally always testing out espresso to search out the Finest Espresso Subscriptions, and to present every model a good shake, I at all times drink these contemporary within the optimum tasting window. Which suggests the rando particular bag I purchased for myself final Thursday typically has to attend. And generally I am unable to handle to brew all my espresso inside just a few weeks of its roast date.
That is the place freezing is available in.
So, must you freeze espresso beans? Or is freezing only a new strategy to mess up espresso beans—by introducing frosty moisture, or tainting it with the scent of the frozen rooster and peas in your icebox? The reply, based on espresso specialists and chemists alike, is that you simply’re in all probability higher off freezing espresso than letting heat air do its sluggish work. However that is solely true in the event you do it accurately.
What’s extra, frozen beans can the truth is result in higher taste on light-roast espresso specifically, based on at the very least one research—as a result of it helps you get extra constant espresso grounds and due to this fact higher taste. Extra on that later.
Here is a fast rundown on methods to maintain your espresso contemporary with out additionally ruining it, and why frozen espresso generally trumps contemporary.
When Does Espresso Begin Going Stale?
Consider it or not, there’s such a factor as espresso that is too contemporary. You in all probability do not need to brew espresso the day after it is roasted. For mild roasts specifically, most roasters are likely to advocate you wait 5 to seven days after the roast date earlier than brewing, to be able to permit your espresso to off-gas a bit and turn into a bit of simpler to extract. That is particularly essential in the case of espresso, the place extraction is a unstable and finicky course of.
However, alas, in the event you simply depart the espresso in its bag, on the counter, it could begin to go stale starting a pair weeks later. You recognize that good scent of contemporary espresso beans? These pretty fragrant compounds are exiting the beans, and dispersing into the air: That is why you’ll be able to scent them. Ultimately, they’re going to diminish. On the similar time, oxygen is sneaking in to do its grim work, turning your beans to stale rust.
Relying the way it’s saved, espresso can start to degrade anyplace from two weeks to a month after roast date (i.e., the optimum window could be per week or two for every bag).
You may lengthen this a bit by storing the espresso in an hermetic container. One which I significantly like (and that we advocate in our Presents for Espresso Lovers information) is the vacuum-sealed Fellow Atmos. This will maintain your beans brisker for longer in your counter and likewise maintain them from taking up dangerous aromas in your freezer.
{Photograph}: Fellow
Fellow
Atmos Vacuum Canister
When to Freeze Espresso Beans
If you realize you are not going to get by way of a bag of beans, the most effective time to freeze isn’t when your beans are already beginning to go stale. Moderately, accomplish that simply earlier than the optimum taste window.
The science on the endurance of frozen espresso is considerably skinny, notes Christopher Hendon, a supplies chemist at College of Oregon, whose analysis into espresso extraction and taste has earned him the nickname “Dr. Coffee.” However there’s purpose to imagine freezing slows the staling course of however would not halt it.
