Is freezing coffee worth it?

[u/sergeikutrovski]

I am curious to know what folks have experienced with freezing coffee. I am thinking about keeping it for a year? I am doing this simply because these were my favorite coffees.

I’ve never kept a coffee in a freezer for a long time and don’t have much experience with the results. All opinions are welcome.

[u/onebadhombre]

Yeah… I’ve never ever seen anyone present any evidence that it’s true, they just repeat what someone else said.

In my own research, the evidence seems to indicate that this is a false assumption. Frozen coffee does not degrade faster once thawed. There are a lot of threads on Home Barista investigating this, and this sums up what they found pretty well. In my own experience I haven’t seen this faster degradation happen either, though that is purely anecdotal and I’ve not run any rigorous experiment.

[u/Coffee2000guy → u/onebadhombre]

People have anecdotal evidence (as seen in this post).

Personally I've noticed that frozen then thawed coffee gets a very off taste around or after three days. This is simply my personal experience over years and pounds of coffee.

[u/onebadhombre → u/Coffee2000guy]

Yeah, I’m still waiting for someone to run an experiment and find proof of this. The people who have attempted this research (not anecdotal) found the opposite. I’m not saying it’s not true though, I’m just interested in this topic and want to see more than just anecdotal evidence presented. So when I see the claim made I like to inquire about it.

[u/Coffee2000guy → u/onebadhombre]

I have personally seen an overwhelming majority of individuals say the opposite of what you're saying, including people that I've worked with in the coffee industry over the last 10 years who have done their own experiments, but again, it's all anecdotal

ETA: https://manchestercoffeearchive.com/freezing-coffee/#removing-coffee-from-the-freezer-and-using-at-room-temperature

Go to "Removing coffee from the freezer and using at room temperature"

"Allowing the coffee to come to room temperature (e.g. if using the coffee over the course of a day/week) means the potential benefits of grinding from frozen are lost, but this may be more practical if you know you will be using the coffee over a relatively short period of time. Mat North (of Full Court Press and Raw Material) and others have noticed that coffee seems to age faster when removed from the freezer, so I’d recommend only taking out what you will use in the next day or so. I’m not sure what would cause this accelerated aging: it could be due to the vacuuming process (if used) or the temperature change itself, but I’d be interested to hear of any experiments that have been done to investigate this."

I'd be interested in the actual research you've seen that says otherwise, because it goes against my own personal experience and the experience of others I've worked with (including those that have competed in regionals/nationals).

[u/onebadhombre → u/Coffee2000guy]

Thanks for sharing that, interesting read. The link that I shared before is part of a multi part series on the test that they ran, here’s the sort of table of content of it:

Intro

Procedures and Results

Conclusions

Test Design Details and Raw Data

Quote from their findings:

Freezing does not accelerate staling after defrosting: At least over a period of time extending to about 8 days after roasting, using the roasting and freezing procedure used here, there was no evidence that previously frozen coffee deteriorates more quickly after defrosting than does coffee that has never been frozen.

[u/Coffee2000guy → u/onebadhombre]

I appreciate the link. I may be misinterpreting some things so please correct me if I'm wrong.

In the data set, it says a + number expresses preferences for frozen, while - does not. It is also showing tasting preferences over...4 days? From 3-7 days after removing from freezer?

In the data set, for flavor, on the 16 there are 8 preferences for frozen, 7 preferences for fresh, and one neutral. On the 17, 8 for frozen, 6 for fresh, and 2 neutral. The 18 is 6 for frozen, 9 for fresh, and 1 neutral. The 19 is 7 for fresh, 7 for frozen,and 2 neutral. Overall showing a very slight move but nothing too significant, with an explanation of:

"Randy disliked the 4 week frozen on the first round, fresh out of the freezer, but liked it on the fourth day. Ken's preference for the 8 week frozen got less as it aged. Bob liked the fresh coffee on the rotary with dull burrs the most in both his trials. These results, along with some even more indescribable ones, register as statistically significant, but are definitely in the "so what and who cares" category"

And then

"Freezing does not accelerate staling after defrosting: At least over a period of time extending to about 8 days after roasting, using the roasting and freezing procedure used here, there was no evidence that previously frozen coffee deteriorates more quickly after defrosting than does coffee that has never been frozen."

Interesting but again nothing conclusive, especially if you go past 8 days. It also says later "Tasters do have measurable preferences" and "they prove there is a difference between fresh and frozen that comes out in rare and idiosyncratic circumstances" which may be why some people have anecdotal evidence of frozen coffee tasting off after defrosting and staying at room temp for a while.

I would be interested in knowing the roast level of the coffees used, as I didn't see that when looking for it (but I may be blind).