Espresso is a fast-ticking clock. And the top of this stopwatch is nothing you need. Contemporary espresso is all about aroma and depth—the fragile notes of toffee or nectarine that make every bean distinct. Outdated espresso loses all of this.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 Greatest Espresso Subscriptions, and to offer every model a good shake, I at all times drink these recent within the optimum tasting window. Which implies the rando particular bag I purchased for myself final Thursday usually has to attend. And generally I can not 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 approach to mess up espresso beans—by introducing frosty moisture, or tainting it with the scent of the frozen hen and peas in your icebox? The reply, in line with espresso consultants and chemists alike, is that you just’re in all probability higher off freezing espresso than letting heat air do its gradual work. However that is solely true for those who do it appropriately.
What’s extra, frozen beans can the truth is result in higher taste on light-roast espresso specifically, in line with not less than 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 preserve your espresso recent with out additionally ruining it, and why frozen espresso generally trumps recent.
When Does Espresso Begin Going Stale?
Imagine it or not, there’s such a factor as espresso that is too recent. 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, with a view to permit your espresso to off-gas a bit and turn into just a little simpler to extract. That is particularly vital on the subject of espresso, the place extraction is a risky and finicky course of.
However, alas, for those who simply go away the espresso in its bag, on the counter, it might begin to go stale starting a pair weeks later. that good scent of recent 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 will 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 every week or two for every bag).
You possibly can 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 could preserve your beans brisker for longer in your counter and in addition preserve them from taking up unhealthy aromas in your freezer.
When to Freeze Espresso Beans
If you realize you are not going to get via a bag of beans, the most effective time to freeze is not when your beans are already beginning to go stale. Moderately, achieve this 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. Espresso.” However there’s cause to imagine freezing slows the staling course of however would not halt it.
