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 a substitute acrid and flabby, like a cup of moist cardboard.
However freshness is a troublesome goal. I drink espresso about like a horse takes to water, however I purchase it simply as impulsively. I’m additionally consistently testing out espresso to seek out the Finest Espresso Subscriptions, and to provide 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 typically 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, do you have to freeze espresso beans? Or is freezing only a new solution to mess up espresso beans—by introducing frosty moisture, or tainting it with the odor of the frozen rooster and peas in your icebox? The reply, in accordance with espresso specialists and chemists alike, is that you simply’re in all probability higher off freezing espresso than letting heat air do its gradual 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 particularly, in accordance with not less than one research—as a result of it helps you get extra constant espresso grounds and subsequently higher taste. Extra on that later.
Here is a fast rundown on find out how to preserve your espresso contemporary with out additionally ruining it, and why frozen espresso typically 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 particularly, most roasters are inclined to advocate you wait 5 to seven days after the roast date earlier than brewing, to be able to enable your espresso to off-gas a bit and turn out to be a bit of simpler to extract. That is particularly vital with regards to espresso, the place extraction is a risky and finicky course of.
However, alas, in the event you simply go away the espresso in its bag, on the counter, it might begin to go stale starting a pair weeks later. You recognize that good odor of contemporary espresso beans? These pretty fragrant compounds are exiting the beans, and dispersing into the air: That is why you possibly can odor them. Ultimately, they will diminish. On the identical 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 wherever from two weeks to a month after roast date (i.e., the optimum window could be per week or two for every bag).
You possibly can delay 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 preserve your beans brisker for longer in your counter and likewise preserve them from taking over unhealthy aromas in your freezer.
When to Freeze Espresso Beans
If you recognize you are not going to get by a bag of beans, the very best time to freeze just isn’t 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 purpose to consider freezing slows the staling course of however does not halt it.
