There are many different suggested ways to store coffee in order to maintain freshness. One of the suggested methods is to put your ground coffee or coffee beans in the freezer. Is storing coffee in the freezer a good way to maintain freshness? Lets look at the pros and cons.

Freezing seems like a universally accepted way to keep foods fresher longer. Freezing is a great way to store many of our everyday foods. Vegetables, fruits, meat, bread, and even butter can be given a life extension through freezing. In fact, freezing often retains many of the important vitamins and minerals in foods. Unfortunately, coffee may not share the same benefits from freezing.

Four items affect the quality and taste of stored coffee: light, air, heat and moisture. It does not seem like freezing has many of these qualities, but there are more factors at work which can affect the beans.

Coffee beans have been roasted in order to enhance flavor. The beans are also porous. Unfortunately a freezer can contain many other foods which have odors. The porous beans can absorb the flavors of many other frozen foods. Flavored coffees can be pleasant, but no one wants to drink seafood or garlic flavored coffee.

The beans can also absorb unwanted moisture. Moisture can deteriorate the coffee beans resulting in loss of flavor. The more you take coffee out of the freezer and put it back in, the more moisture can be absorbed into the bean. If you do decide to freeze some coffee, only freeze it once. The more you take it in and out of the freezer, the more damage you do.

Freezing also breaks down the oils in the beans. The oils contribute to the flavor of the coffee. Breaking down the oils means taking away flavor, and face it, a large part of a good cup of coffee is the flavor.

To sum up, freezing coffee has definite disadvantages. It is better to keep coffee stored in a cool and dry place, in a well sealed container away from light. Freezing coffee is possible, and does the least damage if you only freeze it once. Make sure to seal the beans as tightly as possible to prevent moisture and odors from getting in. Your best bet is to only buy enough coffee for consumption within 1-2 weeks. That way you will not even need to go near the freezer and you can enjoy the coffee at the peak of its flavor!

Cory Willins writes for The Coffee Site as well as many other websites. The Coffee Site contains <a href="http://www.coffee-site.com">information on gourmet coffee</a>