Right, one way valve - I'm not sure how perfectly it works when the plastic is frozen though, so I tape it to be safe. I think I learned about the best way to freeze from that study that some of the Alt.coffee / Home Barista guys did a year or two ago. Before that, I was buying the orthodoxy that you shouldn't freeze beans. Since then, I guess I buy the orthodoxy that there's no problem storing beans :). I think, per that study, the things to avoid are thawing and refreezing, grinding frozen beans, opening and closing the bag of frozen beans, etc. Once you freeze 'em, keep 'em frozen until you're ready to use them, thaw them in the bag, before opening, and you should be good. Pretty much all decent freezers these days are down around 0 degrees (F) and that's plenty cold to keep the beans from staling.
-Ray On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 9:55 AM, Ben McCafferty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Ray, > That valve is one-way. If a roaster is going to the trouble to use sealed > bags with that valve, they usually are also flushing with nitrogen when > filling, so you shouldn't have any air in there—only nitrogen and co2. > Interesting process—thanks for posting. > bmc > "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." > > > > ------------------------------ > *From: *Ray Sachs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > *Reply-To: *<[email protected]> > *Date: *Thu, 2 Oct 2008 07:36:56 -0400 > *To: *<[email protected]> > *Subject: *Re: Cafe Vivace > > On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 7:37 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > In regards to freezing, do you notice any drop in flavor over time? I > know this has been debated many times on other coffee boards, but > curious if you have noticed anything? > > > No, I don't notice any drop in flavor over time as long as I follow a > couple of simple procedures. Vivace ships in half pound bags. When I get > 'em, they've had a couple of days to de-gas. I push all of the air/gas out > of the bag and then put a little piece of tape over the air-hole in the side > of the bag before freezing them. When I pull them out of the freezer for > use, I let them thaw completely in the same bag without opening it or > otherwise letting any air get in. Only after they're thawed fully do I open > the bag. Ten pounds usually lasts me 2-3 months, depending on the time of > year and whether my kids are home or off at school. In that amount of time, > no difference between the first bag and the last one I open. > > I'd think about a subscription service, but my usage is too inconsistent. > Sometimes we go through a lot, sometimes we go through it pretty slowly. The > other advantage of buying a LOT is that each batch can be a little bit > different, but each bag within a batch tends to be very consistent, since > they were all roasted together. So once I get the temp dialed in on a new > batch, I don't have to mess around with anything except grind for quite a > while. I had one batch of Dolce that was best at 95, for example, but most > seem to be best at 96. Also, the shipping charges aren't that much more for > ten pounds than for two, so shipping bigger volumes less often is cheaper. > > Depending on where you're located in PA, there's a great shop in north > Philly on Chestnut Hill called, appropriately enough, Chestnut Hill Coffee, > that roasts their own espresso blend. Their roaster and head barista is a > very well-known Seattle transplant named John Hornall. He's only become a > roaster over the past couple of years, but is getting it down. I've bought a > few bags of their espresso blend and liked it. No as much as Dolce, but > about as much as Black Cat. Its not an overly dark roast. It's really > awesome when they make the shots, but I still get better results with Dolce. > I still tend to buy mail order because they're a half hour drive and I don't > get in there often. But if you're in Philly, its a quick ride up the R-8 and > they're about two blocks away. Worth checking out anyway. > > -Ray > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
