Is there any way to preserve roasted coffee beans? I know different people try different things to preserve roasted coffee beans, including freezing them or vacuum sealing them. But do any of these actually work? I have a very rare and expensive coffee bean that I'd like to take out once a month or so on special occasions, and I'm trying to see if there's anyway to do this without buying the coffee new every time.
Coffee beans, once roasted, are perishable; they don't "keep". Within roughly five days of roasting staleness is detectable (taste/quality is adversely affected). There is one way to preserve freshness: consume freshly roasted beans within roughly a week. Don't freeze; beans absorb moisture and lose flavour— ick. Vacuum packs aren't the answer, either. To remove all gases from packaging would require a system using pressure, 29" Hg, that no one, not even coffee giants, can afford. The best practice is to just buy beans (roasted on the day you purchase, ideally) in quantities you'll use within a week to 10 days.