How do you store your beans? I usually buy a 2# bag at the local club store. When I 1st open the bag the beans are nice and flavor full, over time the flavor fades as the bag gets used. Also the beans appear more ‘oily’ at the beginning of the bag and ‘dryer’ towards the bottom.
What is the best way to preserve the flavor?
Seal them up airtight and put them in the freezer. Take out what you need, then put them back in the freezer. That keeps them fresh.
Just how long are you keeping the beans? I put mine in a small glass “cookie jar” with a lid, but not a tight one, and I don’t see any change over the two weeks it takes to use them up. I just keep the jar in a cool corner of the kitchen. Are you keeping yours close to the stove where heat might get to them?
I really don’t know as I never noticed - guessing 1 month. I do make on average 3 larger mugs per day and a bit stronger then the standard brew.
I store them in the foil bag that they came in, on a counter w/ a winter temp range of 50-60F, but sometimes forget to put the bag away and it is on the counter w/ the stove about 2 ft away, but it doesn’t seem to get warm there from the stove. Ususally fold the bag over and put a ‘potato chip bag clip’ over the fold.
It sounds like the freezer (or refrigerator) idea might work for you. Certainly it can’t hurt, as long as you use a tight enough container to avoid picking up odors.
Or buy a smaller bag. It also occurs to me that your supplier might not be restocking often, and your purchase is old before you use it.
I tried the freezer route once, and found that the grinder was minimally affected by frozen beans. But in my case, it seemed unnecessary.
Just for kicks, why don’t you put half of your next purchase in the freezer and keep half in the usual place. Then alternate your brew batches. Not double-blind, but it might be interesting to see if you can tell the difference in the taste over a month.
I thought is was a no-no to store beans in the freezer 
Well since I just opened the bag (which is why I started this thread now), I decided to do a bit of a test, partially from the above suggestions, and partly to make things a bit easier on me.
I put about 2/3rds of the beans in a freezer ziplock, got as much air out as I could, and sealed it. Put that in a paper bag to keep light out and put that in the freezer.
I will see how it goes over the next month, and particularly when I get a new bag.
As for old stock, I doupt it, these seem to have a high turnover rate, and I often have to reach back as all the up front bags are taken. Plus the coffee is really great at first.
This is what I thought as well.
I buy the large cans of French Roast from Trader Joe’s when I can get to a store. I just keep them in the can. Occasionally (when it’s on sale) I’ll buy the coffee in the paper bags from the market. I keep it in the bags. Recently I bought three pounds of French roast from CostCo. It came in a bag. I have a set of tins from the '50s that are identical to the ones my grandmother had, that my father used for decades after she died, and which I used when I lived in L.A. (I have a fuplicate set because I found them at a thrift store and it was easier than going through the storage unit to find the ‘heirlooms’.) I put a pound of beans into the coffee tin, and two pounds into a two-pound tin that I’d emptied of its store-brand coffee.
Now, people will come into the thread to tell me I store my coffee wrong. But I drink a pot of coffee every morning, and I like it strong. I go through it quickly enough that it doesn’t matter how I keep it.
I store them 3-4 weeks, in the resealable bag they come in, tucked inside a Coffee Canister
And it sits on my counter.
I’ve heard that freezing or refridgerating them, dries them out. I wouldn’t know because the times I tried storing them that way, it made all the other food taste and smell like coffee. That was with the beans sealed in a ziplock back inside of Tupperware.
I buy the beans pre-ground (don’t have a grinder, yet) and store them in the foil lined pouch they come in in the freezer with no trouble. I find it stays fresher than leaving them out at room temperature. Maybe it’s due to the foil puoch with no air? (I’ve known others who stored whole beans in the same manner with no trouble also.)
I have also heard storing coffee in the freezer was not recommended. I only buy what I will use in a week-10 days and use a covered ceramic, opaque jar. I buy whole beans and it seems that some types are more oily, but haven’t noticed a drying out. Dunn Bros. Coffee lists the roast dates on the bags, I try and buy the latest date they have.
We don’t know how long ago your beans were roasted but there are a lot of changes in the flavor for the first week or so after roasting. If you knew they were roasted they day you got them you could purchase one weeks worth at at time and keep them sealed up on the counter.
If you buy more than you can use in one week you could do the same but freeze the amount you won’t use that week. BUT chances are your beans are not that fresh. The next best thing to do is save out 1-2 days worth and freeze the rest. Pull out enough for the next day sometime in the evening. (Probably the best bet in your case)
If the coffee is pre-ground forget freezing it. The beans start degrading significantly quickly after grinding and if it’s preground, sealed up, and stored in a shelf for a few days it’s past the point that freezing or anything else is going to “help” it. In this case as long as the coffee brand tastes good to you that’s all that matters.
Let me clarify. I buy beans for espresso, which are whole until I grind them in the store. I don’t buy a lot at a time (not much money), but it comes in a foil pouch which I store in the freezer. I find it works, but if you’re worried about the freezer, try putting the foil pouch in the fridge. I store my aromatic spices in the fridge too. You just have to be careful not to let moisture in.
The highly revered (well, here anyway) Alton Brown says thus:
Do not store in the freezer. The minute amount of time that it goes from freezer to counter and is opened allows for condensation to form. Say, like, dew on the coffee beans. Not good eats.
Store coffee beans in an opaque airtight container and grind only what you will use at a time.
NEVER, ever, evar buy from the bulk bins, vacuum packed is always preferable.
Alton is my hero so I listen to what he says! 
I like to buy big cans of ground coffee on sale. Once opened I freeze most of it and put a small can’s worth in the fridge for daily use.
I save the metal lid when I open the cans and set it on the top of the grounds, under the plastic lid, so that they are exposed to as small amount of air as possible.
I bet that humidity is my problem. This house it so tight that any water inside has no way to leave in the winter (good for fuel bills, but causes other problems). This year I am running a dehumidifier to help out.
Like I said I put 2/3rds opf the bag in a ziplock then in a paperbag in the freezer. When I use up the 1/3rd I will refill it from the freezer bunch. Because of the above post, I’ll be sure to let the beans warm up to room temp to help avoid the condensation issue.
Yes I’ve heard this too, these are 2# vac. sealed bags, and like I said before they have a high turnover rate.
[You want to keep your beans away from moisture and also things which produce odor, neither of which is true for the freezer. However, it will preserve the flavour of the beans over the long term, so if you have a lot of beans, by all means toss 'em in - but make sure they’re really well sealed.
Never put them in the fridge, which is ten times worse than the freezer because it’s warmer, moister and smellier.
The best place for your beans is in an airtight container, in a cool, dry place. I have a big jar that I keep mine in, in the cupboard where I keep my glasses and mugs. I buy half a pound at a time and make a cup a day, so it stays fresh enough.
Sometimes it’s okay to buy from bulk bins, like at a fancy coffee shop. For example Timothy’s has careful inventory control (at least, they did a few years ago, don’t know what they’re up to now) and doesn’t keep beans for more than 20 days after roasting, whether in bags or jars, so no matter how they’re served up they will be fresh. I actually worry more about the vacuum-packed ones, because who knows when they were roasted?
None of the admonitions against freezing coffee make any sense to me.
First of all, you seal the package. The moisture content of the air in the freezer is now irrelevant. It should be low anyway, given the temperature of the freezer.
Freezing should slow down the processes which degrade the various oils and flavor elements in the beans. It would be surprising if this were not the case.
I am puzzled by this idea that moisture will condense on the beans when they are removed from the freezer to be used. Sure, but how long are the beans exposed to the moisture in the air before they are doused with hot water to make coffee?
Incidently, I grind my coffee from whole beans at the market, pour some into a jar for daily use. It goes into the fridge. It is sealed. No refridgerator smells can get in. Get it?
The rest I freeze in a sealed bag.
I love good coffee. I have never had a problem with this method.
I took it as when you take the bag out, and open it to get out today’s beans, moisture in the air will condense on the beans - all the beans in the bag, not just today’s beans. Repeat this every day and that can be a lot of moisture.
Just an update, the 1/3 of the bag stored on the counter is still nice and tasty, the other 2/3rds are still in the freezer.