I need a coffee primer...

[prairiewindmomma]

My uncle is a bit quirky, and is currently coffee obsessed. Usually his obsessions change every 6 months or so, and I get a conversation reprieve, but he is importing beans, has been roasting in his garage, and is otherwise fully enthralled on the topic.

So...I can’t ask basic questions of him or it’s a full on lecture on his lab notebook on his roasts and their first cracks, etc.

Can one put roasted but not ground coffee beans in the freezer? Would it be such a degradation in quality that it wouldn’t make for a good Christmas present afterwards? 
 

If he is a huge Yemeni coffee fan, any thing I should be pointed to? I no longer have family posted in Saudi, and the civil war has been such a mess, I have no cheap ordering options...

[Carol in Cal.]

If he is into roasting his own beans, he probably wouldn’t want roasted beans at all.  Having said that, I, plebeian non-roaster though I am, put roasted beans into my freezer all the time and think they are great.   They do retain their aroma that way.

You might consider getting him that book that kicked off the whole Yemeni coffee craze—The Monk of Mokha by David Eggers.  It is VERY entertaining and au courant.  (Plus I love that it’s set to a large extent in San Francisco, which is my home town, so I recognize all the places there that it talks about.). 

[Robin M]

I know what you mean.  My hubby is also a roaster and I feed his addiction with beans from Sweet Maria's.  They are located in Oakland and have a wide variety.  Plus a blog and books to read about roasting. Well worth checking out.