Why Buying Pre-Ground Coffee is Hurting Your Coffee Experience

If you’re anything like me, you’re always in a rush in the morning; especially on weekdays. I have my morning routine for getting ready for the day, and I stick with it. Anything I can do to shave off 30 seconds of “prep time”, I’ll do it.

Back when I first started drinking coffee, I was always using pre-ground beans. It was quick. Why wouldn’t I? Not only did I not have to spend money on a coffee grinder, I also saved time by scooping the pre-ground beans and putting them right into the filter. Less hassle.

Little did I know that those beans were only going to be fresh for a handful of days. Whereas purchasing whole-bean coffee maintain their freshness for much longer. Here’s why:

1. Flavor Preservation – once coffee beans are ground, the beans release oils and compounds that make up a huge part of a coffee beans flavor profile. Exposing those to oxygen, light, and moisture will lead to a faster degradation of flavor. Leaving beans whole until just before you’re ready to brew will allow those amazing flavors and aroma to be preserved.
2. Customization – When you buy pre-ground coffee, you aren’t able to customize the grind size of the beans to better suit your palate, or to brew coffee using a different method. Personally, some days I want coffee from my french press, or my Chemex another day, or maybe an espresso drink on weekends. Buying whole-bean coffee allows me to choose what grind size I want to grind the coffee to.
3. Aroma Release – Nothing beats measuring out your coffee, grinding away, and then enjoying that full spectrum of fresh aromas coming from your freshly ground beans. This is a huge part of the coffee brewing experience, since we don’t just use our taste buds when enjoying coffee. Using pre-ground coffee rids us of this experience, since the aromatic compounds have already gone flat from being ground weeks, or even months ago.

Yeah, having to grind your coffee is an extra step in the coffee brewing process, but it’s a vital step to ensure you yield the freshest cup. I highly recommend purchasing whole-bean coffee whenever you can in order to ensure the freshest coffee. However, that doesn’t mean that pre-ground coffee is no good, or not worth brewing. I personally pre-grind my coffee in a couple different scenarios:

1. When I’m going camping, or at least somewhere where I won’t have access to a coffee grinder. I don’t always bring a portable hand grinder with me. I don’t always want the extra weight or space used in my bag.
2. When I’m flying Air Force missions. Even in an aircraft as large as the C-130, we don’t have any coffee brewing equipment onboard (first world problems, I know!). So I have to bring my own water boiling setup and coffee brewing stuff. Typically an AeroPress. Pre-grinding my coffee beans and omitting a portable hand grinder is just easier in my opinion.

There you have it. Hopefully you learned something new about purchasing pre-ground vs whole-bean coffee. It’s one of the easiest ways that you can preserve your coffee beans for much longer. On top of that, make sure you store your beans in an air-tight container, out of direct sunlight. Using the bag that your Squadron Coffee beans come in are a perfect way to store your beans.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns at dan@squdron.coffee. Don’t forget to connect with us on Facebook and Instagram for the lastest and great from Squadron Coffee.

Have a wonderful day!