Why You Might Want To Stop Pre-Grinding Your Coffee Beans

The dawn of a new day provides the opportunity for an even better cup of coffee than yesterday provided. For some of us, coffee can be something you get on the run as you head to the office or something you brew up quickly in the morning, whether in whole-pot or single-cup. Since the coffee world has become so vast and varied, there are multiple ways to make a coffeehouse-worthy cup of Joe at home, and there are also many perks to doing it. Those who brew whole-bean coffee at home have their reasons — cost, freshness, taste, and sustainability among them. With food and beverage prices on the rise, brewing a cup at home is a definite money saver, and even when splurging a little extra on high-end beans. But one of the biggest mistakes you could be making while brewing coffee at home is pre-grinding your beans.

It's tempting to set up your coffee routine in advance by pre-grinding a larger amount of beans to last a few days, but you might want to stop. We spoke with Andrea Allen, co-founder of Onyx Coffee Lab and U.S. Champion barista, to get some insight. "It's always best to grind coffee for each cup," she says. "Fragrance and aromatics make up a huge portion of a coffee, and after 15 minutes of being ground, these delicate aromas begin to fade."

We're not here to coffee-shame anyone, but that spice grinder you've been using as a coffee grinder might also be a problem. Allen suggests that a burr grinder is the better option. "I think it's a better practice to have coffee ground in a burr grinder in advance than improperly in a blade grinder fresh," she says. So what's the difference between grinders? Burr grinders are typically larger and have a double blade that features teeth, as opposed to a single-bladed spice grinder. The difference in the results is that a burr grinder can achieve a more exact and consistent grind, allowing for finer, or coarser grounds, depending on your preference. A burr grinder will also cut the coffee bean rather than demolish it, allowing for fuller flavor. Too fine a grind that's been pulverized will lose its flavor and freshness relatively quickly. 

The consistency of your grounds is also a reason to grind one cup at a time, but if you need to grind a larger volume, Allen also recommends having a tightly sealed container on hand to keep as many aromatic qualities as possible if you have to grind in advance. The good news is that once you've laid down the one-time expense for a proper burr grinder like this OXO burr grinder from Amazon, it will pay for itself in no time. So grab some fresh beans and find your inner barista, one cup at a time.