Why You Should Be Grinding Your Coffee Beans In Advance

It's a commonly held belief that you should not grind coffee beans in advance because once the beans are ground, they begin to lose their flavor and aroma more rapidly. This is because grinding exposes the surface area of the coffee bean to oxygen and moisture, both of which can quickly degrade the quality of the coffee in a process called "coffee oxidation." The prevailing thought its that you should grind your coffee beans just before you are ready to brew your coffee (and that is what a lot of coffeeshops do) so that you preserve the flavor and aroma of the coffee, giving you the freshest brew that hasn't oxidized too much.

But, like most things, that idea is changing. People need convenience, and new technologies have ushered in new ways to store food so that it lasts longer. You can slow down the process of coffee oxidation, which means that you can grind your coffee beans in advance, and there are several reasons you should.

The top perk of grinding coffee beans in advance is simply the fact that it is convenient. You can make coffee whenever you want without having to grind beans each time. Also, grinding coffee beans in advance can save you some time and frustration each morning. When you are stumbling to the kitchen for that cup of ambition, you don't always want to hear the sound of a bean grinder before you fully wake up. Having beans already ground into coffee, even if you grind them the night before, allows you to bypass all that noise and time and get to your coffee faster. 

Also, when you grind coffee in advance, you can ensure that each cup of coffee is consistent in taste and strength because the coffee is ground to the same size. Of course, the downfall to this is that you may start the week with strong, flavorful coffee, and end it with weaker coffee. If you are worried about your coffee losing flavor, you can plan ahead and only grind enough beans for a few days at a time.

It's best to use fresh ground coffee within three days, for the freshest and most flavorful cups of coffee, but the grounds can last a few weeks after grinding if they are stored properly. To keep it fresh, and to slow oxidation, you should store coffee – both ground and whole bean — in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. It's best to use a good quality container that is designed for coffee storage, such as a glass jar with a rubber seal or a ceramic canister with a tight-fitting lid, in order to help keep air and heat away from your grounds. 

It's important to note that whole bean coffee stays fresher longer than pre-ground coffee because the beans are still intact and haven't been exposed to oxygen, yet. So, that means that if you grind the beans at home, the ground coffee you get from that process will last longer than pre-ground coffee that you buy in the store.