The Home Brew: Why You Should Grind Your Coffee Beans at Home

Looking to elevate your coffee brewing experience? One surefire way of working towards that perfect cup of coffee is to grind your coffee beans at home instead of getting them pre-ground. Grinding your coffee at home will not only help you improve the taste of your coffee but will also be beneficial in maintaining the freshness and creating an overall better coffee drinking and brewing experience.

Reduces Oxidation

Ever wondered why the pre-ground coffee you bought at the grocery tastes stale at times? When coffee is ground and then placed in a bag that’s left to stay on shelves, that period of time it gets exposed to oxygen will cause its oils to evaporate. The coffee oils have those great flavors that we look for in a great cup, and unfortunately, when you allow the coffee to be exposed to oxygen like that, chances are it’ll get stale really quickly. What you’re left with is a cup that’s more bitter and hollow. Grinding your coffee at home means that you’ll help to retain those aromatic oils at the point of brewing

Lessens Exposure to Moisture/Stops CO2 Depletion

It goes without saying that when you get pre-ground coffee, there will be that exposure time no matter how miniscule where it will be exposed to the elements. Apart from the oxidation, the coffee could also be exposed to moisture, which would mean your coffee could prematurely release CO2 and create issues like mold. Grinding the coffee also releases the CO2 a lot earlier than intended, which is what the blooming process is supposed to do.

Prevents Possible Contamination

When you buy pre-ground coffee, you don’t get to see what happens during the grinding process. As such, you become unsure about what could’ve possibly been ground together with your coffee. Given how pre-ground coffees could have run through industrial sized grinders, the possibility of things mixing in can range from a tiny piece of plastic, to a rock, or much worse.

By grinding your coffee at home, you get to check for any possible things that might accidentally mix with your coffee. You can also remove any defect coffees during sorting to ensure you only run the good stuff through your grinder.

More Control Over Grind Size

Of course, arguably the most important reason why you should grind your coffee at home is because of grind size control. Depending on how you’ll want to brew your coffee, you’ll want to make those small adjustments to your coffee’s grind size. If you’re brewing something akin to or an actual espresso, you’ll be grinding on the finer side, while a pourover will require a something closer to a medium grind size. Getting your coffee pre-ground immediately limits the options you have with your coffee, so allow yourself the benefit of choice by making sure your coffee’s not pre-ground.