Freshly-ground coffee

[BarryWhiteIsMyBrother]

I'm thinking of getting my OH a coffee grinder for Christmas so he can buy different beans and grind them himself. Can you grind coffee every few days, store it in a jar and use it throughout the week? Or does it lose its flavour/aroma? Do you need to grind beans each time you fancy a coffee?

I tend to grind just what I need each time. Freshly ground coffee does lose its flavour and become less fresh very quickly.

Although technically I'm sure you could grind a few days' worth at a time, especially if you have something reasonably airtight to keep it in.

(If you're after recommendations, the Dualit Burr Grinder is absolutely brilliant, by the way.)

We grind enough for a few coffees in one go and keep the ground coffee in a jam jar in the fridge. It keeps fine for a couple of days.

We also have a Dualite grinder and are very happy with it.

Thank you. I'll look Dualit up. So if someone is in a bit of a hurry in the morning, would you say that this would not be a good present if they have to grind beans every morning?

It would be rather missing the point to be in possession of a grinder and deliberately store ground coffee!

I use a manual grinder every day and sometimes have a little left over, which is kept for the next day. But ground coffee really does start to deteriorate pretty much immediately so I wouldn't plan to store it for days.

(If I'm staying in a hotel for more than a night or two I often take my grinder and single cup filter.)

As to being in a hurry - I can honestly say coffee grinding is close to being the best part of my day! I tend to pace from room to room as I'm doing it, or listen to the radio - so, even on rushed days I build in extra time for this ritual.

We tend to grind about 3-4 days at a go and keep it in an airtight container. I only fill it halfway when we grind ourselves.

I also use the same container (cleaned out) if I have not ground the beans but bought ready ground - open bag, pour enough into pot for that use and remainder goes into glass cannister. A 250g bag fits in there, and only tends to last about a week, max, now that we are WFH. (It used to last up to a month when we only made proper coffee at home on the weekend).

How long does it take to grind coffee please?

And can one buy beans at a supermarket, or must one order online? (And then how do you know you'll like them? )

@BarryWhiteIsMyBrother

Thank you. I'll look Dualit up. So if someone is in a bit of a hurry in the morning, would you say that this would not be a good present if they have to grind beans every morning?

It takes literally a few seconds. Less than five seconds. Scoop beans into hopper thingy, push button. It deposits the ground coffee into a little container thing that you just pull out and tip into the cafetiere/Aeropress/espresso machine/etc.

Grinding beans takes about 30 seconds. Tip beans into grinder, push button a few times, tip coffee into filter.

It is part of morning soundtrack

Thank you. Any recommendations for grinders? Is the Dualit the one to go for?

You can buy supermarket beans - and presumably most people do that, but you get a vastly superior experience if you order from somewhere that aims to roast as close as possible to posting. (Or buy from your local coffee roasters, of course.) Supermarket beans might have been roasted months before. And will also be from huge suppliers to ensure uniformity and economy. Smaller, dedicated coffee roasters may vary their suppliers on a seasonal basis; offer limited amounts of rare beans, keep you updated on environmental and employment issues pertaining to their suppliers, offer online, interactive tastings ... Endless joy!

It sounds as if a coffee subscription that sends different coffees each week would suit you and your husband best, OP. Loads to choose from.

Can I just jump in on this too to ask if anyone knows of a decent 1-2 cup size coffee grinder?

We have a WAHL James Martin which gets a lot of use and works just fine. DP mostly uses it with an aeropress, though occasionally we use a cafetière.

We always grind the beans when making coffee, never in advance.

I also got DP a coffee bean advent calendar for December.

I love freshly ground coffee and wouldn't be without it. I grind the beans daily or every other day and keep the ground coffee in a ziplock bag in an airtight container next to the coffee machine. As others have said, it doesn't take long and is so much better than buying ground coffee. I get my beans from a local coffee producer so it is worth shopping around. Ask a local coffee shop which beans they use for example if you really like their coffee. Regarding coffee grinders...I bought a simple one in Argos and it's been great!

I'm not organised enough to grind in the morning so do it after tea and store in the fridge in a sealed beaker. Used to buy beans in town but since Lockdown I've adapted to supermarket 'BEST' ranges. Tefal grinder here. It's great!

@BarryWhiteIsMyBrother

I'm thinking of getting my OH a coffee grinder for Christmas so he can buy different beans and grind them himself. Can you grind coffee every few days, store it in a jar and use it throughout the week? Or does it lose its flavour/aroma? Do you need to grind beans each time you fancy a coffee?

Yes, you can store it for a few days in an airtight container.

Thank you everyone! ANother question - what are 'burr' grinders? Apparently not all coffee grinders are burr grinders?

You need burrs, anything else just shreds the beans.

Placemarking

(I do have an Aeropress though)

We have a Krups which is at least 13 years old, probably closer to 20-25.
The current "expert burr" looks little different: www.krups.co.uk/COFFEE-GRINDERS-AND-FROTHERS/COFFEE-GRINDERS/c/grinders?superCategoryCode=coffee-appliances

We usually grind for filter coffee or espresso. We can set how many portions we want but we tend to fill the hopper and pop the excess in a plastic takeaway container in the fridge.