A lot of people ask, why whole bean coffee? It's simple.
Optimizing freshness!
When coffee is roasted it goes under a chemical reaction, The Maillard Reaction.
This chemical reaction and several other factors help bring out the flavor profile or "notes" you get in coffee. Similar to how notes can be described in the wine, beer and liquor industry. After the coffee beans are roasted, there is a period of time in which the coffee is at its peak. Peak freshness is generally 1-4 weeks. Preserving the notes as long as possible make for a more enjoyable cup.
There are several ways to preserve freshness but the easiest place to start is through choosing whole bean coffee. As coffee is ground, it is exposed to the open air which takes away from the notes you could get from the coffee bean. Hence the importance of grinding coffee as you brew rather than purchasing pre-ground coffee. Plus it just smells awesome too!
Side note: did you know coffee is actually a fruit? yup, a coffee cherry! The coffee we consume is the seed of the coffee cherry. More to come in another post...
Anyways, this is why whole bean coffee is important! We get it. Pre-ground coffee and even coffee pods can be super convenient. But think about it like the food we eat. Frozen and pre-packaged foods do not taste the same as a freshly sourced, home cooked meal. Besides taste, these foods usually are full of preservatives and lack key nutrients.
Commercial coffee is very similar. Most coffee found in your grocery store has been processed (roasted burnt and covered in chemicals) to withstand a long shelf life of many months if not close to a full year before it is consumed.
Best way to source the freshest coffee is from the coffee roaster directly either online or in person market/coffee shop. Nowadays, most online orders are roast to order meaning you can get fresh roasted coffee in the matter of days! Another piece of information to look for is the "roast date" NOT the expiration. Staying 7-14 days within the roast date is generally a safe bet.
Ultimately, our point is next time give whole bean coffee a try. If your barrier for entry is equipment, start by finding a cheap grinder! if you already source whole bean coffee look into one of our single origin offerings to try!
Stay Sticky,
Sticky Bean Coffee Co.