After talking with a representative from a reputable coffee manufacturer/distributor, I’ve come to a conclusion that will astound many “coffee connoisseurs” who have always thought the opposite. If you’re buying coffee by the pound or 1/2 pound, you will probably get better results if you buy it ground instead of whole bean.

Whoa!! That’s smacking of heresy in the coffee world! But it’s true. Why? It’s the method of grinding.

There are three primary methods of grinding coffee because there are three basic types of coffee grinders: a blade grinder (this is what most people have), a flat-plate burr grinder, and a conical burr grinder.

By far the most common type of coffee grinder has a couple of blades that spin. You dump your beans in and hold the button down until you think it’s done grinding. Sometimes you can tell by the sound whether or not there are still any big pieces left floating around. The problem with this method? It chops or tears the beans, resulting in your grounds being all different sizes. Some pieces are larger (maybe an eighth or a tenth the size of a bean), while others are practically powder.

Burr grinders use spinning elements that crush the bean into pieces that are all the same size. The flat-plate grinder has one of these elements next to a flat plate (go figure!), while the conical burr grinder just has the spinning metal cones. The result of using a burr grinder is that you don’t get powder and chunks, yet you can usually control the size of your grind, thus making the perfect grind for whatever type of coffee you’re making.

When the pieces are different sizes, then the oils are not extracted at the same rate. Some are over-extracted, while other are under-extracted. This will greatly affect the taste of your coffee.

Speed is also a factor. Speed creates heat and heat burns off some of the oils, resulting in a less flavorful cup of coffee. Burr grinders tend to use lower speeds for better heat control, but there are some blade grinders that are built to have slower spin rates to help reduce the heat.

The most critical element in making a quality cup of coffee is first the bean, of course, but then it’s the size of the grind and the speed of the grind. Last is the extraction method, which affects the taste as much as the grind does. Even more, depending on how you’re brewing it. But back to the grinding issues….

If you only have a blade grinder at home, you just might have a better cup of coffee from getting it ground at the store or at the factory. Many packagers are now using a nitrous-mixture or vacuum packaging for bagging up their ground coffee. As long as the coffee is not exposed to air, it will stay fresh for a long time. Once you open it, the coffee will begin to get stale. Heat, moisture, light, and air will cause the coffee to lose much of its flavor in 7 to 10 days! Be careful about storing your coffee in the refrigerator or freezer, because it can pick up the odors of the things stored around it, plus frequent movement in and out will result in condensation in your storage container, and that would easily negate the benefit of the refrigeration.

The best solution? Buy your coffee right from the roaster and get it whole bean. Then use a conical burr grinder to grind only as much as you need for each day. Then use a cone-filter coffeemaker or French press to get the best cup of coffee possible.

If you don’t have a burr grinder, then take advantage of the roaster’s or store’s burr grinder and store it in an air-tight container. Don’t stir it up much and keep it someplace cool and dark. (Even better, get one of those cool vacuum coffee containers with a pump!) That should produce a noticable improvement in your coffee.