Professionally pre-ground coffee vs... - Page 3

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
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Almico (original poster)
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#21: Post by Almico (original poster) »

Question restated again:

I'm giving away a pound of my fresh roasted coffee to someone that currently buys beans and grinds with a blade grinder. They will likely use up this pound within 2 weeks.

Should I:

(A) Give them beans and let them pulverize them?

(B) Give them nice burr ground coffee?

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HB
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#22: Post by HB »

B), I would grind it for them. A whirly-blade grinder ruins the coffee immediately, while preground stale coffee might be decent for a half day, maybe a full day depending on the coffee. See Experiments with Preground Coffee for Espresso and a Brew Pot for Abe's interesting writeup.
Dan Kehn

OldNuc
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#23: Post by OldNuc »

Both. If they can not tell the difference then it is a non-problem.

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Almico (original poster)
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#24: Post by Almico (original poster) »

HB wrote:B), I would grind it for them. A whirly-blade grinder ruins the coffee immediately, while preground stale coffee might be decent for a half day, maybe a full day depending on the coffee. See Experiments with Preground Coffee for Espresso and a Brew Pot for Abe's interesting writeup.
Great...as if there weren't enough variables. I thought I had the fresh-ground one eliminated! Now I have to factor "time from grind to brew" back in!!

I think this "trying to catch mercury" attribute to a good cup of coffee is what makes this so much fun. If getting good coffee were easy, there wouldn't be so much awful brew out there.

I live in a nice, rural section of NJ and I can't get a good cup of coffee out within 20 miles! That's crazy. I took my college-bound son up to Albany, NY to visit Rensselaer and stayed at the Century House. I even brought my own coffee because...well you know. But the restaurant there not only served fine SO coffees, they had their own roaster on premises. Even though it was 9PM by the time we finished dinner, I had to try a double. It was heavenly. I wish some of the supposedly great restaurants near me could do that. Not even the dedicated coffee shops serve good espresso.

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hankua
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#25: Post by hankua »

Time to start thinking of adding a bulk grinder to the collection :D
They're not that expensive used, and deals can be found.

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bean2friends
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#26: Post by bean2friends »

I have taken pre-ground coffee with me on a trip to brew in the motel room. Even after a week it is far superior to motel coffee. Just today, my 93 year old mother called to thank me for the coffee I sent her. The coffee was Sweet Maria's French Roast Blend. I sent her 1 bag ground and 1 bag whole bean. She lives with my brother who has a whirly blade grinder. No one in that house will notice the difference in taste. They are thankful for the convenience of the pre-ground and I sent the whole bean to satisfy my own sense of what is right. Mom loves that Sweet Maria's French Roast by the way. My efforts to convert her to a lighter roast of a more flavorful coffee have failed.

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Almico (original poster)
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#27: Post by Almico (original poster) »

hankua wrote:Time to start thinking of adding a bulk grinder to the collection :D
They're not that expensive used, and deals can be found.
{{{sigh}}}

I believe you are correct. I like my friends, but not enough to grind a pound of coffee on the Pharos. My Baratza Preciso does a decent job, but grinding a pound at a time it would be nice be able to just fill the hopper and go.

Maybe a Bunn G1 / Ditting burr frankengrinder? I'd ask here if anyone is selling something, but it seems this is the black hole of coffee grinders.

Open to suggestions or suggested threads re: bulk grinders.

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Almico (original poster)
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#28: Post by Almico (original poster) »

bean2friends wrote: Mom loves that Sweet Maria's French Roast by the way. My efforts to convert her to a lighter roast of a more flavorful coffee have failed.
Funny you should mention that; I just took an "order" from a coworker for a friend of theirs that wants it 'dark and oily'. I asked: "Starbucks people?". Of course you know the answer. But I have some Sumatra Aceh Gold that roasts up very dark, yet still retains some nice syrupy flavor. I think I'll send them 1/2 pound bean and 1/2 ground and see what they think. Who knows...if I keep this up I might get to quit my day job :wink:

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hankua
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#29: Post by hankua »

Used Bunn G series or Grindmaster; I had a Bunn FPG with the same burrs as the G, outstanding grind quality. In my area they come up for @$100 from time to time, you might need to budget for new burrs as well. Grindmaster has crushing style burrs, I've got a Taiwan Flying Eagle cm-520 with similar burrs that does well also. Maybe someone has done side by side comparisons on the Bunn vs Grindmaster.

For me getting a deal is important because of resale.

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Almico (original poster)
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#30: Post by Almico (original poster) »