Some of us have been buying ground for so long we don’t even think about it. But, why do so many coffee lovers go through the trouble of grinding their own beans? Is it really better? Well, it can be.

Grinding your beans at home does in fact provide a fresher cup because the bean case creates a barrier to oxygen for the rest of the bean. But don’t start buying whole beans just yet.

You see, the size of the grounds makes all the difference in the world because the key to great coffee is water contact time to the surface of the coffee grounds. The finer the grind, the greater the contact. BUT, too much contact creates a bitter cup. If your grounds are too large, on the other hand, the coffee tastes sour or acidic.

Before any Baristas out there start arguing with me, I realize that water temperature and brew time also have impact on the extraction, and we won’t even start talking about blade versus burr grinders yet. But we will cover all of those in later posts…