Well done ! If you're asking yourself this question, you're on your way to becoming a real coffee lover! Or maybe you already are! In any case, you've come to the right place to have all the answers to your questions about the differences between coffee beans and ground coffee, and the advantages and disadvantages of each!
Let's see together the different aspects that differentiate these two ways of consuming coffee.
Degree of Simplicity and Speed of use
One of the advantages of ground coffee is of course its ease of use . It does not require any particular accessory or know-how. All you have to do is open your bag of ground coffee and use it directly.
This differs from coffee beans which cannot be used as is. You have to grind it before you use it.
For this, you can use an electric coffee grinder which will allow you to achieve the grind size you want, depending on your coffee maker (filter, espresso, French press, etc.).
You can also use a manual grinder, as our grandparents did, to obtain a relatively coarse grind suitable for example for extraction with a French press (French press).
It is therefore easier and faster to use purchased ground coffee. However, we will see that ground coffee has many disadvantages.
Recognize a quality coffee
When you open a sachet filled with coffee beans , you are usually overwhelmed by the pleasant and intoxicating smell of fresh coffee . This smell can be more or less pronounced and more or less rich. It already allows you to have a first glimpse of the quality of the coffee purchased.
The quality of this coffee can also be judged by the shape, color and homogeneity of the beans. If too many beans are damaged, in pieces instead of whole, the coffee can be considered not to be of excellent quality.
Similarly, we will be able to know at a glance if the coffee beans have been harvested with care thanks to the homogeneity, or not, of all the beans. If the whole seems homogeneous, this means that the harvest was done by “picking”, by hand, selecting only sufficiently ripe coffee cherries. Inhomogeneous coffee beans mean that the harvest was done quickly (for reasons of economy) without paying attention to the quality of each cherry.
Finally, we can judge the roasting thanks to the color of the beans. Each coffee requires a different degree and roasting time. Some need to be roasted more than others to show all their richness, but often the darker the coffee (thus roasted longer), the more bitter and strong it will be.
The color, coupled with the smell and the expressed quality of the beans, allows you to quickly know if the coffee you have in your hands is of quality and if it is likely to please you.
Ground or bean coffee, usable for which extractions?
Another disadvantage for ground coffee: you cannot use it for all the extractions you want.
And yes, if at home you have an espresso machine as well as a French press, you will not be able to buy a packet of ground coffee and use it for these two extractions. Indeed, the first requires a very fine grind and the second, a much coarser grind.
If you want to use your two coffee makers, you will therefore have to buy two different packets of ground coffee. Problem, you will therefore have to open two packets of ground coffee at the same time while it is advisable to consume ground coffee very quickly with the packet open! (We see this just after).
The advantage of coffee beans is that you choose when you grind it and especially how! You can use the same coffee and grind it finely or coarsely according to your desires of the moment !
Storing ground coffee or beans
Let's talk a bit about storing coffee. As suggested in the previous section, it is strongly advised to consume your ground coffee quickly once the package is opened. Also for coffee beans, but this will oxidize much less quickly than ground coffee.
It is advisable to consume a coffee bean within 5 weeks of roasting, and store it in a cool, dry place . After 5 weeks it will start to lose flavor. For ground coffee, it's even worse! That's why real coffee lovers and baristas never use it and always use a grind they've just made.
Coffee beans keep their aromas and flavors longer . A coffee, once ground, very quickly loses its taste qualities. The degradation of ground coffee is slightly slowed by vacuum packs, but it will never be as good as coffee beans.
In any case, I strongly advise you to use the box below which will allow the coffee to be stored in the best possible conditions.
Coffee storage box
It will allow you to suck the air in order to prolong the conservation of the coffee as much as possible, without it losing too much in quality.
The price
When it comes to price, there is no big difference between bean and ground coffee. It depends on the brands you buy and the stores where you buy.
What is certain is that they are both much cheaper than capsule coffee!
Here ! You know everything now! So I let you choose between consuming ground coffee or coffee beans! But I think you have understood... If you want a quality coffee, having retained all its aromas and all its flavors, your choice should be coffee beans! Finally, it's like cooking! It's always better when you start from raw products and do it yourself! 😋