Its official (as far as I'm concerned) 15hr old pre ground is crap.

[Yelta]

Things got a little out of whack yesterday pm, made my late afternoon Lungo, ground enough for a second then got involved in something else, the second 18 grams languished in the doser until this morning, 15 hrs later, the temp in our area has been quite mild, max of 33° yesterday.

Having never done this before decided in the interest of science and experience would go ahead and pull a shot with it, quite an experience,
the resultant brew was,

• very thin
• almost black in colour direct from the spout
• much less crema than normal, I would estimate approx 2/3 less
• Tasted like it looked, thin, with off flavours, had I been served this in a cafe I would have asked for another.

So for them that haven't heard the message, don't buy preground coffee and stick it in a canister or similar hoping for it to remain fresh for a week, ain't gonna happen, as far as I'm concerned the degradation in quality 15 hrs post grind is significant, in fact to the point of being undrinkable.

Don't intend refining the experiment any further, suffice to say from now on I wont be allowing preground coffee to sit around in the doser, not even for a few hours.

[Dragunov21]

And that is why mobile ground retention is a concern.

I've had it ruin the first-shot ristretto when I've forgotten to purge in the morning.

[fg1972]

Nice one Yelta,
I guess this confirms the 3 element of that old saying,
1. green beans keep for 3 years,
2. roasted beans 3 weeks,
3. ground coffee 3 minutes

[Yelta]

I guess this confirms the 3 element of that old saying,

3. ground coffee 3 minutes

Not sure about three minutes, however I can say with certainty that ground coffee won't keep for 15 hrs in your grinder hopper.

[mwcalder05]

I always hate grinding out coffee for customers. Especially when they ask for 1kg ground for espresso. By the time they get to the bag, the time of the farmer is wasted, the time of the picker is wasted, the time of transporter is wasted and the time of the roaster is wasted because they could have grabbed a handful of dirt and chucked it in the PF and it would taste no different!

Rant over.
Michael.

[GregWormald]

I always hate grinding out coffee for customers. Especially when they ask for 1kg ground for espresso. By the time they get to the bag, the time of the farmer is wasted, the time of the picker is wasted, the time of transporter is wasted and the time of the roaster is wasted because they could have grabbed a handful of dirt and chucked it in the PF and it would taste no different!

Rant over.
Michael.

This reinforces the old joke:

"Waiter, this coffee tastes like mud!"
"Well, sir, it was ground just this morning."

Greg
ps--If the customers want to spend coffee money on dirt taste--that is their right.

[GrahamK]

ps--If the customers want to spend coffee money on dirt taste--that is their right.

I agree, and also keep in mind that everyone starts their change to good coffee differently. That person buying ground coffee now, may have until recently only drunk Instant at home, and in a few months time they may upgrade to a grinder and buying beans. So be happy that you initiated them on a path to the real thing.

GrahamK

[mwcalder05]

But yes, with my Customer Service hat on, "it's great that people can purchase our ground coffee and support local business even if they don't have a grinder at home."

[Rocky]

I guess a lot of people buying large (1Kg) amounts of pre-ground beans would not realise that they would be better buying it in 4 lots of 250g each a few days apart.
Not a problem for those who routinely visit a particular cafe several times a week anyhow.