Our bags contain coffee seeds (aka beans) that have been planted, grown, nourished, pruned, hand-picked, pulped, sorted, shipped in from coffee regions around the world, carefully tasted and selected, craft roasted at their peak, immediately packed in bags with one-way valves that keep oxygen out and are now ready to be ground and enjoyed by you.
How important is grinding?
It’s critical. Grinding your coffee days (or possibly even weeks) before you use it is going to accelerate the staling process of your coffee in a big way. The first thing you’ll notice is that the grinds lose their fragrance, as does your brewed coffee. The resulting brew is often referred to as ‘flat’. As the natural oils in coffee oxidise, the flavour of the brew changes considerably, from pleasant to unpleasant — it can even become offensive and rancid.
Why does this happen?
The whole bean is like a fortress. It does a pretty good job of protecting the volatile compounds that positively affect the aroma and flavours of coffee for a short while. Like many organic products, exposure to oxygen and moisture can accelerate coffee’s ageing process. Grinding whole beans into small particles exponentially increases the surface area of the coffee, destroying the ‘fortress’, and oxidation begins almost immediately. Although you can’t actually see any visible change to your roasted coffee as it stales, the favourable flavour and aromatic components will have begun to evaporate.
What if I don’t have an espresso machine?
Grinding fresh is the single most important step in preparing coffee at home. This has a huge, undeniable impact on any brew method, from stove top to plunger, filter and espresso.
What sort of grinder should I get?
The only rule is to get a burr grinder, which has two blades that cut your beans into particles that are all the same size. A spice grinder (or wurly blade grinder) is ineffective, as your beans will be cut into a huge variety of sizes, meaning that some particles will over-extract and some will under-extract, which will have a negative effect on your brew. With the demand for home use grinders increasing as people recognise their value, quality grinders are now available for around a lot less than $200.
Moral of the story
Why pay for quality that has already evaporated into thin air? Specialty coffee is special because everyone involved in producing it cares. From the farmer who picks only the ripest cherries, to the roasters at Five Senses, who select and labour over each roast until they feel confident that we are offering you coffee at its best, we are passionate about your coffee.
We have spent many years cultivating close relationships with the people who grow our beans, and we’ve come to understand how much attention to detail and work it takes to create the kind of quality that we, and you, have come to expect. The farmers we buy from are continually striving for excellence and when they hand over their meticulously prepared crop, we feel that it’s our job to honour their labour by providing their coffee at its absolute best!
We are such strong believers in freshly ground coffee that we guarantee that if you’ve enjoyed our pre-ground coffee previously, and you make the switch to freshly ground, you’ll absolutely, 100% guaranteed, notice the difference.
If you would like advice about which grinders are suitable for your personal situation, feel free to fill out our contact us form on our website: contact Five Senses or check our the grinders we have available: http://www.fivesenses.com.au/shop.
