<p>Great question. I suggest trying a <strong>blind A-B comparison test</strong> to find out which one actually tastes better to you. (Have fun and invite some friends over for the coffee tasting experiment. Please report back with your findings.)</p>

<p><strong>1)</strong> Fresh grind matters, and you can buy coffee grinder cleaning tablets to clean unreachable parts of its coffee path.</p>

<p><strong>2)</strong> On the other hand, if your grinder is accumulating rancid coffee oils, that can overpower any freshness advantage! Lots of people are happy with in-store grinding, or with grinding beans at night and letting them sit in a timed coffee maker until the morning. Also, stores ought to have more accurate grinding equipment than most home grinders (the more uniform the grind size, the fewer bitter and sour notes in the resulting coffee), and you can store the pre-ground coffee in an airscape-style canister with minimal air.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-31T22:50:49.750Z
2018-08-31T22:50:49.750Z
Jerry101
<p><strong>Always grind fresh.</strong></p>

<p>Considering that the roaster you buy the 250 gr pre-ground coffee also uses some grinder and at most wipes its burrs daily, I would go for the first option. The residual coffee could be easily removed by</p>

<ul>
<li>wiping reachable parts first</li>
<li>then grinding a small amount of fresh coffee</li>
</ul>

<p>before actually grinding for your cup.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-30T11:38:02.480Z
2018-08-30T11:38:02.480Z
MTSan
<p>I want to understand how I can make a better cup of coffee, so I recently purchased a Wilfa Grinder. However after reading the instruction manual it says that the 'blades' and bean cup cannot be submerged in water, only wiped clean. This means that you're never really going to get it spotlessly clean like you can with a manual grinder.</p>

<p>So my question is which of the following two scenarios provide a better cup of coffee:</p>

<ol>
<li>Grinding from very good beans each time using the Wilfa Grinder, knowing that there will always be some old coffee residue on the blades.</li>
<li>Buying 250g of the same very good coffee, but having it ground before delivery?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-30T15:14:24.407Z
Definitely grinding fresh is more important. It takes 15 minutes for most of the volatile aromatic compounds to evaporate after grinding.
avocado1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-27T20:35:26.660Z
Quick test - most supermarkets will have at least one blend in both bean & ground. Buy both. Compare directly. ... & then never buy the ready-ground again ;)
Tetsujin
<beans><grinder><freshness>
What ensures a better cup of coffee, a spotless grinder or freshly ground coffee?
user32613
# What ensures a better cup of coffee, a spotless grinder or freshly ground coffee?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-30)

I want to understand how I can make a better cup of coffee, so I recently purchased a Wilfa Grinder. However after reading the instruction manual it says that the 'blades' and bean cup cannot be submerged in water, only wiped clean. This means that you're never really going to get it spotlessly clean like you can with a manual grinder.

So my question is which of the following two scenarios provide a better cup of coffee:

1. Grinding from very good beans each time using the Wilfa Grinder, knowing that there will always be some old coffee residue on the blades.
2. Buying 250g of the same very good coffee, but having it ground before delivery?

**Tags:** beans, grinder, freshness

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Definitely grinding fresh is more important. It takes 15 minutes for most of the volatile aromatic compounds to evaporate after grinding.  
> **username_2**: Quick test - most supermarkets will have at least one blend in both bean & ground. Buy both. Compare directly. ... & then never buy the ready-ground again ;)  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-08-30. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

**Always grind fresh.**

Considering that the roaster you buy the 250 gr pre-ground coffee also uses some grinder and at most wipes its burrs daily, I would go for the first option. The residual coffee could be easily removed by

* wiping reachable parts first
* then grinding a small amount of fresh coffee

before actually grinding for your cup.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-08-31. Score: 3

Great question. I suggest trying a **blind A-B comparison test** to find out which one actually tastes better to you. (Have fun and invite some friends over for the coffee tasting experiment. Please report back with your findings.)

**1)** Fresh grind matters, and you can buy coffee grinder cleaning tablets to clean unreachable parts of its coffee path.

**2)** On the other hand, if your grinder is accumulating rancid coffee oils, that can overpower any freshness advantage! Lots of people are happy with in-store grinding, or with grinding beans at night and letting them sit in a timed coffee maker until the morning. Also, stores ought to have more accurate grinding equipment than most home grinders (the more uniform the grind size, the fewer bitter and sour notes in the resulting coffee), and you can store the pre-ground coffee in an airscape-style canister with minimal air.


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