<p>Indeed, it is difficult to pick good coffee in a supermarket.</p>
<p>(For sure, when possible start online and specialist shops/cafes. I prefer small-batch brewers which tend to be available online, in farmers markets, and in specialty cafes. You might find a small, local roasting company.)</p>
<p>Personal tips:</p>
<ul>
<li>Stick with your preferred roast level(s). (Personally, I prefer medium roast by a lot.) When exploring other roast levels, it's best to do that one cup at a time at a good cafe or a small bag at a time from a favorite roaster.</li>
<li>When exploring new coffee brands, it's better to do that at a good cafe where you can count on the beans being fresh and kept at moderate temperatures.</li>
<li>Look for bags roasted no more than 1 month ago. Prefer bags that give their roast dates. Supermarkets tend to treat coffee more like it's shelf-stable, which it isn't. I suspect a roaster company will stamp a &quot;best buy&quot; date that's either 3 months or 1 year from the roast date. <strong>If</strong> we can assume that and <strong>if</strong> we can assume that bags sell before sitting for 3 months, then we can guess the roast date from the &quot;best buy&quot; date.</li>
<li>Keep a list of brand + type of beans that you liked and disliked so at least you learned which ones to not buy again and which brands are better bets.</li>
<li>If you buy single-origin beans, also track which origin countries you tend to prefer.</li>
<li>See James Hoffman's &quot;A Beginner's Guide To Buying Great Coffee&quot;, <a href="https://youtu.be/O9YnLFrM7Fs" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://youtu.be/O9YnLFrM7Fs</a> esp. the section starting <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9YnLFrM7Fs&amp;t=772s" rel="nofollow noreferrer">12:52</a> on decoding the descriptions on bags of coffee. This was, however, more complicated than I can remember.</li>
<li>Squeeze the bag of beans in the store to smell them through the &quot;one-way valve&quot;. (I put that in quotes because it must be a cheap-to-manufacture valve, adequate to release the CO₂ build-up, not an ideal one-way valve.) The beans all tend to smell nice in this test, so it's not very discriminating, but it might detect stale beans.</li>
<li>View buying supermarket coffee beans as an experiment. The beans you buy might expand your range of interests and brands. The coffee might taste better if you adjust brewing variables like temperature and grind size. It might not suit you but at least you know you're alive and able to smell and taste the coffee!</li>
<li>Consider doctoring the coffee by blending it with other beans, adding some kind of milk or foamed milk, adding a little spice, or pouring it on ice cream.</li>
<li>Cold brewing is more forgiving although it won't rescue flat, stale beans. AeroPress has a nice cold brew recipe:
<ol>
<li>Put in the ground beans and 1/4 cup tap-temperature water.</li>
<li>Stir for 60 seconds.</li>
<li>Press.</li>
<li>Add the other 3/4 cup of tap-temperature water.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-21T23:52:59.130Z
2024-11-21T23:52:59.130Z
Jerry101
<p>I buy coffee (ground or beans) mostly in two ways: good coffee online or in specialist shops; or whatever looks best last minute in the supermarket when I've run out.</p>
<p>I'm always overwhelmed by choice in the supermarket. I can always go with known brands where I know what I'm getting (Lavazza, Illy) but those aren't my favourite coffees at all - they're the darker roasts and have the stronger bitterer flavour I enjoy less. I tend to assume everything supermarket brand is really low quality and there's basically no way of knowing what you're getting unless get lucky or you slowly try one of everything and find the least bad option. I also assume supermarkets change their sources regularly so a store brand that's good one week might have changed the next.</p>
<p>I guess this question is a bit vague and subjective, but looking for any tips on buying the best coffee from the many many options in a big supermarket. Anything to look for on the packet, country of origin, producers, price points to go for, experience with particular store brands in the UK?</p>

<bean-varieties><coffee-shop>
How to buy the best coffee in the supermarket (UK)?
mozboz
# How to buy the best coffee in the supermarket (UK)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-11-20)

I buy coffee (ground or beans) mostly in two ways: good coffee online or in specialist shops; or whatever looks best last minute in the supermarket when I've run out.

I'm always overwhelmed by choice in the supermarket. I can always go with known brands where I know what I'm getting (Lavazza, Illy) but those aren't my favourite coffees at all - they're the darker roasts and have the stronger bitterer flavour I enjoy less. I tend to assume everything supermarket brand is really low quality and there's basically no way of knowing what you're getting unless get lucky or you slowly try one of everything and find the least bad option. I also assume supermarkets change their sources regularly so a store brand that's good one week might have changed the next.

I guess this question is a bit vague and subjective, but looking for any tips on buying the best coffee from the many many options in a big supermarket. Anything to look for on the packet, country of origin, producers, price points to go for, experience with particular store brands in the UK?

**Tags:** bean-varieties, coffee-shop


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-11-21. Score: 1

Indeed, it is difficult to pick good coffee in a supermarket.

(For sure, when possible start online and specialist shops/cafes. I prefer small-batch brewers which tend to be available online, in farmers markets, and in specialty cafes. You might find a small, local roasting company.)

Personal tips:

* Stick with your preferred roast level(s). (Personally, I prefer medium roast by a lot.) When exploring other roast levels, it's best to do that one cup at a time at a good cafe or a small bag at a time from a favorite roaster.
* When exploring new coffee brands, it's better to do that at a good cafe where you can count on the beans being fresh and kept at moderate temperatures.
* Look for bags roasted no more than 1 month ago. Prefer bags that give their roast dates. Supermarkets tend to treat coffee more like it's shelf-stable, which it isn't. I suspect a roaster company will stamp a "best buy" date that's either 3 months or 1 year from the roast date. **If** we can assume that and **if** we can assume that bags sell before sitting for 3 months, then we can guess the roast date from the "best buy" date.
* Keep a list of brand + type of beans that you liked and disliked so at least you learned which ones to not buy again and which brands are better bets.
* If you buy single-origin beans, also track which origin countries you tend to prefer.
* See James Hoffman's "A Beginner's Guide To Buying Great Coffee", <https://youtu.be/O9YnLFrM7Fs> esp. the section starting [12:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9YnLFrM7Fs&t=772s) on decoding the descriptions on bags of coffee. This was, however, more complicated than I can remember.
* Squeeze the bag of beans in the store to smell them through the "one-way valve". (I put that in quotes because it must be a cheap-to-manufacture valve, adequate to release the CO₂ build-up, not an ideal one-way valve.) The beans all tend to smell nice in this test, so it's not very discriminating, but it might detect stale beans.
* View buying supermarket coffee beans as an experiment. The beans you buy might expand your range of interests and brands. The coffee might taste better if you adjust brewing variables like temperature and grind size. It might not suit you but at least you know you're alive and able to smell and taste the coffee!
* Consider doctoring the coffee by blending it with other beans, adding some kind of milk or foamed milk, adding a little spice, or pouring it on ice cream.
* Cold brewing is more forgiving although it won't rescue flat, stale beans. AeroPress has a nice cold brew recipe:
  1. Put in the ground beans and 1/4 cup tap-temperature water.
  2. Stir for 60 seconds.
  3. Press.
  4. Add the other 3/4 cup of tap-temperature water.


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