Whole Bean vs Ground Coffee: 3 Reasons You Should Be Buying Whole Bean

Ask any coffee pro the #1 advice they’d give to someone trying to make better coffee at home, and you know what they’d say? Buy whole beans instead of pre-ground coffee.

The whole bean vs ground coffee debate has been raging for years. Pre-ground buyers love how convenient it is. But whole bean buyers say their coffee tastes much, much better.

And we have to be honest with you… we’re 100% in the whole-bean-only camp.

The benefits of buying whole bean coffee are just too great to be ignored—and here’s why you need to know them:

• Great coffee creates happy moments — but pre-ground robs you of those
• Your coffee ritual should be liberating — not restricted to one brewer
• Pre-ground is a waste of $$$ — your hard-earned dollars deserve better

If you’re used to buying pre-ground coffee, we get it you—the convenience factor is big. But once you realize the opportunity you’re missing to infuse happiness into your morning, we think you’ll want to make the switch.

Read: Why You Should Never Grind All Your Coffee At The Same Time

1. Whole Bean Coffee Isn’t Stale When You Buy It

There’s a BIG problem with most bags of coffee at the supermarket.

They’re already stale. 

Part of the reason is that the coffee was roasted weeks—if not months—ago, so it has lost most of its natural aromas and sugar (peak freshness is just 1-2 weeks after roast).

But here’s the other part: most of the coffee sold in grocery stores is pre-ground. And pre-ground coffee loses most of its natural flavor in just 20-30 minutes.

(Yes, minutes.)

That’s because the grounds are so small that it takes hardly any time for oxygen to soak into the coffee and cause it to start decaying. The natural sugars, smooth aromas, and gentle acids turn into harsh bitterness—yuck.

And that’s the crazy thing: pre-ground coffee is already stale when you buy it (and costs the same amount of money!). Whole bean coffee, on the other hand, is fresh for longer—because the beans are huge compared to individual grounds, so it takes a lot longer for the oxygen to do its dirty work.

Read: Skip The Coffee Aisle, Here's How To Find The World's Best Coffee

This is why we say you should always wait to grind your coffee until you’re ready to brew it—to save those amazing fresh flavors.

2. You Can Grind Whole Beans For Any Brewer

Pre-ground coffee is only good for one thing: regular drip coffee pots. And it’s super convenient—we don’t deny that. However, what if you want to make french press coffee? Or maybe pour over coffee? Or home espresso? 

Pre-ground coffee doesn’t work for 95% of coffee makers.

Your grind size has to pair with your coffee brewer—otherwise, you get imbalanced coffee. It’s not hard to get the right pair (actually, it’s really easy), but when your coffee is pre-ground, you don’t even have the option of making it the right size for a different brewer.

Read: How To Pair Your Coffee Brewer With Its Perfect Grind Size

As you can see, the area where pre-ground coffee works is… small.

If you want to be able to make other kinds of coffee (trust me, you do!), you need to be able to grind the whole beans to the right size on your own—ideally right before you brew, to preserve all the fresh flavors.

This is why a burr coffee grinder is the #1 piece of coffee gear we suggest (other than amazing specialty coffee, of course).

3. Whole Beans Give You Power Over Your Coffee’s Flavor

And finally, with pre-ground coffee, you’re stuck with the flavors you get. If you don’t like it… well, too bad. You can’t change the grind size, which means you can’t change the brew.

But whole beans, on the other hand, enable you to make small changes to the grind size to change your coffee’s flavor.

Read: How To Brew Better Coffee By Adjusting Your Coffee Grind Size

Here’s how it works:

• Grind size determines brewing speed. Small grounds extract fast, large ones take longer. So by making tiny changes to your grind size each time you make coffee, you can slowly make your coffee taste better and better. Every morning can be better than the last.
• Coffee tastes bitter? You can fix it. Bitterness (when you have good, fresh beans), means you extracted too much from the grounds. By grinding your beans at a coarser setting, you can reduce the total extraction, bringing back a balanced flavor.
• Coffee tastes sour? You can fit that, too. Sourness comes from under extraction—basically, your grounds didn’t brew enough. By using a finer grind size, you can increase the speed of extraction to extract more… voila! Balance returns.

With whole beans and a grinder, YOU’RE in control of your brew—not some far-off factory that decides the grind size for you.

Brew The Coffee That Makes You Happy

Richer, fresher, more flavorful coffee doesn’t just taste great—it infuses your morning with something you love. It gives you a chance to make something you’re proud of… something just for you.

It turns your daily coffee ritual into a moment that fuels the rest of your day, not just with caffeine, but also with peace, focus, and happiness.

It’s why we’re so into coffee grinders and whole bean coffee—there’s no better way to start your day off on the right foot.

It’s also why we help coffee lovers find the BEST beans to make at home.