Posted Thu Sep 27, 2007, 12:28pm Subject: How long before ground coffee goes stale - experiment
For those who wonder if they can "get by" without a grinder for a while until they have the money to buy one.
This morning I ran an experiment: When grinding for my morning shot I decided to grind 3 shots worth. This is using 1 week old home blend homeroast. 16 g per double basket. I ran my first shot immediately, within seconds of grinding. Results 2 oz at 25 seconds. Flow nice and thick, reasonably dark. Really no blonding when shot is stopped. Good shot. Nice and sweet. Great mouthfeel. Flavor lingers for minutes.
Shot #2 1 Hour later. Again 16 g. Results 2 oz at 19 seconds. Pretty serious blonding. Finishing stream looks pretty thin and watery. Shot still tastes pretty good. Slightly bitter. Overall still drinkable but with definite decline in quality from 1 hour before.
Shot #3 2 1/2 hours after original grinding. 16 g. Results 2 oz in 12 seconds!!! Blonding already. Thin crema disappearing rapidly settling down to probably 1-2 mm by the time the shot is removed from under the spout. Shot undrinkable. bitter and sour at the same time? I don't know. One sip and this one was sink bound.
A couple other details. The ground coffee was stored in a small ziplock baggie with as much air as possible squeezed out. I ran each shot at as close to the same point in the temp cycle as possible.
I posted this because I noticed that we spend a lot of time diagnosing problems with shots when the poster is using pre-ground coffee.
Posted Thu Sep 27, 2007, 2:32pm Subject: Re: How long before ground coffee goes stale - experiment
Great experiment. Thanks for posting that. It seems to confirm what everyone says, that using preground coffee will always lead to sub-par results. Fresh ground coffee is the only way to go.
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