Ground Coffee

To get a perfect cup of coffee you should buy good quality Arabica coffee beans, in their green bean form, home roast them 12 hours before use and grind the whole beans immediately before use.failing that, you can always buy ground coffee. Many companies provide home ground supermarket coffee, but you can also buy ground coffee from roasters. If you are planning to purchase the latter, your best bet is to only buy pre ground coffee one week at a time and ensure you store it in an air tight container, preferably not glass.

Supermarket ground coffee is ok to use if you are not a coffee cupper, but there is a difference. Most use robusta coffee beans and are mass produced. However, there are some which use Arabica coffee beans or a blend of both. Personally, I have a huge can into which I put unfavorable coffee and I use it in case of a coffee crisis; like when I'm too lazy to go to the coffee house.

Things to look for when purchasing ground coffee from a coffee house:

* Tell the grinder what coffee machine you have. Whether you use a French Press, a vacuum pot or an automatic drip machine.
* Only ever buy one week at a time.
* Ask when the coffee was roasted.
* Find out if the coffee beans are Arabica or robusta.
* Find out what country the beans are from.
* Write down what you bought and if you like it what grind you had.
* Choose the coffee roast you like.

Things to look for when purchasing ground coffee from the supermarket

* Look for something that is vacuum packed.
* Try to buy 100 percent Arabica ground coffee.
* Look for packaging which reports the roast type, many don't.
* Once you open it ensure you transfer it to an air-tight container.
* The coffee should have a code-date (expiry date), definitely check it. Groundt coffee last a long time, because of the vacuum sealing, but you should try to get the freshest possible.
* Don't buy a book by its cover. Some of the best coffee packages aren't written in English and look out of date. try these, if a major supermarket carries something that looks lack luster it is bound to be a good product.
* Never buy ground coffee that is under $5.
* Try to buy Fair Trade Coffee because some of the mass producers may use child labor or have non-environmentally conscious growing or production methods.
* Look for coffee with the Organic Coffee certification.