Does It Matter How Soon You Brew Coffee Beans You've Ground At Home?

Serious home baristas usually have an at-home coffee grinder so they can enjoy a fresh cup of joe. Sure, grinding your own beans takes a bit more time, but the resulting quality of the coffee simply can't be beat. If you've already ground your beans, though, does it matter if you wait before brewing them? We asked Matt Woodburn-Simmonds, ex-barista and coffee expert, to settle this question once and for all. 

"Freshly ground beans should be brewed within 30 minutes of grinding," he said. "When we grind the beans, we release all the volatile oils from the center of the beans, which brings all the great flavor to your brew. These oils slowly evaporate, and by around 40 minutes after grinding they are all gone, taking all those delicious flavors with them." 

While 30 minutes is the maximum time you should leave your ground beans laying around, it's important to know that "the longer you leave the ground coffee, the more flavorless it will become." Woodburn-Simmonds' advice is to "grind and then brew straight away to ensure as much of the flavorful oils from the beans make it into your cup as possible." Unless something serious causes you to step away from the coffee grounds before you can brew them, try to brew them quickly. A subpar drink is a high price to pay for getting distracted by TikTok dances or chat group messages. 

In today's busy world, it can be hard to find an extra few minutes to grind your coffee beans. Many coffee lovers compensate for this by batch grinding. However, Woodburn-Simmonds considers this a huge mistake. "No one can afford to batch-grind coffee. It has to be ground fresh for every cup." To drive the message home, he pointed out that "even the busiest cafés don't batch grind for their espresso machines. The speed with which the flavor compounds oxidize and break down, minutes after grinding, means that unless you're planning to drink multiple coffees in the next 20 minutes, you should never batch grind." 

When he says that no one should be doing this, he means it. As he put it: "There's no coffee preference that includes stale grounds unless you don't like things that taste of something." We agree. If you're going for coffee that isn't as fresh, you might as well just buy pre-packaged ground coffee. If you care about making the best at-home brew possible, those extra few minutes are worth it.

Besides brewing your grounds, you should also take steps to avoid coffee grinder static and invest in a coffee scale so you can make better-quality cups. And if the French press is your brewing method of choice, Woodburn-Simmonds has some great tips about how to use it properly (and avoid over-brewing it).