Buying and storing coffee beans

The cheapest upgrade I know for a cup of coffee is whole beans you'll finish while they're fresh, ground right before you brew. A modest bag of fresh beans and a burr grinder beats expensive pre-ground that's been open on the counter for three weeks, every morning, and it isn't close.

Read the bag

• Look for a roast date. A "best by" date tells you almost nothing. It can sit many months out. A roast date tells you how old the coffee actually is.
• Buy it fresh. Roasters put the best of it at about one to three weeks after the roast date. Espresso roasts often want that first week just to rest. Older isn't dangerous. It just tastes flatter and more papery the longer it sits.
• Buy whole bean. Ground coffee goes stale fast, because grinding opens up far more surface to the air. If you don't own a grinder yet, buy small bags of pre-ground and finish them quickly. Then get a grinder. It is the best money you will put into coffee.
• Roast level is taste, not quality. Dark roasts taste roasty and bitter-sweet and hide a lot. Light roasts taste brighter and more like fruit. Medium is a safe place to start if you don't know what you like.

Spend less without drinking worse

• Do the cost per cup. A 12 oz bag is 340 g. At 20 g a cup, that is 17 cups. A 2 lb bag is about 907 g, or 45 cups. Divide the price on the shelf by the number of cups and you can compare any two bags honestly.
• Buy big only if you drink fast. A 2 lb bag is cheaper per cup, but only if you finish it before it goes flat. One person drinking two cups a day goes through a 2 lb bag in about three weeks. That works. One cup a day, split the bag and freeze half (see below).
• Local roasters aren't always the expensive option. Ask about bigger bags or a house blend. Many sell a cheaper everyday coffee next to the single-origin bags.
• Supermarket whole bean is fine if it is fresh. Check the date on every bag, and reach to the back of the shelf.
• Don't pay for the brewer twice. Pods are a hell of a way to buy coffee. Per cup they cost far more than whole beans, and you pay for the plastic every morning. A moka pot or a French press is cheap and lasts for years.

Store it right

1. Keep the air out. Use the roaster's bag if it has a one-way valve and a zip, and squeeze the air out each time. Or move the beans into an airtight, opaque canister.
2. Keep it dark and cool. A cupboard away from the stove, the dishwasher and sunny windows. Heat and light speed up staling.
3. Skip the fridge. Fridges are humid and full of smells, and coffee soaks up both. Every time you take cold beans out, water can condense on them.
4. Freeze for the long haul. If you have more than you can drink in a few weeks, split it into airtight portions that each last about a week, press out the air, and freeze them. Take out one portion at a time and let it come to room temperature before you open it, so no water condenses on the beans. Do not put thawed beans back in the freezer.
5. Grind only what you are about to brew. Weigh your dose, grind it, brew it.

Grind for the brewer

Brewer	Grind	Starting ratio
French press	Coarse, like kosher salt	1 to 15, about 4 minutes before pressing
Pour-over cone	Medium-fine, like table salt	1 to 16
Drip machine	Medium, like sand	1 to 16 to 1 to 17
Moka pot	Fine, a little coarser than espresso	Fill the basket level, do not tamp; water to just under the valve
AeroPress	Fine to medium, depending on the recipe	1 to 12 to 1 to 16

For the moka pot, start with hot water in the bottom chamber so the coffee spends less time on the stove, use medium-low heat, and take it off as soon as it starts to sputter. Left on, it boils the last of the water through the grounds and the cup turns bitter. Handle the bottom with a towel. It'll be hot enough to brand you.

The pour-over walkthrough, with the numbers for fixing a sour or bitter cup, is in Dialing in a pour-over at home.