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Should Beginners Buy Coffee Beans or Ground Coffee? How Much Coffee to Buy at Once to Avoid Waste

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). FrontStreet Coffee - Beginner's Coffee Selection Guide. If you haven't yet formed a systematic understanding of coffee, plus you have difficulty making choices, it's better to start with the following questions suggested by Xiaole to understand your needs. Black Coffee OR Milk Coffee. Many friends are accustomed to drinking coffee with milk, while

FrontStreet Coffee - Beginner's Coffee Selection Guide

If you haven't yet formed a systematic understanding of coffee and suffer from decision paralysis... why not follow Xiaole and start with the following questions to understand your needs.

Black Coffee OR Milk Coffee

Many people are accustomed to drinking coffee with milk, while the trend of drinking specialty black coffee is flourishing. Here, you'll need to choose your camp! If you prefer milk coffee, it's more suitable to brew stronger coffee using an espresso machine or moka pot, making Italian coffee beans the ideal choice. For black coffee, pour-over drip, siphon pots, and similar tools work better, making single-origin coffee beans more appropriate. Of course, a few friends choose espresso straight without milk.

Fruity Acidity OR Rich Bitterness

Different coffees contain vastly different flavors - how can they be summarized in just one word? For beginners, the most intuitive distinction might be between "sour" and "bitter" flavor tendencies. Many people say "I don't like acidity in coffee" - but acidity is actually one of the important characteristics of quality coffee. Those who dislike coffee acidity often haven't experienced fine acidity. High-quality bean varieties like Yirgacheffe and Kenya all have pronounced acidity. These beans are typically light to medium roast, able to showcase delicate coffee layers with distinct, clear flavor characteristics.

If you only prefer rich, bitter flavors and firmly reject acidity, we won't stop you. Mandheling-style mellow, low-acidity coffees have always been market favorites. These coffees are mostly dark roasted, with more pronounced sweet-bitter flavors and a rich, thick texture.

Of course, there are also beans with balanced flavors, maintaining a good balance between bitterness and acidity. These beans are mostly medium roasted and more easily accepted by most people.

Fresh OR Not Fresh

Regardless of the bean variety, freshness is everything. Coffee beans have a long shelf life, but the optimal tasting period is about one month, after which flavors slowly diminish over time... So always choose coffee beans with a recent roast date. Pre-ground coffee is not recommended - for a demanding barista, aroma begins to dissipate 40 seconds after grinding; even for the most lenient barista, if ground for half an hour, the coffee powder has already lost significant aroma. Therefore, we recommend buying fresh coffee beans and grinding them yourself.

There's one exception - if you're in the office or traveling and it's inconvenient to grind fresh, you can choose relatively fresh drip coffee bags with double-layer sealed packaging. They allow you to enjoy aromatic coffee anytime, anywhere without the hassle of carrying lots of brewing equipment.

This Origin OR That Origin

Most specialty coffees can be traced back to their origin or even specific estates. Having origin information doesn't necessarily mean the beans are good, and judging beans solely by country is not rigorous, but origin can still provide valuable reference information. For example, African Kenya often has distinct fruit aromas, South American Guatemala is often mellow with a hint of wildness, Indonesian Mandheling is typically low-acid and aromatic, and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe usually has prominent flavor characteristics.

Blend OR Single Origin

Single coffee beans generally lack the complex flavors necessary to brew a delicious cup of coffee. Many blended coffees contain three to seven different types of coffee beans. Expert roasters understand the characteristics of each coffee bean and artfully combine them to create a desired new flavor. The knowledge of how expert roasters blend coffee beans is considered the highest industry secret. In the United States, 100% Arabica coffee beans are used to blend the finest premium coffees. In Italy, some Robusta coffee beans are added to blends to increase their crema, caffeine, and flavor complexity. When first trying single-origin coffee, you don't need to buy too much - purchase small amounts, and over time as your acceptance grows, you can choose to buy in larger quantities.

Knowledge Point: Arabica is one of the two very important varieties in the commercial coffee industry, with the other important variety being Robusta.

In Summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research establishment, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. Our unconditional sharing is aimed at helping more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three low-discount coffee events each month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price - this has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past 6 years!