How can I choose the best quality coffee, when I buy it in a supermarket or coffee house? Sometimes I cannot get truly fresh coffee in a supermarket. Besides, a coffee can contains major debris and it is not as aromatic as they promise :cry:

I think there are a lot of factors on which the quality of coffee depends, such as water quality, bean quality (if you use beans), cleanliness with brewing equipment, time since grinding and roasting the beans etc. So you should think about not only the shop where you buy your coffee, but also consider all these factors. If you have freshly roasted and ground coffee, filtered water and equipment cleaned after the last brew, quality of beans makes a huge difference.

As far as I understand, the flavor may depend on coffee mixture. Though some coffee houses say they sell only arabica beans, their coffee often contains robusta beans. Arabica beans are usually more aromatic, unlike robusta beans that are less aromatic and have more caffeine, and they are cheaper to produce. And so when you buy coffee in a coffee house or in a supermarket, be sure to choose 100% arabica, except for espresso blends, which may be a combination of both. Though tastes differ? maybe you like a robusta more than other kinds of coffee.

As my mom told me :lol:, in a coffee house it is better to buy popular blends if you care about the flavor. You have more chances to buy not fresh coffee if it is pre-ground, so it is better to ask what was roasted that day. Also remember that coffee is at its best after 12-24 hours.\r\n \r\nIf you buy coffee in a supermarket, choose vacuum packaged containers with expiration date. Buy only coffee that can be consumed in a week to a week and a half from the time it was roasted. This is the only way to have truly fresh coffee.

Apart from the knowledge how to choose good quality coffee you should know also how to store it. You should always store coffee beans in a glass, air-tight container, not exposed to light. You know, air, moisture and light are coffee's principle enemies. They reduce flavor and freshness. Glass is best because it doesn't retain the odors of the beans or the oils, which could contaminate future beans stored in the same container.

Thanks for good info about storing, Olga.\r\nLet me ask some more question. Can I freeze ground coffee to store it?

If you are not afraid of damaging your coffee, then freeze it \r\nTo take it seriously, it is not a good idea to freeze ground coffee. The freezing will damage some of subtle tastes in the coffee. Besides, when the coffee is taken out the container will sweat, exposing your coffee to moisture.

This is an interesting info about the quality of coffee, which one of our forum members sent me in PM. I think it may be useful for you \r\n\r\nCoffee quality is determined by the type of Bean with the "strictly hard bean" known as SHB being of the highest quality, what it really means is that it was grown at a high altitude which emparts greater flavor from the longer growning time and with an added bonus of having lower caffine. Uniform size of the beans, no cracked of misshaped beans, and a uniform color equal to the roast you are buying from a light to a dark. Now comes a part that has nothing to do with flavor or quality of the bean but the quality of life that your coffee purchase makes and that is " FAIR TRADE" the fair trade symbol states the farmer has recieved a fair market price for the coffee you are buying. What that means is that he will have enough money to plant more coffee and feed his family. In this day and age it is important to learn that all of us are interrelated and that paying a fair price today means less hunger in the world of the small coffee grower.