Ruined a $22 bag of Ethiopian beans by grinding them all at the store

I picked up a bag of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe at a shop in Sacramento last week and thought I was being smart by having them grind the whole thing there. By day four the smell was flat and every cup tasted like wet cardboard, so I went back and asked the guy behind the bar what went wrong. He told me whole beans keep their oils way longer and grinding ahead just speeds up the staling, which I honestly should have known. Now I only grind what I need each morning, takes like 30 extra seconds with my little hand grinder. Has anyone here tried freezing ground coffee to stretch it, or is that just as bad?

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jenkins.alice11h ago

Oof, been there! I did the same thing with a bag of Yirgacheffe last year and learned my lesson the hard way. Freezing ground coffee is a Trap, it just makes things worse because the grounds pull in moisture and freezer smells, plus all that surface area is already working against you. Whole beans in the freezer can work if you seal them tight and only take out what you need, but once it is ground the clock is already running. A hand grinder is honestly the best $30 you will ever spend, so just keep doing what you are doing and grind fresh each morning.

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