The secret to buying supermarket coffee

Do you buy your java at the local supermarket or big box store? I do — with mixed luck. I usually buy what’s cheapest or on sale: I’ve had good luck with those big bags of Roasterie coffee or even the house brand of bean coffee at Costco. I grind my own beans and the morning and those brands taste fresh — but what do I know? I also buy marked-down bags of coffee beans at Tuesday Morning and TJ Maxx!

Jerry Baldwin, a co-founder of Starbucks, has written an article in The Atlantic about buying coffee at grocery stores. He doesn’t think much of my frugal theory (“I hope you make your coffee choice based on your perceptions of quality and freshness, rather than what’s on special this week,” he writes). 

I have always been wary of the beans sitting in those clear plastic bins. And Baldwin confirms I was right: “Few markets date their bulk bins. If coffee is properly packaged in a valve bag (the bags with the internal buttons and little slits) it will probably taste fresher than bulk coffee, which has been exposed to the atmosphere. Put your nose up to the valve and squeeze the bag. Evaluate the aroma.”

So if you see someone sniffing a plastic bag of coffee beans at your local supermarket, it might be me.

(Image via Flickr: Pleasant Valley Shopping)