Buying coffee online has been on the rise for the past decade. With e-commerce coffee companies competing to deliver the freshest coffee with the quickest delivery time, coffee is being sold more online than in any grocery store. With that being said, it raises a question of which coffee actually tastes better, is more convenient, and which is overall the best way to buy coffee: online, or in a grocery store?
To answer that question, we have to look at the pros and cons of each.
Purchasing Coffee at the Grocery Store
Coffee has been around for much longer than grocery stores have. In fact, the first grocery store was built in 1916, whereas the earliest forms of coffee were discovered in 700 AD - over 1000 years earlier than grocery stores. With the creation of these one-stop shops, coffee was one of the first products to hit the shelves. Big corporations quickly learned that coffee could be sold in mass, as long as they were stored in a container to prevent moisture and air from seeping inside.
With the creation of these containers came a major downside, which was that the coffee beans and grounds inside the containers became stale and lost flavor throughout their time on the shelf. Just one week after being packaged, the coffee would already start to lose flavor - and it took a month just to even get the coffee on the shelves. That meant the coffee in the grocery stores had probably been roasted well over a month ago, meaning all of it's flavor was essentially gone.
The worst part is that coffee companies soon realized that no one wants to buy coffee that is well past it's roast date. So, instead of putting a "Roasted on" date on the coffee containers, they put a "Best by" date, in order to hide the real date the coffee was roasted. The bad news is that these unethical practices still haven't changed. In fact, it's even more common now more than ever, as these coffee companies tend to focus on the profit over the quality of their coffee.
Pros:
- Can quickly be bought by driving to the grocery store and purchasing
- Can be cheaper than buying online
Cons:
- The coffee on the shelves are already well past their roast date (usually by 2-3 months)
- The coffee has lost most, if not all, of it's flavor by the time you purchase it
- Coffee companies focus on the "Best by" date, instead of the "Roasted on" date
Purchasing Coffee Online
With the creation of online stores also came the creation of selling coffee online. Just like grocery stores, coffee was one of the first commodities that were sold on the internet. While in the beginning, coffee companies were simply selling the same containers of coffee that they sold at grocery stores, they had an idea that would change the coffee industry forever.
They realized that because shipping times were so fast, they could roast the coffee, package it, and deliver it to their customer's door in under one week - well ahead of the time it takes coffee companies to sell their coffee in grocery stores. With this creation, coffee could now be enjoyed just one week after the roast date, meaning the customer could enjoy a flavorful cup of coffee that wasn't stale or bland.
Pros:
- Has much more flavor and taste compared to grocery store coffee
- Can be enjoyed just one week after it's roast date
- Can be bought from an ethical, small-batch roaster
Cons:
- A little more expensive than grocery store coffee
The Decision
While buying coffee in store might be a little less expensive, if you want the full coffee experience, then buying online is the way to go. Not only are you buying from an ethical, small-batch roaster, but you're also buying tasty coffee that has been roasted just one week prior.
If you'd like to taste some of this "online coffee", and really see the difference compared to grocery store coffee, you're in the perfect place! You can check out our fresh selection of small-batched roasted coffee, in a variety of flavors, by clicking here!
