Despite the fact that I do it every day, I don't really like grinding coffee. It's loud, it's messy, and even though it's absolutely just as important as whatever brewing ritual I choose to engage in on any particular morning, I find the whole rigmarole a little annoying. Unfortunately for me, a well-measured, freshly ground dose of beans is the difference between something delicious and something that tastes like airplane coffee.
While this might be the case, buying locally roasted beans will reward you with a better tasting coffee, and it all comes down to freshness. Coffee has a long shelf life in terms of spoilage, but for peak aroma and taste you have one to two weeks after roasting before a decline begins, even if you buy whole beans. If you're buying coffee at the supermarket, this freshness window will likely have already passed by the time it arrives on shelves.
