Many coffees have anything they can find to put in it. That’s why it’s a good idea to grind your own.
Amen to that. If my wallet is fat (a rarity in the Obamaconomy), I may spring $30 for a half pound of pure Hawaiian Kona whole bean. Expensive, yes, but damn, is that a good cup of coffee.
It is a good idea to grind your own to get the maximum freshness from the bean. Once the bean is ground, the countdown starts for the deterioration in flavor, called the staling process. At Keurig/Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, we have a 48 hour window between the time the coffee is roasted and ground and when it is packaged. That window is made even smaller because roasted beans should be allowed to breathe (to emit CO2) for around 8-12 hours before being sealed in a container. Coffee that falls outside that window is dumped. All coffee, including K-Cup packs are nitrogen-flushed, sealed for freshness and impermeable to oxygen, moisture and light. Once the coffee is packaged, the coffee holds is optimal freshness up to a year.
To get you maximum coffee flavor when using a Keurig brewer, get the refillable cups. Grind your own beans. It is wise to purchase coffee in amounts proportionate to how quickly it will used. Coffee begins to lose its freshness almost immediately after roasting so it is far better to purchase it in smaller quantities. Purchase freshly roasted coffee frequently and buy only what you will use in the next 1 or 2 weeks. And because exposure to air is your coffee’s worst enemy, it is a good idea to divide your coffee supply into several smaller portions, keeping the larger, unused portion in an air-tight container. Do not refrigerate or freeze your coffee because the little air in the container will precipitate out its moisture, which will deteriorate freshness.