9 Tips for Buying Coffee Beans Online
When it comes to buying coffee beans online, there is an endless selection of websites offering fresh roasted coffee beans, organic coffee beans, fair trade coffee beans and even coffee beans from all over the world. Before placing an order with an online coffee bean company it is important to evaluate their website and get to know who you are ordering your coffee beans from. Here are nine helpful pointers when looking through a new online coffee bean store.
#1: Packaging of Coffee Beans The online coffee store should state how they will package your coffee beans. The best packaging is a vacuum sealed container that has a one-way valve. Fresh roasted coffee beans continue to release small amounts of gases for a week after being roasted; these emitted gases need a way to get out. A one way valve is crucial as any incoming air will make the fresh roasted coffee beans go stale quicker and allow the beans to absorb outside odors.
#2: Fresh Roasted Coffee Beans Ideally, the online coffee bean store will roast the coffee beans for your order after you have placed the order. By waiting until they have a specific order to fulfill before roasting any beans, the coffee bean store ensures the freshest coffee beans of the highest quality. The less time between roasting and arriving on your doorstep, the better.
#3: Coffee Bean Grind Options Once fresh roasted, the online coffee bean store should offer multiple types of grinds. Whole coffee beans will stay the freshest and provide the best coffee when ground just prior to brewing but many customers simply cannot grind their own coffee. Look for an online coffee bean store that offers a Drip grind, a French press and an Espresso grind so that you can get the perfect grind for your brewing method.
#4: Prices of Coffee Beans One of the best things about an online coffee bean store is that is extremely easy and efficient to compare prices. Most stores offer similar packaging with similar types of coffee beans. You may not want to choose the cheapest coffee bean store, because as the saying goes, you usually get what you pay for. But by comparison shopping you can avoid paying way too much for your coffee bean order.
#5: Varying Quantities Look for a coffee bean store that sells their coffee beans in varying sizes of packaging. Yes, 5 pound bags are great if you drink a lot of coffee and if you are trying to save money by buying in bulk, but they are not always the best way to try out a new roast or variety of gourmet coffee beans. A good coffee bean store will also sell coffee beans in 1 pound bags. Usually, if you special request it, the online coffee bean store will also be willing to send you a 4 ounce package to test new beans. This small sized bag of coffee beans is usually low in price – about the price of a specialty drink at your favorite coffee shop!
#6: Service Provided by the Online Coffee Store The service provided by an online coffee bean store may not seem very important to you if you know exactly what you want. But if you are searching for advice or have special order requests, you may want a sales representative to speak to through email or on the phone. You can also look for additional service in any informational pages on their website or on their blog.
#7: Shipping Times of Coffee Orders As it is crucial to consume fresh roasted coffee beans within 3 or so weeks of roasting, shipping times are important for most coffee bean customers. Check out the estimated shipping times for your location. Of course, the closer you live to the coffee bean store’s roasting plant, the faster your order will arrive in the mail as it does not need to travel as far.
#8: Look for a Phone Number A phone number on the online coffee bean store’s website can reassure you that there is a person available to speak to should email not work for you. It also provides a way to customers who are not comfortable with making transactions online to still place an order.
#9: Variety and Selection of Coffee Beans When choosing an online coffee bean provider, look through their selection of different coffee beans. If you intend to try a lot of different coffee bean varieties in the future, it will be easier to have one location to purchase everything from.
“9 Tips for Buying Coffee Beans Online” courtesy of your online coffee bean store: Gourmet Coffee Beans
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