There’s nothing worse than waking up in the morning to one lonely bean at the bottom of your coffee jar...
When buying coffee for your home, you can buy a few days worth of beans or pick up a bulk supply that will last you. But will these coffee beans stay fresh if you buy them in bulk? And how do you find fresh beans that will last?
In this read, we’ve got everything you need to know, from the best places to buy bulk coffee and what you should look out for in retailers.
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Where To Buy Bulk Coffee?
When buying coffee in bulk, there are many things to keep in mind. From quality to freshness, several factors can impact flavor.
Let’s discuss how you can decide where to buy coffee in bulk.
Should You Buy Bulk Coffee Online or In-Store?
More and more people buy coffee online, whether as pods, beans, or grounds. Large product ranges at the click of a button, and next-day shipping make buying online a great option.
The main benefit of buying online is access to a much broader range of fascinating coffee choices. You’ll have access to a range of different Vietnamese coffee blends, while your local coffee shop may only sell arabica. “Window shopping” online can expose you to blends, beans, and coffee cultures that may go unnoticed in-store.
Buying coffee in a physical store has its perks, too. The main positive is that you can buy a bag of coffee beans and immediately go home and brew them — even next-day shipping can’t beat that.
However, you'll likely have fewer choices when buying coffee in-store. While you might have a quicker turnaround, you may find fresher, higher-quality coffee online. By shopping online you essentially "cut out the middleman." Considering you'll typically be paying the same price (or slightly less) for beans online as in a physical store, it may be better to skip a step in the supply chain and buy online.
Online coffee brands are more willing to ship you a large, bulk product purchase as well. Physical stores may not have the stock to fulfill your order directly, meaning you'll be waiting for shipping anyway.
Green Flags & Red Flags of a Coffee Brand
When selecting a place to bulk-buy coffee online or in real life, you may feel overwhelmed by all of the information.
Here are the green and red flags of a coffee brand:
✅ Green Flags:
- ✅ Organically Grown — Coffee grown using organic practices is free from pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. Organic coffee may be safer to consume than inorganic coffee.
- ✅ Certified Mold-Free — Coffee can produce mold if it's stored and shipped improperly, and this mold can lead to mycotoxins. To be sure that your coffee doesn’t contain these harmful mycotoxins, look for a brand with mold-free certification.
- ✅ Genuine Reviews — An honest company will have genuine reviews (positive and negative). Look for genuine reviews on the brand’s website and on related forums and SubReddits. The positive should outweigh the negative but a lack of negative reviews entirely could indicate that the brand is falsifying reviews.
- ✅ Clear Origin Information — If you care about coffee, you'll want to know where your coffee is from. Ensure the origin information is clear on the product page, regardless of whether the beans are of single origin or not.
- ✅ Clear Roast Information — A roaster that cares about its coffee will typically list the roast date on the packaging — that way, you know that the coffee is fresh and full of flavor.
❌ Red Flags:
- ❌ Old Coffee — If there’s no roast date on the packaging, the beans are unlikely to be fresh. When buying in bulk, check the roast date or ask the brand (if buying online).
- ❌ Unspecific Grind Levels — If you’re purchasing pre-ground beans, make sure to purchase coffee that’s been ground to suit your brewing method. A sketchy coffee brand may not provide clear information on grind size — offering an inconsistently ground product.
- ❌ Too Many Product Offerings — If a company has hundreds of different products listed on its site may care less about quality. Companies with a handful of choices likely opt for a “quality over quantity” approach.
Why Buy Coffee in Bulk?
Buying coffee in bulk may seem a little strange if you’re used to picking up smaller bags from the supermarket. However, there are many advantages to buying lots of coffee at once.
Constant Supply of Coffee
The first and best perk of buying coffee in bulk? It’ll take you much longer to run out of beans. If you wake up to an empty coffee bag, you’re messing up a core part of your morning routine. By stocking up on coffee and storing the beans appropriately, you can ensure your mornings start the right way for the foreseeable future.
Stocking up also ensures you’ve always got high-quality coffee to hand when friends or family are visiting. If you find you’re getting through coffee quicker than anticipated, it’s no problem — you’ve got plenty more beans where they came from.
Saving Money
While a large bag of coffee may cost more upfront than a smaller bag, it's cheaper in the long run. Buying 10 bags of coffee over six months will cost more money than buying one 10 lb bag.
If you drink a lot of coffee and want to save money, bulk buying is the way to go.
Securing the Coffee You Love
If you find a coffee you particularly love — be it arabica, robusta, or a blend — you will likely want to keep drinking it for a while. Delicate and complex flavors can make a morning much more interesting, so going back to a boring blend can be frustrating.
Some specialty beans and blends are only available during one season. If you find a coffee you love and want to hang on to that flavor for as long as possible, buying bulk is a good option.
When properly stored, the coffee's complex flavors can be preserved. If you want to store coffee long-term, keep whole beans in an airtight container in the freezer.
How to Get the Most Out of Bulk-Bought Coffee
If you’re used to buying one bag of coffee per week from the grocery store, you might not know what to do with a large bag that won’t fit in your cupboard.
Here are some ways to ensure your bulk-bought coffee lasts as long as possible:
1. Proper Storage
Coffee beans are packed with flavor — though we expect you know that already. These complex flavors can slowly fade over time.
Thankfully, there are lots of things that we can do during bean storage to slow this process down. Keeping the beans away from air, sunlight, and high temperatures is essential.
Here’s why:
- Air — Exposure to oxygen in the air can lead to oxidation of the beans. Airtight containers slow down oxidation, keeping your beans fresher for longer. While you can buy airtight containers explicitly designed for use with coffee, any airtight container will work.
- Sunlight — Sunlight also speeds up oxidation because the UV rays interact with the flavor compounds in the beans or grounds. Using an opaque container and storing the beans in a dark place keeps the beans fresher for longer.
- Temperature — Temperature speeds up the rate of oxidation as well. Storing your coffee beans in a cool place can drastically slow oxidation down.
2. Freezing Coffee Beans
Freezing coffee beans is a surprisingly controversial subject among specialty coffee nerds. However, it can be a great way to maintain their flavor long-term. The freezer protects the beans from air, sunlight, and high temperatures.
Storing your beans in an airtight container in the freezer is the best way to store coffee long-term (more than three months). However, if your container isn’t quite perfectly sealed, both freezer burn and moisture can cause rapid flavor loss.
You'll also want to avoid opening the containers too frequently. If you do, condensation can form, which can ruin the bean's structural integrity. When you thaw the beans for use, allow them to warm to room temperature before you open the container — this will ensure that the beans don't get any condensation directly on their surface.
3. Figure Out Your Needs
To get the most out of a coffee bulk purchase, you should know exactly how much you need. Even the best-stored coffee can go bad with time, so if you’re using beans at a glacial pace, your coffee has more time to spoil.
To figure out how much coffee you might want to buy in bulk, consider how you’ll be storing it. If you follow best practices and keep your coffee in a sealed, opaque container in a cool, dark place, fresh coffee will retain its complex flavor profile for around a month. After this, the coffee will gradually lose flavor, going completely stale around month three.
Let’s say you make one coffee with breakfast, another when you start work, and another in the afternoon. Each cup of coffee requires around 1 oz of coffee. Depending on how many cups of coffee you drink, you can buy the appropriate-sized bag — 30 oz if you drink one cup daily, 60 oz if you drink two, and so on.
4. Using Leftover Coffee Grinds — Cold Brew
Cold brew is a simple brewing method ideal for grounds a little past their prime.
The method is simple, especially if you have a known quantity of grounds you want to use. Combine those grounds with water (eight times as much by weight) and mix thoroughly. Place this mixture into an airtight container and allow it to sit in your fridge for 18 to 24 hours. After that, strain the coffee, and it’s ready to drink.
Because of the extended brew time and the low brew temperature, the flavors in the coffee are smooth, rich, and sweet. This is the case consistently across most types of coffee, even across different roasts or blends. You can consistently get this smooth, sweet flavor, even when using leftover grounds that are slightly stale.
What Are Alternatives to Buying Coffee in Bulk?
While buying coffee in bulk is ideal for several reasons, it might not be perfect for you. Even if you’re saving money in the long term, you still have to spend a little more upfront. Here are some sensible alternatives to buying coffee in bulk.
Subscriptions
Setting up a subscription can give you some of the perks of buying in bulk without the upfront cost. With a subscription, you know that you’ve got a steady supply of coffee coming, so you’ve removed any worry about running out that you may have. Furthermore, many subscriptions offer a reduced cost on your favorite beans, so you can still save a bit of money. Plus, subscribing often includes a discount (10 to 25% on some products), saving you even more.
By opting for a monthly coffee subscription service you also ensure that your coffee is fresh. Rather than having to store beans long-term — potentially causing them to go stale — you’ll get a fresh bag every month.
Planning Ahead
Planning and ordering in advance ensures you never run out of coffee when buying in smaller batches. For example, if your family stays for a few days, you can predict you'll use more coffee during that limited time. To make up for the potential shortfall, you could pick up an extra bag next time you make a coffee order.
Emergency Cache
A big benefit of buying coffee in bulk is that you can be sure you won’t suddenly run out of coffee beans. At the very least, you’ll see that your supply is dwindling, and you can plan to get more.
A different way to avoid that dreaded “run out of coffee” feeling is to have an extra backup bag of coffee in your freezer. One airtight container of beans isn’t enough to keep you going forever, but if you forget to pick some up at the supermarket, it can be enough to give you a couple of cups while you get yourself ready to buy the next batch.
FAQs: Where To Buy Bulk Coffee
Buying coffee in bulk can be a great way to keep track of your needs. Let's review some FAQs to clarify some common questions.
1. Is It Cheaper to Buy Coffee in Bulk?
While the cost-per-bag will be higher for a larger bag than a smaller one, you’ll typically pay less per pound of beans. Therefore, you can save money long-term.
2. What Is the Most Economical Way to Buy Coffee?
Buying in bulk is the most economical way to buy coffee. Bulk bags are typically priced more cheaply per pound than smaller bags, so planning can save you money.
3. What is the Average Price of Wholesale Coffee?
The price of wholesale coffee fluctuates regularly, but it generally falls between $3 and $20 per pound.
4. How Can I Reduce The Cost of Coffee?
Buying beans and brewing coffee at home is already a great way to save a little money compared to cafe visits. To cut the cost a little further, you can buy in bulk, where you’ll typically pay less per pound than you would with small bags.
5. How Long Is Bulk Coffee Good For?
When properly sealed and stored, bulk-bought coffee lasts one to three months. If you want your coffee to last longer, store it in an opaque, airtight container in the freezer. Once frozen, it will last for six months or more.
6. Why Is Buying Coffee so Expensive?
Coffee is a labor-intensive crop to farm and harvest, and the beans must be processed, roasted, packaged, and shipped. All of these factors contribute to the price, not to mention the varying supply of coffee due to smaller harvests.
7. How Do I Save Money Buying Coffee?
A great way to save money on coffee is to buy it in bulk. You can also save money on coffee by signing up for a subscription service where you'll receive fresh coffee monthly.
8. How Do I Know How Much Coffee to Bulk Buy?
Start by asking yourself how many coffees you have per day. Using the rule of thumb of around 1 oz of coffee per brew, you can calculate how much coffee you’d need per day. From there, you can extrapolate. However, we recommend rounding up your final answer — it’s better to overbuy coffee since you never know who might stop at your house and fancy a brew.
9. Is Bulk Coffee Good?
Yes, bulk coffee can be very good. Generally, it is the same product as coffee produced and sold in smaller batches, packaged in larger containers.
10. Will Coffee Get Cheaper?
Not necessarily. The price of coffee constantly fluctuates due to a number of different factors. If you find some coffee that’s very fairly priced, it’s sensible to buy it in bulk to secure that savings.
