Whether you drink coffee to relax, get through the day, or because it tastes delicious, there is nothing better than freshly ground coffee.
Conversely, there is little that is more disappointing in the world than to just want to sit down and enjoy a nice cup of coffee from a coffee shop, only to find they’re using an instant mix of some kind.
When you think about it, you’d expect any chain to be using pre-ground blends for their coffee. It’s quicker and easier after all, and when you’re serving the volume of people someone like Starbucks is, that option seems more appealing.
Except, Starbucks actually grinds their own coffee beans in their state of the art coffee grinders. In fact, Starbucks is even willing to grind your coffee beans for you.
How Grinding Coffee Beans Works at Starbucks
The first and most important thing to realize before you go to Starbucks to get your beans ground is that Starbucks has requirements that your coffee beans need to meet before they’re going to be willing to grind them for you.
In other words, if you have the right beans, it’s generally as easy as waiting in line with them, and asking them to grind your coffee beans once you get to the front.
However, if you have the wrong ones, you wasted your time waiting in line.
So, here is what you should know before going to Starbucks to have your coffee ground.
Starbucks Requirements for Grinding Coffee Beans to Know Before You Go
The requirements for Starbucks to grind your coffee beans are more extensive than you would think if you’ve never been able to grind, or never thought about, grinding coffee beans yourself.
However, when it comes down to it, they all make sense.
Before you walk into Starbucks with a bag of coffee beans, look at the bag.
- Has it been opened?
- Are you bringing a strange Ziploc bag of coffee beans in for them to grind?
Because they’re going to send you and your beans packing if you do try that.
Instead, make sure that the bag hasn’t been opened or ripped in any way, this eliminates the risk of outside contaminants that could make their way into the coffee beans and be potentially harmful to the grinders.
While you’re looking at the bag, also check the brand on the bag. That’s because Starbucks isn’t going to grind anything that isn’t their own brand of coffee bean.
There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is rather obvious.
They want you to buy their beans, and why would they do someone a favor that makes a competitor’s coffee beans more convenient for you?
The second reason why you need to bring in Starbucks brand coffee beans is more practical. Starbucks actually uses their grinders to make their coffee.
If they started running coffee beans from a competitor through their grinders, the flavor and quality would immediately be altered for the rest of the day, and that’s something that they simply can’t have.
The third thing you need to know isn’t a requirement that can get you turned away. However, it is something that could take up time and serve to embarrass you.
You need to know what type of grind you’re going to need. There are several different grinds that Starbucks is capable of doing for you.
However, your best bet if you don’t know which type of grind you want is to go the Universal grind.
Universal grind was designed by Starbucks, and is a great choice for most drip coffees. It’s also the grind that Starbucks ground coffee that you’d buy in a grocery store comes in.
So, Should You Take Your Coffee Beans to Starbucks to be Ground?
As long as your coffee beans meet the requirements set by Starbucks, there’s no reason not to take your coffee beans to Starbucks to be ground.
After all, not many people have grinders in their homes, and a significant portion of people who do struggle to use them.
This service is free of charge at Starbucks, which means that you don’t have to worry about it costing a lot over time.
However, if you do plan on having freshly ground coffee at home on a frequent basis, it’s best to buy your own grinder and learn how to use it.
For one, having to go to Starbucks every time you buy coffee beans is obnoxious.
Also, by keeping a grinder at home, you won’t have to worry about buying one particular brand of beans, rather you can get the one that you want every time.