Yes, it makes a huge difference, provided the beans are fresh. Makes a moderate difference if the beans have been in the freezer or a tad stale.

I buy Graffeo Roast beans direct from the roaster (they are in San Francisco). Freshly ground it makes the best coffee, nothing better with fried eggs, bacon, and sourdough toast.

I do not have a discerning palate so I cannot answer about he taste . But, I can definitely say the aroma of freshly ground beans is divine. The whole kitchen has that “Good Morning!” fragrance for a few minutes after beans are ground.
I just wish the grinder didn’t make so much noise. Mine is a small, bullet shaped unit that I purchased for $5 at Goodwill at least a decade ago. It is so powerful all it takes are a few pulses and the beans are ground. The pulses draw so much electricity the lights in the neighborhood dim.
. Maybe newer ones from this century have some form of noise reduction and current limiting.

Yes it makes a difference. Fresh beans and freshly ground is the way to go.

@LuckyGuy Is right on with the smell of fresh ground coffee beans. I can’t drink coffee anymore because it triggers my heart to flip out into arrhythmia. But every chance I get I will walk into a Starbucks just for the smell and then walk out.

^^Oh wow. Hope you’re not terribly, terribly…missing the taste and effects of coffee.

Thanks so much, jellies…decided I’ll try it.

@zenvelo Visited SF for the first time May of last year. Lovely city! Walked the Golden Gate my second day. Bit scary. Lol

I did my own grinding for a year, about 5–6 years ago.

It was messy, more cleanup required.

I didn’t use the beans fast enough, so they begin to sour over time.

and like @Lucky, my coffee palate isn’t discriminating enough to make it worth the effort.

Somewhat. It caused too many problems in my marriage, so now I settle for freshly grinding a week’s worth at the store. It’s still 93% as good, without the matrimonial rift,

When I was a coffee snob, yes it made a big difference. Now I am more interested in having the coffee ready and hot when I come downstairs in the morning. I have a brand that I really like, it’s good enough for me these days to have that without all the fuss and folderol. Clean equipment means more to me.

Totally off-topic but I gotta ask:

@mazingerz88 Are you a woman? I always figured you for a very nice guy but an old question just made me think otherwise!

Yes!! Huge difference, even lower quality is better freshly ground.

I always thought it made a difference, but I stopped doing it because of the noise. When it’s first thing in the morning and I want a cup of coffee and then have to turn on the coffee grinder, it is just too annoying.

Yes, especially if you have good coffee, it can make a huge difference. The age and exposure to air makes a difference, even for unground beans, but especially after the beans have been ground. Pre-ground coffee gets state quickly, even kept in a good airtight bag.

Again, jellies, thank you. Mess and noise factors. Got it. That helps me in choosing which grinder to get.

@janbb Nice to know that one penguin out there got curious about my gender. Male. Jelly.

^^ We stick our beak in where others fear to tread!

I grind for guests from beans kept in the freezer. I’m a tea drinker myself.

It also matters who roasts the coffee you grind, where the beans come from, how fresh they are and on and on.

OMG yes, just put it in my I.V., please. :)

@Blackwater_Park Your post reminded of Juan Valdez and prompted me to look up the name. Interesting.

https://flavorsofbogota.com/who-is-juan-valdez/

I grind my own coffee. I have a grinder on the countertop, and it takes about sixty seconds every day. It’s loud. I also have a small one like @LuckyGuy mentioned, also from the same time period he mentioned. I use one to grind spices (a suggestion from chef Alton Brown), and as per Alton’s suggestion, I wrote on the coffee grinder “for spices only” so I will never use it to grind coffee.

I like dark coffee – French Roast or dark. The thing about grinding your own is you can make the grinds as fine as you like. The finer the grind, the richer the coffee, because there’s more surface to water. I find with a dark roast, and a fine grind, I can use less coffee (a money saver) and it still tastes strong.

I don’t consider myself a coffee connoisseur but I know what I like, which is a bold, hot cup.

I can’t really tell the difference.

I used to be able to tell. A bad flu wiped out my sense of smell. Now even reheated Folger’s tastes “fine.”

The size of the grind greatly affects the taste. Coarse = less flavor extracted for a given amount of time in hot water. Fine = more flavor, but too fine and it gets more bitter. I use a burr grinder to get more consistent grind size. When I try a new coffee bean I adjust the grind size to get the right balance of flavor vs bitterness.

Here’s the one I use. It was about $40 at Costco, which is where i got it:

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DBM-8-Supreme-Grind-Automatic/dp/B00018RRRK/ref=sr_1_8?adgrpid=1330409634660624&hvadid=83150673261007&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=100067&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83150950170964%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=4914_10557047&keywords=amazon+coffee+grinder&qid=1666302022&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjI2IiwicXNhIjoiMi43NyIsInFzcCI6IjIuNDEifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-8

I don’t believe there is a big difference but I am not the most observant person.

Avoiding clutter and gadgets at home is good to me, so I enjoy the availability of pro-quality grinders at the store for the bags of beans I buy.

@jca2 That grinder looks good. TY!

@mazingerz88 Someone in my neighborhood was giving away a Breville a few months ago, and I was very tempted to take it but decided to be conscientious about it, since I don’t really need it. Breville is considered among the best. Here’s an example from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BCG400SIL-Dose-Control-Coffee-Grinder/dp/B01A6IHXW8/ref=sr_1_5?crid=ADSGD2HA91Y8&keywords=breville+coffee+grinder&qid=1666371128&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjI1IiwicXNhIjoiMi4zNiIsInFzcCI6IjIuMDUifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=breville+coffee+grinder%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0

@jca2 Thanks again. Not too happy buying lots of stuff from Amazon but when I do I always take my sweet time comparing items.

@mazingerz88 The ultimate was free from the neighbor. Maybe I’m kicking myself for not taking it, but I really didn’t need it and ideally it went to someone who needed it (hopefully).

I’ve been grinding coffee for over 50 years, iI remember buying Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans in 1971 from a tea and coffee shop.

It costs between $84 to $125 a pound today. Don’t remember what it cost back then.