At Kiss the Hippo we put the utmost care into how we source and roast coffee. We taste well over a thousand coffees a year to pick the ones we want to share. This means you can be sure that the inherent quality of your coffee is extremely high. What makes the coffee taste so good is something called aromatic compounds. Aromatic compounds are all the delicious flavours in your coffee: the chocolates, caramels, berries and florality.
After roasting, the aromatic compounds of the coffee very slowly begin breaking down. This process can take weeks or months and is both a good and bad thing. When coffee is too fresh it can sometimes have aromatic compounds that are present in such high volumes they cover up other, more delicious flavours. So that incredible cup of coffee you have is the result of perfect timing—something that is unique for every coffee.
When you grind coffee you increase its surface area, exposing the aromatic compounds to air which in turn hastens their breakdown. This is why grinding right before brewing will get you the best cup, because it ensures the fewest of those delicious compounds have a chance to degrade before brewing. To get the best cup, always grind fresh. That being said, you can still get a great cup of coffee using ground beans, because we choose coffees packed with amazing aromatic compounds that take far longer to degrade.
When we recently decided to start providing ground as an option, we did it because part of our mission is to get great coffee into the hands of as many people as possible. We know not everyone has a grinder at home, so we decided to offer a choice of espresso, filter and French Press grinding. The idea is that a coffee that is incredibly well produced, roasted to bring out all of the delicious flavours and then ground still tastes miles better than any commodity coffee. That’s what our coffee will be: no matter if it is ground or whole bean, it will be some of the best coffee around.
We’re excited for all the new people who can now enjoy our coffee with ease at home, with or without a grinder.
