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I usually buy prepackaged ground coffee for my drip coffee maker, but recently I accidentally bought a bag of whole bean coffee and threw away the receipt.
Can I salvage this bag of coffee without purchasing a coffee grinder?
I have seen the suggestion of using a blender or perhaps a food processor, but I don't own those either.
Are there other ways to grind these coffee beans that will provide acceptable quality?
In my opinion, the best option is to have someone grind them for you. Ask your friends--someone may have a grinder you can borrow, or would be happy to grind them for you in exchange for some cookies or part of the bag of coffee.
If you have a local coffee shop, talk to the barista (over the latte' you just bought) and ask if he/she will grind your beans for you. I've heard even the mighty Starbucks will grind your beans for you if you ask nicely enough.
If you want to do it yourself, you need to find a way to get the beans down to grinds. Some ideas:
Mortar and pestle. Be careful not to make Turkish coffee powder instead of the more chunky grinds you want.
Rolling pin. Put the beans in a heavy Ziploc bag or similar, and have a go at them. Roll, whack, smash.
Have a nice, heavy frying pan? Ziploc bag again, hammer away.
And speaking of hammers...
No, not that Hammer. This hammer.
I would say the short answer to your question is NO, nothing you do at home without a food processor or blender will give you satisfactory results. Working with a hammer/morter & pestle/rolling pin/pan etc, is going to be a lot of work for very inconsistent results. My best suggestion would be to take them with you to work and ask around if anyone wants to purchase them from you or like mentioned above grind them for you.
Many of the big grocery stores (Safeway? Albertsons? I don't know which ones you have near you) have grinders for grinding beans you buy there. If the brand of beans you bought isn't from the store you grind it at, they shouldn't think you stole it...
Methods mentioned above are all great quick fixes for your problem however, as said before you'll get a poor grind and a poor cup of coffee.
My suggestion is to go to your local coffee house...tell them your sad story and if you ask really nice they might grind it for you if you buy a couple latte while you wait. Don't go in on a busy Saturday afternoon. They'll laugh at you. However, a place like Starbuck's that grinds beans they sell for customers will probably do it for you.
Just a suggestion, REI in the US and MEC in Canada sell some great hand held camping coffee bean grinders for around $20. If you're going camping you load them up with beans and grind enough for your French press camping mug. Makes for a nice way to wake up in the morning.
You'll have trouble making a high quality cup of coffee without a burr grinder.
To quote CoffeeGeek:
I've often said that I can make a better shot of espresso with a $200 espresso machine and a $400 grinder than I can with a $2,000 espresso machine and no grinder (or a blade grinder)... and it's absolutely true.
No matter how good your coffee machine is, it's worthless without proper grinding. The taste of coffee relies on how the beans filter your water... faster or slower flow will drastically alter the taste. You might as well just eat it.
As mentioned, only reasonable alternative is to get someone to grind it for you.
I predict that most answers you'll get will be along the lines of, "Pre-grounded is bad, buying whole beans and grinding just before use is good, and you should buy a good conical burr grinder."
I agree with that sentiment, and probably the most inexpensive quality burr grinder would be one of the Hario Coffee Grinders. I use the MSCS-2TB hand grinder which works really well for me.
I made the same mistake about a month ago and woke up desperate for caffeine and did the first thing that came to my head which was put the beans into a glass bowl and then used the bottom of my coffee mug as a grinder pressing and spinning repeatedly. It took some work but was well worth it.
You could try simply chopping the beans on a cutting board, and brewing the coffee in-cup (like you would brew tea). Be careful not to ingest the beans (which will sit at the bottom of the cup).
Coffee grinders are a really good investment if you love coffee. You can get a good price at http://www.dailycuppacoffee.com/coffee-grinders . But I see your dilemma. 1.) I'm not sure Starbucks would grind it if it's not Starbucks brand coffee beans but I'm pretty sure your local grocery store or coffee shop has a coffee bean grinder in the coffee section. 2.) If not, it's a good excuse to talk to a couple of neighbors :D and make some new friends... 3.) Also if you really don't want to bother grinding it, you could give it away as a gift or use it as decoration.
