Buying coffee direct is now so easily available online, there's no reason for any coffee lover to settle for buying their coffee from a grocery store. Not only will you save money when you buy coffee direct, but the coffee you receive as a result will be truly exceptional.

Why the savings? Because whenever you buy direct you cut out the middleman. Actually, there's more than just one middle man. Thanks to the accepted shelf life of coffee, there's really no way to know how many times your coffee has been bought and sold before you finally pay. And every time it's resold, the profits end up tacked onto your bill.

Then there are distribution costs, and the overhead costs of the final retailer. You end up paying for your coffee, yes, but that's only a small part of the price tag. You've also paid for warehouse space, shelf space, for employees to stock and inventory it, you've paid fuel costs for transportation--the list goes on. And here you believed you were simply paying for good coffee.

Far from it. In fact, coffee connoisseurs know that coffee is at its best the week or two after the beans are roasted. That's when you really can enjoy the distinctive flavor of your chosen blend of beans and special roast. After that, the oils in the beans which give each blend its unique flavor begin to degrade. Even if the coffee is vacuum packed, kept in an ideal environment, at the right temperature, time itself steals away the flavor that roaster so carefully crafted.

So not only are you padding extra pockets with money you don't need to spend when you buy from the grocery store, you're paying more for coffee that's lower quality. Even if it's the exact same brand, same roast, and same country of origin.

That's why buying coffee direct means getting higher quality coffee. A few years ago, most of us didn't have the option of having coffee that boasted its full aroma and complexity of flavor. If there wasn't a local roaster, buying direct simply wasn't possible. If you wanted to drink coffee, you bought it from the supermarket, end of story. The idea of purchasing coffee beans that had been roasted only days ago seemed like an improbable luxury.

Thankfully that's no longer the case. The internet and the resulting explosion of online retailers have turned the dream of having your coffee be rich and aromatic, without fail, into a reality. With the ability to buy coffee beans directly from the roaster and have it arrive mere days after your order, you don't have to settle for stale coffee. Nor do you have the added indignity of paying for the time it's been sitting on the shelf while the very flavor you're seeking is being dispersed.

Many coffee roasters that sell online actually don't even roast the beans until they receive your order. As a result you're receiving the very best, and getting it at prices close to wholesale.