Let's Talk About Coffee Grinders

In my last coffee tips post we talked about dose (how much ground coffee you put in). This time I want to talk about grind size, which is more impactful to your brew.

There are two separate things a grinder does for you. It gives you the best chance at fresh coffee and gives you more control over the brew.

Why do grinders matter?

Freshness. Whenever coffee is ground, it releases a lot of the compounds that are trapped in the beans. If you're brewing immediately, this is great! But the downside is that those fragrances just keep leaving the beans. So a cup made from grounds sitting out for a day tastes flat and dull compared to the same beans ground fresh. Whole beans are pretty stable and can stay fresh for weeks. Grinding right before you brew is the single biggest quality jump most people can make.

Control. Grind size changes extraction more directly than dose or water temperature do. Finer grounds have more surface area, so water pulls flavor out faster and more completely. Coarser grounds extract slower and less. For pretty much any brew, the idea of extraction works the same way: more extraction -> more body/stronger/more bitterness/less specific flavors; less extraction -> less body/weaker/more sourness/more specific tasting notes. So when you have a grinder, you can adjust your coffee to your taste along this spectrum.

Burr Beats Blade Beats Pre-Ground

As mentioned above, pre-ground is our least recommended choice because of freshness. Even though we grind right before shipping, by the time it gets to your cup it will have been ground for a couple of days. By the time you're at the end of the bag, it may have been sitting there for a month or longer. We'll keep offering this, but recommend that people pick up even a cheap blade grinder.

A blade grinder chops the beans with a blade (hence the name). They are similar to a blender; a dose of beans goes in and the blade spins to chop them up. This leads to really uneven grind sizes; big chunks down to fine dust. These grinders will be really difficult to even experiment with, since they don't have a reliable or consistent way to control the size of the grounds. However, these tend to be the cheapest grinders and will still get you a fresher cup than pre-ground.

A burr grinder crushes beans between two burrs set a fixed (adjustable) distance apart. There will still be variation in the particle size, but it's significantly better than blade grinders. Enough that, for our purposes, you can start experimenting with your coffee. Too sour? Grind finer. Too bitter? Grind coarser. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just paying attention to what settings you like and don't like.

Flat vs. Conical Burrs (briefly)

There are two primary burr shapes for burr grinders: flat and conical.

Flat burrs tend to produce very uniform particles, which leads to a quality in coffee that people call clarity. It's essentially how well the grind lets you pick out distinct flavor notes (like the ones you might see on the bag).

Conical burrs tend toward a slightly wider spread of particle sizes. This usually leads to less clarity and more body. In this case it's more blended flavors and a little more viscosity/heavier mouthfeel.

I'm mostly putting this in here so you know the terms. Flat burr grinders especially get really expensive really fast.

Manual vs. Electric (also briefly)

Manual grinders make you turn a crank. In exchange you get much better burrs for the money, plus they're quiet and usually portable. And there's no motor to wear out. The downside is effort and time, especially for espresso.

Electric grinders are convenient and fast. Part of the money you pay for them is going to the motor and electronics rather than just to the burrs (in theory anyway). So you'll end up paying more for an electric grinder that has the same quality burrs as an equivalent manual grinder.

Where to Start Without Spending a Fortune

Kingrinder (manual): punches well above its price and adjusts finely enough to cover everything from French press down to espresso. You can get one here.

Cuisinart (electric): Don't expect too much from these entry level burr grinders, but they're convenient and a real step up from a blade grinder. Check them out here.

Either one beats a blade grinder, and both beat pre-ground.

Experimenting

Same method as dose: change one thing, taste, adjust.

• Finer grind -> more extraction -> more intense, and past a point, bitter, harsh, or drying.
• Coarser grind -> less extraction -> lighter, and past a point, sour, weak, or watery.

So:

• Coffee tasting sour, weak, watery, or thin? Grind finer next time.
• Tasting bitter, harsh, or drying? Grind coarser.