What Kind Of Coffee Grinders Are Best?

What Kind Of Coffee Grinders Are Best

What kind of coffee grinders are best? Not to be too cheeky, but the best answer for the best grinder is the one that makes your coffee taste the best, right? Does a grinder really affect the complexity and deliciousness of coffee? You bet it does!

Our CJ staff believes the best coffee grinder is the one that grinds with uniform size consistency. You want grounds that are similar in size without excessively large or small coffee particles. Similar is good, but variations in size are not. In coffee lingo, the most consistent grind is one with the fewest “boulders” and “fines.” 

which coffee grinders are best
Flat Burr Ground Coffee – 17g
which coffee grinders are best
Blade Ground Coffee – 17g

A coarse or fine grind depends on whatever coffee brewing or extraction method you use. The more uniform the ground coffee and the type of grind suitable for your brewing method, the better the flavor. Why?

It’s all about the surface size, or surface area, of ground coffee when it encounters water. If your grinder produces more boulders (large grounds) than fines (small grounds), there is less surface area to infuse the extracted coffee flavor. The result will be a cup that tastes less complex and less intense. Conversely, if your grind is dominated by fines, your cup may taste awful if you use a drip or pour over method because the small grounds will clog the filter.

Another essential feature of the best coffee grinders is their ability to grind a wide range of ground coffee sizes – from extra coarse to fine grind – for making everything from cold brew coffee to espresso.

A coffee grinder offering a wide range of grind sizes will enable a DIY barista the best flexibility to make a wide array of delicious coffees. For example, the following list describes the type of grind needed for a particular preparation method.

Type of Grind and Coffee Preparation Method:

  • Extra coarse grind
    • Cold brew
  • Coarse grind
    • French press
  • Medium grind
    • Drip-brewed coffee
  • Medium fine grind
    • Pour over
  • Fine grind
    • Espresso
  • Extra fine grind
    • Turkish coffee

Let’s dive deeper into each type of grinder.

which coffee grinders are best
Blade Coffee Grinder

Blade Coffee Grinder

Some of the least expensive devices for grinding coffee are blade grinders. They cut or shred coffee beans with their blades positioned on a rotating center shaft. Consequently, blade grinders often produce excessive boulders and fines.

Pros:

  • Cheap
  • Small and somewhat portable
  • Good for travel if you have access to electricity
  • Can also chop nuts if you don’t mind a nutty flavor to your coffee

Cons:

  • Massive inconsistency in the coffee grinds
  • Unusable without electricity
  • Fairly loud
Antique Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

A conical burr grinder operates like an auger. When whole-roasted coffee beans enter the gravity-fed portal where the conical burrs turn, they are shaved and crushed under pressure to produce ground coffee. While many conical grinders are more expensive than blade grinders, they are often less expensive than flat burr grinders.

Pros:

  • More consistent grounds with fewer fines and boulders
  • Quieter than other grinding methods
  • The mechanism operates cooler than other designs
  • Moderately priced between blade and flat burr grinders

Cons:

  • Compared to flat burr grinders, some conical designs produce more fines and boulders
  • Unusable without electricity
  • Some reviews suggest conical-burr coffee tastes inferior to flat-burr coffee
Flat Burr Coffee Grinder

Flat Burr Coffee Grinder

Some of the best and most expensive electric grinders are designed with flat burrs. That’s why most café and coffee houses use flat burr grinders. Some commercial flat-burr grinders range in burr size from 58mm to 98mm. Usually, the more expensive the model, the larger the flat burrs.

Pros:

  • Best coffee complexity and overall taste
  • Grind size consistency with fewer fines and boulders
  • Greater control over grind size
  • Best for espresso grind

Cons:

  • Typically, more expensive
  • Unusable without electricity
  • Fairly loud
Hand Coffee Grinder

Hand Coffee Grinder

In recent years, hand grinders have excelled in new and improved designs that rival electric counterparts, which cost over 10 times more. Nowadays, a quality coffee hand grinder costing under $200 USD can compete favorably with the flavor profile of an electric coffee grinder costing over $1,000 USD!

Pros:

  • Less expensive than their electric counterparts
  • Small, portable, and light weight
  • Great for travel
  • Quiet

Cons:

  • Physical effort is required while grinding
  • Slower grinding than their electric counterparts

Conclusion

When you are considering which coffee grinder to purchase, bear in mind that the best coffee grinders produce consistent, evenly-sized grounds that translate into the best-tasting coffee. Regardless of the type, that’s the most important characteristic of a great coffee grinder.

The good news is that current prices for a good grinder are more affordable for the DIY barista, thanks to competition in the marketplace and design innovations. With today’s improved grinders, your daily grind will become a pleasurable experience when you taste the superior flavor it produces. It’s our opinion that the grinder is the most important element in making exceptional coffee at home. Source.

Want to read about coffee brewing? Read “Coffee Brewing Methods Comparison.”

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