Types of Coffee Grinds – When and How you grind is the primary step to determining how your Brazilian mojo will taste. Don’t take it for granted.

 

Coffee Grinding Basics

As amazing as it can be, even if you sublime all other variables like coffee quality, roast, water, filters, and brewing method, it is still possible to ruin your cuppa Joe with a mistaken grind.

But don’t let your mistakes stop you; some basic learning about the subject will help a lot to gain your perfect brew.

Despite your coffee brewing method, the fundamental goal of grinding coffee is the same:

Breaking down the roasted coffee beans expose their interior and allows the right extraction of oils and flavors.

Smaller grounds have more surface area than whole coffee beans.

For this reason, grinding allows water to extract, by contact, more coffee “juice”, when brewing. More contact means more zest extraction and better efficiency.

The best practices for coffee grinding are:

• Grind your coffee just before you brew
• Choose the appropriate grind size
• Select and use a high-quality coffee grinder
• Keep your equipment clean

 

Types of Coffee Grinds – Selecting the Right Coffee Grinder

There are two kinds of coffee grinders:

• Blade Grinders
• Burr Grinders

 

Blade Grinders

Most inexpensive (under $30 or so) grinders chop the coffee beans much like a blender.

You can control the fineness of the grind by “pulsing” the power button until you’re satisfied, which may be a bit tricky for some people. This process also can produce some heat, which can affect the taste.

 

PROS

• Affordable
• Easy to Use
• Easy to Olean
• Small
• Quick to use.

CONS

• Irregular Grind
• No Amount Control
• Tends to Overheat Coffee
• Can’t do much better than a fine grind

 

Burr Grinders

Burr grinders crush the coffee between a moving wheel and fixed surface. They are adjustable for grind size and, by grinding a few beans at a time, the result is much more balanced.

 

We can find two types of  burr grinders:

 

Conical Burr

These are the best grinders available. Quieter and less messy, conical grinders almost never clog while grinding oily or flavored coffee. They are more pricey than the others, but worth the extra cash.

 

Wheel Burr

The burr grinder spins faster than the tapered model and is the less expensive. With a higher rotation, it can be a little messier and noisy.

PROS

• Grinds Evenly
• Broad Grind Adjustment
• Preserves Flavor

CONS

• Louder
• Slower
• More Expensive, yet better

 

Check out this article about the The 6 Best Home Coffee Grinders.

 

What’s the right size?

The excellent degree of grinding mainly depends on what type of brewing method you are aiming.

 

• Grind coarser and the coffee will become weaker., and less tasty.

• Make it finer and you will run the opposite way

 

Grind Sizes

• Coarse
  • Distinct, chunky, pieces of coffee beans. Like thick kosher salt.
• Medium
  • Gritty texture with visible flakes. Like very coarse sand.
• Fine
  • Much smoother texture. Like table salt, maybe a little finer.
• Extra Fine
  • Coffee grains still barely discernable. Finer than granular sugar.
• Turkish
  • Powdered with no grains. Blade grinders cannot grind this fine. Like flour.

 

Types of Coffee Grinds – SIZE and METHOD table

 

COARSE

• Vacuum coffee pot
• Plunger Pot
• French Press
• Percolator

 

MEDIUM

Drip coffee makers with flat filters

 

FINE

• Drip coffee makers with cone filters
• Espresso Moka Pots

 

EXTRA FINE

• Espresso machines

 

TURKISH

• Arabic brewing

 

Next time you go out to buy your coffee, even if already ground from the roasters, remember that grinding takes an important part in the taste of your coffee. So watch it!

 

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