Buying My First Coffee Grinder

Early on in my coffee journey, I discovered a piece of information that surprised me. At this point, I had done some research on beans, water, and brewing equipment. I felt like I had all the boxes checked off to make an exceptional cup of coffee, but I still found myself falling short. The one item I had not spent enough time researching was one of the most important. The Grinder. I may have had quality beans, pristine water, and recommended brewing equipment, but I quickly realized that without a quality grinder, coffee will taste mediocre at best. I will share my experiences with different grinders that I think are great for beginners and intermediate coffee enthusiasts.

Let's state the obvious: when it comes to any hobby or business venture, it all typically comes down to budget. I sought out the best grinders available to me on the market for the best prices, and can happily say you have multiple good options when it comes to buying your first quality grinder. In this article, I will not cover the initial steps of understanding which grinder is for you, but you can check out my other post, which gives you general guidelines to follow when selecting a grinder that will serve you best. The Importance of a Grinder

 I started with a cheap blade grinder many years ago. In fact, I still see it from time to time when I visit my parents... "Note to self, replace that grinder for mom & dad"

All our testing was done with our La Spaziale Lucca A53 espresso machine and Hario V60 pour over. Our beans were a light-medium roast from Guatemala. Let’s dive in!

Blade grinders are what most people who buy whole bean coffee gravitate towards for their availability and affordable prices. For my example, I have a Mr.Coffee blade grinder. When it comes to flavor profile and consistency, blade grinders leave a lot to be desired. This grinder served me for a while when I primarily used an automatic drip coffee maker. You can get a similar grinder for between $20-$40. I would not recommend buying this grinder for $75. You can find them even cheaper on Marketplace. If this is all your budget allows, I recommend saving for a more desirable option. If you simply cannot wait and need to buy a grinder for $20 to brew tomorrow morning, it will taste better than pre-ground coffee, but not by much. Grinds are very inconsistent, the build quality is cheap, and there are only three “settings” for grind size. If you can wait two days for a shipment to come in from Amazon, you can get a burr grinder for a similar price that can deliver a significantly better grind. This grinder cannot grind fine enough for espresso. The V60 cup was very muddled; I could hardly taste any of the prominent notes in the beans. I would steer coffee brewers away from this grinder.

Burr grinders are the most popular grinders in modern coffee. With new technologies, burr grinders are more affordable, durable, and consistent than ever before. For my examples, I have a few different burr grinders at different price points.

The first grinder I recommend is a hand grinder from Timemore. I recently purchased the Timemore X-Lite at a discount, and it has been a great addition to my coffee arsenal. While I primarily use this grinder for pour-overs and Moka pot brewing, it has a wide range of capabilities from espresso to French press. I am new to hand grinding coffee, but it is very satisfying and makes your coffee more of an experience instead of a mundane process. A few important items to consider when researching hand grinders are burr size (bigger is usually better), bean capacity, and build quality. The Timemore X-Lite has 42mm burrs, which are a good size for hand grinders. It has a bean capacity of around 30g, so you can brew for about two-three people per grind. And the build is a full metal body. Hand grinders are typically used for single-dose brew methods such as espresso, AeroPress, pour-overs, and Moka pots. I love this grinder for my morning routine and would highly recommend it for a new home barista.  It has very consistent grinds, a wide range, and great build quality. In both the espresso and pour-over cups, the X-Lite brought out lots of chocolate and some citrus notes. I was very impressed with its espresso capabilities with a lighter roast. There was still plenty of room to go finer with the grind setting.

Our second grinder is the Turin SK40. This grinder was sent to me by my friends at Espresso Outlet for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own, but we are grateful for the opportunity to review this quality grinder.

I am impressed with the build quality, grind speed, and range of grind sizes. Once it was dialed in for espresso, I could taste the chocolate and some citrus from the beans. This was the same outcome for my pour over, with just slightly more citrus present. For less than $200, I would highly recommend this grinder for a new home barista or even an experienced one. The grind adjustments are very easy and have a lot of espresso capability. I will note that this machine is more catered to those brewing primarily espresso. The design has a small hopper with bellows built in and can hold enough beans for an automatic drip machine, but it might get tight depending on how many grams you are trying to yield. The ‘single’ dosing cup is stainless steel and can hold way more than what you need for a double shot of espresso. I want to point out that the diameter of the dosing cup is rather large. I could not use it directly with my Lucca portafilter since it is only 53mm. I had no issues using my Turin Legato V2 portafilter basket, which is a standard E61 size.

Overall the sk40 by Turin is built like a fortress, it grinds quickly with minimal retention due to the bellows provided on the hopper, and it is compact in its footprint. The only issue I ran into when testing was that sometimes the bean would get stuck in the hopper when grinding fine for espresso. I solved this with a small tap on the side of the hopper and quickly moved on. The stepless grind adjustment is not very typical for grinders in this price range and offers a more ‘luxury’ feel.

The next grinder we tested was the OXO Brew Compact. The overall build is actually nicer than expected for the price of $70. The build is made primarily of hard plastic. The stainless steel 40 mm conical burrs look to be well-made. The consistency is average, but honestly, it performed well in the V60 pour over. At this price point, I can recommend this grinder for anyone who will be grinding for pour-overs, automatic drip, and French press. I did not test this grinder for cold brew grind capabilities, but the hopper has a max capacity of 50g. I suggest a hopper with a larger capacity for cold brew if you are making more than 32oz at a time. The OXO has a fast grind speed, and the compact design is nice for those who have limited space. Please note that at its most fine grind setting, I could not pull an espresso shot successfully.

Our next grinder is the Baratza Encore ESP. Before my commercial at-home setup, this grinder was my daily driver. There are many great things I have to say about this machine. The price for what you get is an outstanding deal. The range of this grind, from espresso to French press, is truly remarkable. I primarily used this grinder for espresso, but it has more than enough capability to support other brew methods. I still use this machine at my office setup on a weekly basis for multiple reasons. It is very simple to use, easy to clean/maintain, and it is built well. The only drawbacks I have with this grinder are that it can be a bit noisy, especially in an office setting, and it grinds rather slowly compared to other grinders in its price range. I would say static can be an issue, but that can be easily avoided if using the (RDT) Ross Droplet Technique before grinding. The Baratza Encore ESP comes with a single dosing cup and a larger catch bin, cleaning tools, and detailed instructions for use. This model can be purchased retail for $199.

Overall, I would recommend this grinder for anyone who is looking for a reliable and affordable grinder with espresso capabilities in addition to other brew methods. If you do not need a grinder for espresso but are still interested in Baratza, I suggest looking into the Baratza Encore. It is a more economical option with great quality, but does not offer a very consistent grind at finer settings such as espresso. This model can be found for around $150.

Following the Baratza grinder we reviewed is the Breville Smart Pro. I know Breville is a very popular brand globally; one of my first espresso machines was the Breville Barista Express. I know this brand and its quality quite well, but I had never tested out the Smart Pro Grinder.

At first glance, the Smart Pro Grinder has a sleek build with both plastic and metal components. One difference that really sets this grinder apart is its LED screen for grind setting adjustments. This feature makes it very user-friendly and simple to know where your grinder is relative to your brew method’s size range. Again, I found some retention, but this was greatly reduced with RDT. The pour-over had more citrus-forward notes with chocolate at the end of the drink. This was the same as with the espresso shot. The espresso I will note still had plenty of headroom to go finer. The espresso grind did generate some clumps and a slightly ‘muddy’ tasting shot overall. Oddly enough, this grind produced the most crema in espresso shots. The Breville can be found for around $200.

The Fellow Opus may have surprised me the most of all the electric grinders. I had never used a Fellow product before the Opus, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cup in both the pour-over and espresso. For $200, the Opus delivered a quick grind with low retention and minimal clumping at the espresso range. While both the pour-over and shot had less body, they brought out a nice amount of citrus that finished rather smoothly. I will note that the grinder has very intuitive outer ring settings and additional range to either coarser or finer with an inner ring adjustment. The catch cup had a single doser within the larger cup. It was easy to use, and the magnetic base catches the cup and reduces static. The lid can also be used as a bellows to push through any remaining grounds after a grind. I will warn you that I faced some clogging issues after using the “2-minute” grind button on the machine. This machine is not designed to grind for over 1 minute at a time.

Final Thoughts

After reviewing all of these grinders and their features, I can whole-heartedly recommend any of our burr grinders to those wanting to begin coffee grinding at home and get more out of their daily brew. While some of them lean towards certain brew methods like pour-over or automatic drip, others have plenty of capabilities for espresso and Moka pot brewing. We know there are a lot of factors that come into play when deciding to buy a coffee grinder, but hopefully, this has given you more insight into your final decision. Until then, I hope you find your Second Wind in whatever it is you are pursuing. 

The Importance of the Grinder.

When it comes to selecting a grinder that is best for you, there are many things to consider. We can certainly get into the weeds and dissect every minute detail of a variety of different grinders. As much as I would love to “nerd” out with all this information, I will refrain and keep this article a general buyer’s guide. You will be able to determine what type of grinder will serve you best after reading this and be one step closer to brewing better coffee now.

There are many categories to classify grinders. There are electric, manual, conical burr, flat burr, ghost, large and small. Some specialize in one method of coffee brewing and some are general all-arounders that have a range of capabilities. So where do you start? How can we easily determine what grinder is best for you? We are going to look at these key components:

1.       What is your preferred brew method?

2.       What is your budget?

3.       Who are you brewing for and how often?

4.       Stick to established coffee companies.

Most people in the United States brew from an automatic drip coffee brewer. Some people like to use the French Press, and others strictly brew espresso-based drinks. Let me break down an easy approach for selecting the right grinder for you.

Each brew method has an ideal range of grind for the best cup. Most of the time this is referred to as grind size. Typically, your grind sizes start from something resembling roughly ground peppercorns all the way down to powdered sugar. There are many useful charts out there to help you determine what size you should aim for at any given brew. I like this interactive site from Honest Coffee Guide to help me dial in the correct grind setting for whichever model I have. https://honestcoffeeguide.com/coffee-grind-size-chart/

Once you determine your preferred brewing method/equipment, it is time to move on to our next category, budget. I assume this is most coffee drinkers’ main driving force when it comes to deciding what product to buy. Many people don’t realize that the grinder is actually more important that your brewing machine when it comes to making quality coffee. In my opinion the hierarchy goes fresh beans, quality water, coffee grinder then equipment. So if you were planning on spending most of your budget on an espresso machine for example, I suggest you take some money away from that purchase and add to your grinder funds. You can search for many grinders on the internet within certain price ranges. Some very reputable companies I like to shop with are Espresso Outlet, Prima Coffee, Whole Latte Love. There are certainly others in the market, but these will be a good starting point. Most entry-mid level grinders will be around $200 dollars. That is the median price with some grinders worth buying slightly lower and even more worth buying at a higher price point.

After determining your preferred brewing method/equipment and budget, it is time to compile our list of potential grinders. Let’s assume we will be using an automatic filter coffee maker, AeroPress and the occasional pour over for this exercise. Knowing our range of grind size requirements for these given approaches will help us narrow down our search. All of the aforementioned machines function best with medium fine to medium or medium coarse grind sizes. This means we can rule out extra fine grinders made for specifically espresso or Turkish coffee. We can also rule out grinders that are known for being on the coarser side. Use this information to begin your search. Once you have finished this article, check out my next post for my suggestions on beginner-intermediate coffee enthusiast grinders.

The next step in finding your perfect grinder is capacity size. Are you brewing for one? Do you have a full house and need a lot of coffee at each sitting?

If you are brewing coffee primarily for yourself and/or one other person, I recommend a hand grinder. I know that is not a very popular opinion because it requires you to “work” to grind your coffee but hear me out. There are a lot of hand grinders on the market today that brew just as well or even better than a lot of their electric counterparts. The burrs are typically the exact same. Sometimes the burrs are even higher quality because hand grinders focus on the main grinding components and none of the extras you buy with an electric model. This means the money goes to quality built, sharp, durable burrs, sleek bodies, and a smaller package. I have a hand grinder at home that I use  as much as my electric model because it consistently delivers a quality cup and is ideal for 1-2 person brewing methods. I would recommend a hand grinder with a minimum capacity of 20 grams to start. A bonus to hand grinders is their size and travel capabilities. You can even bring them to the office or on vacation.

If you are brewing for a larger crowd, say 3-5 people, then you are likely grinding 30+ grams each time you brew. You are going to want to find an electric burr grinder that has a hopper capacity large enough to hold the amount of beans needed. A lot of the time these grinders are marketed as 6 cup, 8 cup, 12 cup, etc. This number refers to the number of cups you would use in an automatic drip machine.  I would recommend looking into the actual hopper capacity measured in grams if that information is available. This will give you a better understanding of how much you can grind in a single sitting which directly relates to the amount of coffee you can make. I say this to try and help you get out of the mentality of “cups” and thinking in grams. I discussed the importance of weighing your beans in another post which can be found here. Why Does My Coffee Taste Bad? If you would like to use only automatic drip coffee machines, feel free to just stop at the capacity listed in cups which would satisfy your maximum coffee pot volume. If you would like to explore other methods of brewing, which I highly recommend, then we can assume you find the grams volume will be enough for a coffee pot, Chemex and likely a French Press.

The next important tip is to invest in a grinder from a well-established manufacturer. These manufacturers have great customer support, tutorial videos, warranty policies and a larger community of people to use as resources. Well-made coffee grinders from names like Baratza, Breville, Turin, Eureka, Fellow, Timemore and 1ZPRESSO will have a better warranty, community of people to help you, and last longer than other grinders. Think of it as an investment for your future coffee journey. I understand the issue of budget will likely come in as a factor, but, if possible, you should save up a little more for a coffee grinder made by a coffee company. This will save you time, frustration and likely money in the long run. Any of the retailers mentioned above will carry all of the latest and greatest coffee grinders on the market. Coffee equipment made by coffee experts will lead to better cups!

If you are looking for recommendations for specific grinders along with my personal reviews, check out my next post to further assist you in your coffee adventure. If you have more specific questions or remarks, feel free to leave a comment below. Until then, I hope you find your Second Wind in whatever it is you are pursuing.