Coffee Grinders – What’s the Scoop?

Coffee grinders. A device found in everyones kitchen next to their coffee maker of choice. That is, of course, assuming you purchase your beans whole, and not ground. Believe it or not, your coffee grinder should be the first piece of equipment you upgrade, but more on that later. Coffee grinders vary in all shapes and sizes, and price. Some coffee grinders are compact and made for the avid traveler, and are turned by hand, whereas others are heavy appliances that give you that perfect grind size for pulling an excellent espresso shot.

But here’s the question, why are some coffee grinders so expensive? Like, several hundreds of dollars expensive. How is it any different than the $10 coffee grinder I found at at a garage sale?

I’ll give you the answer in just two words. quality, and repeatability.

Coffee grinders aren’t just a tool that take whole coffee beans and turn them into ground coffee. I mean I guess it is… but it’s more than just that. Let me explain.

Different coffee brewing methods require different coffee grind sizes. For example, a french press makes coffee by steeping ground coffee in water for a few minutes, and then the plunger is pushed down to force all the grounds to the very bottom of the carafe.

Typically, you use a more coarse grind size for this brewing method. This is because your beans “interact” with the water for much longer, than, compared to a drip coffee maker, or a pourover. Using a coarse grind size lowers the surface area on your coffee grounds. If you were to use a more fine coffee grind size, your coffee would be more bitter, the more fine your grind size is, because of the increased surface area of your beans.

When making espresso, this fine coffee grind size is exactly what you’re looking for. And it takes a higher-quality coffee grinder to produce such a grind size. Higher quality coffee grinders are, of course, more expensive than others.

When it comes to brewing coffee, the goal is for you to use a method that is repeatable. What I mean by that is this: When you use the same exact coffee brewing method (the same amount of water at the same temperature, the same coffee bean and same grind size, etc.), you expect to yield a cup of coffee that tastes the same, or close to the same, each time.

However, when you use a coffee grinder that is low-quality, your coffee grind size probably isn’t uniform. Your cup of ground coffee most likely has ground coffee that are of different sizes, and you might not even be able to see it with the naked eye. So, because of this, your water is going to interact with the coffee grounds that aren’t uniform in size, and yield different flavors and aromas.

This is something to keep in mind when choosing a coffee grinder, and also why I advocate for upgrading to a high quality grinder above all else. This doesn’t mean you have to drop over $1,000 on a high-end espresso grinder, but do some research online and see what others are using, and what results they’re yielding. You’d be shocked at how much better quality your cup of coffee will be by just upgrading this one piece of equipment. I know I was when I upgraded my grinder.

If you have any questions or comments, or are looking for suggestions, please feel free to email me at dan@squadron.coffee, and I’d love to help out. Also, checkout my Instagram page for more content.