Top 5 Tips to Grind Coffee Beans Like a Pro
There is nothing better than the taste and smell of freshly ground coffee. Grinding coffee at home is so easy to do and can be achieved with the help of a good quality coffee grinder. By using a few tips to grind coffee beans, you’ll have delicious coffee at home.
If you want to make a better brew to the best possible standard, you need to grind the coffee beans into smaller particles to unlock the full flavor of the coffee. Grinding the coffee beans increases the surface area of the roasted coffee beans allowing for better extraction of the flavor and aromas, making a beautiful cup of coffee.
Types of Coffee Grind Size
The backbone and one of the most important parts of brewing a winning cup of coffee is having the perfect coffee grind. Coffee grinding is an invaluable part of the coffee making process. If you lean the basics, you can raise your coffee-making game tenfold.
These are the main types of coffee grind sizes:
- Extra Corse has a similar texture to ground peppercorns.
- Course has a more chunky texture, almost like potting soil.
- Medium has the texture of coarse sand.
- Fine is smoother than the other grinds feels a bit like like sugar or salt when you rub it between your fingers.
- Super fine is not as fine as flour or powdered sugar, however, you can still feel some grit.
- Turkish Grind has a powdery texture like flour.
Not everyone can grind coffee beans perfectly, but luckily, it is something that can be leaned with over time with some practice. Grinding coffee can be a pleasureful experience. If you do it right, you will be rewarded with a rich, flavorsome cup of homemade coffee that fill your home with a beautiful aroma.
Next time you go to make a cup of homemade brew, follow these top 5 tips to grind coffee beans like a pro.
5.) Choose the Right Grind Size
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Choosing the right size to grind for your coffee can be a confusing process. It’s hard to know where to begin when selecting which grind setting to use on the coffee grinder.
However, if you consider the following factors when choosing your grind size, it will help produce a hot coffee beverage to a standard that coffee baristas would enjoy.
The Extraction Rate of Flavor
Coffee extraction is the process of dissolving coffee grind with hot water. However, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration to get the perfect cup of coffee:
- The ratio of water to coffee
- The precision of your grind
- Roast of the coffee
- The temperature of the water
- Amount of time that the water is in contact with your coffee
The amount of time the grind needs with the water depends on the size of the grind. Course grind will need more time with the water to ensure an excellent flavor. The finer grind will need less time in contact with water to extract the flavor.
For best results, brew course grind for about 4-8 minutes and a finer grinder for 1-4 minutes.
The Flow Rate of Water
The flow rate of water measures how quickly or slowly the water flows during the coffee making process. Course grinds will let water pass through quickly, and finer grind slows the flow of water. The flow rate needs to be consistent to produce the best-tasting coffee.
What the Grind Feels Like
Touch is the best way to get a better gauge of the size of the grind. Feel the grind between the thumb and fingers. You’ll then be able to determine the coarseness of the grind from a sea salt feel to a more powered flour feel.
How It Tastes
This may seem obvious, but choosing the right grind comes down to how you like the coffee to taste. Taste is subjective, but if all the essential brewing factors are in place, you will need to figure out what elements you like and dislike.
Is the coffee too bitter or too strong? Do you find the beverage too weak, watery or sour? Adjust the coffee grinder and try again. Make small adjustments at a time and continue to do so until you find the right delicious coffee taste that sets your taste buds alight.
If you are looking for a high-quality bean to grind, then check out these top 5 best regions with the best coffee in the world.
4.) Use a High-Quality Coffee Grinder
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Inconsistent grind can lead to a bad cup of coffee. You may find your coffee tasting bitter or sour and that you are unable to produce the same taste twice. This may be because you are using a low-quality grinder that does not create a consistent standard of coffee ground.
If you want to produce the best-tasting coffee, invest in a high-quality coffee grinder. A high-quality grinder will be more precise when grinding down the coffee beans and produce a coffee shop standard of brew.
Using the Right Grind in Each Coffee Maker
Different methods of coffee brewing require a different size grind. Yes, a lot of this is down to your personal preference and how you like your coffee to taste. However, if you use the right grind in the right machine, you’ll have a better chance of producing a higher standard of coffee.
Follow this basic guideline as a starting point, and from there, you can experiment to find the grind that is suited to your taste and coffee maker.
- Extras Coarse Grind is used in French press and percolators.
- Coarse Grind is generally used in toddy makers, French press, vacuum coffee makers, and percolators.
- Medium Grind is used in auto-drip makers with flat bottom filters.
- Medium/Fine Grinds are commonly used in drip makers with cone-shaped filters.
- Fine Grind is used in stovetop espresso pots and some drip makers.
- Super Fine Grinds are best used in espresso machines.
- Turkish Grind is used for Turkish-style coffee.
3.) Never Pre-Grind the Coffee Beans
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Coffee naturally contains oils and gases. Once these natural elements are lost, it doesn’t taste great. Pre-ground coffee will get stale quicker than the whole bean, which means that these natural oils and gases won’t be as prominent.
Overall it’s better to buy the whole beans and grind them yourself right before you want to brew a coffee. After all, why bother sourcing a good quality coffee bean and grinding them to perfection only for them to sit there for days losing precious flavors?
Here are factors that affect the grinds as they sit:
- Contamination: The oils found in coffee are delicate, making them easy to contaminate. Any orders surrounding the ground coffee will taint the grind spoiling the taste of the coffee.
- Oxygen: Coffee beans contain approximately 1,000 different aromas and flavors. As soon as the bean is ground, these aromas release and react with the oxygen. It only takes 15 minutes for ground coffee to lose 60% of its aroma.
- Moisture: The oils in the coffee bean are water soluble. Once the ground coffee is exposed to the moisture in the air, it will instantly start to dilute these oil and in turn, dilute the flavor.
- Carbon Dioxide Depletion: CO2 is an important part of the coffee brewing process as it is essential for getting the oils into the coffee once the gas is released. However, 80% of this gas is released into the air within 60 seconds of grinding.
The main difference you will find from using pre-ground coffee is the aroma, and it will be more acidic than that of freshly ground coffee. Freshly ground coffee is better than pre-ground.
Top Tip: Keep coffee beans sorted in an upright self heal container for best results.
2.) Measure the Beans Before Grinding
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To ensure that you get a consistent cup of coffee, measure the coffee beans before grinding.
What is the best way to measure coffee beans? Measure coffee by its weight and not by its volume.
Coffee beans lose water content and swell during the roasting process. Which means the darker the roast, the more water content is lost and the more swollen it becomes. Therefore, 50 dark roast coffee beans will wight less than 50 lighter roast coffee beans, although the darker roast will be more swollen and take up more space.
Weighing the beans before grinding them will help overcome some possible problems.
Firstly, when preparing a coffee, you will use a visual approximation of how much grind is needed. A standard coffee scoop is usually the norm. However, as mentioned above, not all coffee roasts contain the same amount of water content, so this is not an accurate representation of the amount of coffee needed.
Secondly, by weighing the coffee beans, it will take into account all the variable densities giving a more accurate measurement of coffee needed. Measuring the coffee beans will also ensure that you do to grind more than is required.
Invest in a digital scale to help provide a more accurate measurement. It will take some trial and error to find the exact measurement of coffee beans needed to provide you with the perfect cup of coffee brewed to your taste.
Start with the standard measure and add or subtract from the weight until you hit the golden coffee taste.
1.) Keep the Coffee Grinder Clean
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Like any household kitchen appliance, coffee grinders need regular cleaning to keep it functioning correctly. For best results clean the coffee grinder in the following ways:
- Brush off any excess grinds off your coffee grinder at the end of each day
- Wipe out the grind chamber and the hopper of the grinder every week or two
- Deep clean the coffee grinder every three to six months
Top Tip: Dry your appliance after cleaning. Coffee grinders won’t grind when they wet.
Remember to store your coffee beans in a sealed upright container to stop any possible damage happening to the beans and losing their freshness. The main causes of coffee bean damage are moisture, air, light, and heat. Store the beans away from these hazards, and only take out the quantities you need for grinding.
We hope that these top 5 tips have inspired you to put on your barista’s apron and helped you on the way to grinding coffee beans like a pro. Once you’ve mastered the art of coffee grinding, invite your friends over and impress them by brewing the perfect cup of your favorite hot beverage.
