How to Grind Coffee Beans, With or Without a Grinder

Grind size controls how fast water pulls flavor out of coffee. Fine grounds give up flavor quickly, so they suit short brews like espresso. Coarse grounds release flavor slowly, so they suit long brews like French press and cold brew. Get the match right and the rest of the recipe gets much easier.

This lesson covers the right grind for each brewer, how to use burr and blade grinders, how to grind without one, and how to tell from the taste whether you got it right.

What grind size do you need for your brewer?

Use a coarse grind, like rock salt, for French press and cold brew. Use a medium grind, like kosher salt, for drip machines and pour-over. Use a fine grind, like table salt, for espresso. The rule behind it is simple: the longer water stays in contact with the coffee, the coarser the grind should be.

Grind descriptions, times and ratios from the National Coffee Association's brewing guides.

Treat these as starting points. Different grinders label their settings differently, and a "medium" on one machine can be finer than a "medium" on another. Start where the table says, brew a cup, then adjust one step at a time.

How do you grind coffee beans with a grinder?

Weigh the beans for one brew, set the grinder for your method, grind just before brewing and check the grounds against the table above. A good starting dose is about 15 grams of beans for an 8-ounce mug. Then brew, taste and move the setting finer or coarser next time.

1. Weigh your beans. A kitchen scale is more accurate than a scoop, because beans vary in size and density. At a 1:16 ratio, 15 grams of coffee makes about 240 grams (8 ounces) of brewed coffee.
2. Set the grind. Start in the middle of your grinder's range for drip or pour-over, near the coarse end for French press and near the fine end for espresso.
3. Grind right before you brew. The National Coffee Association recommends grinding as close to brewing as possible, since ground coffee loses aroma much faster than whole beans.
4. Check the grounds between your fingers. They should feel like the salt in the table, with few powdery bits or large chunks.
5. Brew, taste and adjust one notch at a time. Change only the grind between cups so you know what made the difference.

Burr grinder vs blade grinder

A burr grinder crushes beans between two burrs set a fixed distance apart, so the grounds come out close to the same size. A blade grinder spins a blade like a small blender and chops the beans unevenly, leaving dust and chunks together. The NCA recommends burr grinders for that reason and notes they are less likely to overheat the coffee. Hand burr grinders are an affordable way to get that consistency.

How to get a better grind from a blade grinder

• Grind in short pulses of 2 to 3 seconds rather than one long run.
• Shake the grinder gently between pulses so larger pieces fall back toward the blade.
• Grind less at once. A half-full chamber grinds more evenly than a packed one.
• Stick to forgiving methods such as drip or French press. Espresso needs more precision than a blade grinder can give.

Some people also grind from frozen. A 2016 study in Scientific Reports by Uman and colleagues found that colder beans ground into finer, more uniform particles. If you keep beans in the freezer in airtight portions, you can grind them straight from cold.

How do you grind coffee beans without a grinder?

Use a blender or food processor in short pulses, a mortar and pestle, or a rolling pin with the beans sealed in a zip-top bag. These tools make uneven grounds, so they work best for forgiving brews like French press, drip or cold brew. Fine, even espresso grounds are very hard to get this way.

Whichever tool you use, work in small batches so you can see the size as you go. If the grounds come out uneven, pour them through a fine-mesh strainer and give the larger pieces another round. A coarse, slightly uneven grind is fine in a French press, since the long steep evens things out.

If none of these sounds appealing, you can ask the roaster or the shop where you buy beans to grind the bag for your brew method when you order.

How do you know if your grind is right?

Taste tells you. If the coffee is bitter, harsh or drying, the grind is probably too fine, so go coarser. If it's sour, thin or watery, the grind is probably too coarse, so go finer. A well-matched grind tastes sweet and balanced, and the brew finishes in about the time listed for your method.

Brew time is your second clue. A pour-over that drains in 90 seconds is usually ground too coarse. One that is still dripping at 5 minutes is usually ground too fine. An espresso shot that gushes out in 10 seconds needs a finer grind, and one that drips slowly past 40 seconds needs a coarser one.

Change one thing at a time. If you change the grind, the dose and the water temperature together, you won't know which change helped. Our beginner home brewing lesson walks through a simple routine for dialing in a new bag.

Should you grind your own coffee?

If you care about flavor, yes. Whole beans hold their aroma longer than ground coffee, and grinding at home lets you match the grind to your brewer. The National Coffee Association gives opened whole beans about 1 to 3 weeks of peak flavor and ground coffee about 1 to 2 weeks at room temperature.

Grinding at home also lets you fix problems. With pre-ground coffee, you're stuck with one size. If the cup tastes sour or bitter, you can only change the dose or the water. With whole beans, you can move the grind a notch and try again tomorrow.

Pre-ground still has a place. If you only own a drip machine and drink a bag within a week or two, a medium grind from the roaster works well. Store it in an airtight, opaque container and buy smaller bags more often.

Which coffee beans suit each grind?

Any bean can be ground for any brewer, but some coffees shine in particular methods. Bright, floral light roasts reward the clarity of a medium pour-over grind. Darker, chocolatey roasts hold up to a coarse French press grind and cold brew. Espresso blends are built for a fine grind and a short, pressurized shot.

A few examples from our catalog, with tasting notes as the roasters list them:

• For pour-over, Black & White Coffee Roasters Aricha Washed is a lighter roast from Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, with black tea, honey, light florals and lemonade notes. Canyon Coffee Gedeb is a medium-light, washed, organic Ethiopian with persimmon, lime and bergamot.
• For French press, Coffee Bros. Dark Roast Coffee blends Brazil and Indonesia, with dark chocolate, creamy caramel and maple syrup listed. Tiny Footprint Coffee Nicaragua Segovia Dark is an organic, Fair Trade dark roast with chocolate, apricot, fig and spice.
• For espresso, Onyx Coffee Lab Monarch is a washed Colombia and Ethiopia espresso blend with dark chocolate and winey berries.
• For cold brew, Coffee Bros. Cold Brew Coffee Blend is a natural-process Brazil and Ethiopia blend with dark chocolate, berry and brown sugar. If you'd rather skip grinding, Hula Daddy Kona Cold Brew is sold already coarse-ground for cold brew.

You can filter every coffee on the site by roast and origin at Explore coffees.

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