Making the Daily Grind an Everyday Pleasure

We've talked to many customers who buy their coffee pre-ground, as we used to. No judgement, there are good reasons to buy pre-ground coffee:

  • Convenience - no grinder to purchase, clean, adjust or maintain.
  • Consistency - commercial grinders produce very uniform particle sizes, more consistently than inexpensive home blade grinders.
  • Lower initial cost - burr grinders can run from $45 to hundreds of dollars. Pre-ground coffee skips that investment.
  • Faster mornings - brewing starts immediately; especially attractive for busy households or offices.

There are also a number of good reasons why a home grinder is the way to go.

  • No loss of aroma - aromatic compounds begin escaping as soon as coffee is ground. When grinding just before brewing, you get to experience the full sensory spectrum of your coffee.
  • No oxidation - after grinding, coffee's surface area is increased thousands of times, and oxygen can contact those surfaces. This greatly speeds up the breakdown of flavorful oils and aromatic compounds, producing stale, flat coffee. For the most vibrant, flavorful cup, grind immediately before brewing.
  • Greater flexibility - different brewing methods require different grind sizes. With a burr grinder, you can optimize brewing easily and prepare grounds from very fine to very coarse. 

You can think about coffee the same way you think about peppercorns. Pre-ground coffee is like pre-ground black pepper. Both are perfectly usable, but grinding peppercorns just before cooking releases dramatically more aroma and flavor. Coffee beans are no different.

We've also talked to many customers who recently bought a grinder, or who've been grinding for a while. Without exception, they confirm that there's no going back to pre-ground coffee; their daily brew tastes much better.

But honestly, it's all up to you to decide what's most important to you. We're happy to sell our coffee pre-ground or whole bean, and just want to make your coffee experience as good as it can be!

Blades and Burrs

There are basically two types of coffee grinders in common use. First would be the blade grinder, or "spice grinder", which is your most inexpensive option. Like a mini blender, it chops the coffee beans in a flurry, but without concern for particle size. The result is a mix of coarse grains and powder. But since each brewing method wants uniform particle sizes, your resulting cup will be very inconsistent. 

Second are burr grinders, which crush beans between two precisely machined burrs, producing a much more uniform particle size. Burrs come in 2 general geometric types - conical and flat. Conical burrs are more common for home use, and consist of a rotating cone-shaped inner burr nested inside a ring-shaped outer burr. Prices vary considerably, between say $45 and $200. This would be the style we'd recommend for people looking for a new grinder.

Commercial-type grinders use flat machined burrs, similar to to stones in a grist mill, where the beans enter from the center and exit around the outside. There are some consumer grinders that use flat burrs, but expect prices to start closer to $300. Commercial units can cost upwards of $2000.

Personally, I don't think you'll be able to detect a significant difference in taste between coffee ground with a conical or flat burrs.

Recommendations

So what's a "good grinder"? Well, in the Good Earth Roasters office we have a Grindmaster commercial high-volume grinder we picked up on Marketplace for $250; the same style you'll find at local supermarkets. We use this daily for our personal morning brews. A workhorse, but it weighs a ton, and is loud and unattractive. We wouldn't recommend for regular home use.

We used to use a $45 Cuisinart burr grinder for years before we started our business. It did a decent job of producing consistent grind size, but it sure sounded like a backyard chipper/shredder, which was very annoying early in the morning. It also generated a lot of static, and the counter was always a mess after grinding.

Later on, I purchased a $150 Baratza Encore burr coffee grinder when I switched to brewing pour overs, as I'd seen it used in a local coffee shop. It's perhaps what I'd consider a "next step up" in grinders - very reliable, and very popular. You can still get them on eBay or Marketplace for under $100. I used mine several times daily for 3+ years. It was reliable, less noisy than the Cuisinart and easier to clean. Even though it still had a static issue, it was my go-to recommendation for a long time. 

Until recently, when we purchased a KitchenAid Burr Coffee Grinder for $160 to use at markets for customers who needed ground coffee rather than whole bean. What a super machine! We've been using it for a month now, and we heartily recommend it. It does a great job of consistent grinding, is very quiet, looks nice, generates nearly no static, and is just generally an all around great grinder. We may end up buying another just for home use.

So that's our grinder story. And our bottom line is this: Spend what you feel you can on a grinder, and grind as often as you brew. You won't regret it!