When it comes to brewing coffee, freshness matters. You will sometimes hear from your local roaster (us included) that when buying yourself a bag or two, brew your coffee 7-14 days from the roast date for it to achieve the peak of its flavor. This of course varies depending on the roast level of your coffee and the quality of coffee you’re getting, but the rule generally holds up. To ensure that freshness, one of the things we would recommend is to grind your coffee at home.
Compak K8 Coffee Grinder
A coffee grinder seems like the kind of thing you can pick up at an appliance store and be done with in one go. The reality is that good coffee grinders are far and few between, let alone those that will really be the ones you’ll stick with for a good long while. The variety of grinders out in the market is quite wide with prices ranging from super budget friendly to professional grade. For the aspiring home brewer, we want to tackle two key points to help you find the right grinder for you.
Manual vs Electric
The purchase decision on getting your first coffee grinder typically starts with the choice between a manual or electric one. Time tends to be a factor in these things, as you’ll definitely be able to grind your coffee a lot quicker with an electric one, but manual grinder provides the option of portability and flexibility to use it whenever you need it. There’s also the ritual that goes to being able to grind your coffee manually, which is great for a home brewer but probably not as practical in a café setting. If you’re going through a lot of coffee at home, and particularly if you’re brewing around 30g or more in one go, an electric grinder may be the better option for you.
Compak R8 Coffee Grinder
Burr Types
The burr has the primary task of ensuring your coffee is ground consistently and with great quality. Cheaper grinders will go for a choice of a ceramic burr (for manual ones) or a blade grinder (for electric ones). A great middle ground to these is the steel conical (or cone shaped) burr, since you’ll have a better chance at getting a more consistent grind while also ensuring your grinder’s longevity. You’d be saving money going with a ceramic burr grinder but over time, there’s the high chance you’ll be shifting to one with a steel burr. That, plus coffee grinders with steel burrs have become available at the entry level means that you don’t have to go much higher in price just to get one. Great entry level electric grinders also typically come with steel conical burrs, with better models coming with improvements in the overall build quality or with added features.
Hario V60 Drip Kettle, Origami Dripper, Kalita 300N Server, Acaia Lunar Scale
Hopefully we’ve been able to cover some important ground in helping you take your pick for a coffee grinder for the home. Stay tuned for our recommendations list where we’ll be sharing the best grinders across different price points.
| Brewing coffee at home should be as easy as 1-2-3. We’re here to help you guys learn how to make the very best coffee at home with our series, The Home Brew. |
Words by Ryan Uy
