How to Find the Ideal Coffee Grinder For Espresso Brewing Method at Home

You need an ideal coffee grinder to make the best tasting espresso at home. It will make or break your experience and make a big difference in the quality of your brews.

The ideal espresso coffee grinder will grind beans very fine and allows a wide range of grind settings. Having room to test out different grind settings will enable you to experiment with different extractions. Look for a large enough hopper if you are a big consumer. Otherwise, a single-dose coffee grinder will also do the job. The advantag of a single-dose grinder is that it occupies less space on the countertop, plus keeping the coffee beans in its sealed bag will keep the coffee beans fresh for a longer time. 

Convenience

If you're brewing espresso at home, finding the ideal coffee grinder is essential. Not only will it give you better control over your brews, but you'll also have a more rounded flavor.

Conical burr grinders and Flat Burr grinders are preferred over blade grinders for various reasons. Whereas blade grinders chop up beans at the blade level, flat or conical burr grinders chew and crush them, producing consistent grind sizes.

There are several types of burr grinders to choose from. Some come with flat burrs, while others have conical burrs that fit into each other to grind beans. 

Style

A coffee grinder makes a huge difference when it comes to the quality of your espresso. This is because it allows you to customize the grind, whether it's super fine or coarse.

Unlike blade grinders, burr grinders do a much better job of grinding beans into a uniform size, which helps produce a balanced brew that's free from uneven extraction.

There are two types of burrs: conical and flat. Both do a good job of crushing the beans to a consistent size, but experts are divided on which is the best.

Function

An excellent home espresso coffee grinder grinds beans evenly and consistently to achieve the best flavour. On the other hand, a low-quality grinder produces a mixture of large and small particles that can change how much your coffee extracts during brewing, leading to under-extracted or over-extracted coffee. This has a crucial role in making great-tasting espresso, so we need to recommend more to buy a quality grinder. 

Choosing the right type of grinder is also essential, especially when brewing espresso at home. Unlike blade grinders, which inconsistently grind the beans, burr grinders force beans through two abrasive discs or "burrs," creating uniform grounds that are easy to adjust for multiple brewers.

For the best results, invest in a high-quality burr grinder that will last a lifetime. These machines are also more expensive than blade grinders but deliver better quality and consistent results over time.

Performance

If you want to make espresso at home, you need a grinder capable of producing the grinds required for brewing espresso shots. The best coffee grinders for this purpose are intuitive, have a variety of adjustments to fine-tune the grind size, and can produce consistent grinds across all brewing methods.

Grinders that are designed for pairing with an espresso machine usually have a bracket that holds your portafilter. They also spit the grinds directly into the portafilter rather than into a dosing cup. We at Bean Bros like grinders that grin into a dosing cup, as we believe it has the best workflow.

Value

When it comes to finding the ideal coffee grinder for espresso brewing method at home, value is one of the most important factors to consider. Entry-level models will typically cost between 200€, while mid-range grinders can range up to $500. And the top of the line can cost all the way between 3-4000€

If you're on a budget, you may want to look for grinders with only a few grind settings. This will help you get consistent results without spending a fortune.

In addition, you should also check the warranty that comes with your espresso grinder. Most quality grinders come with 2 years of warranty, which ensures that you're protected should something go wrong with your device.

Our tests showed us the best results for an espresso grinder using the Varia VS3 in the mid-price range. It comes with a specially designed conical burr and spins at a low RPM, ensuring consistent particle size that is crucial for espresso brewing. Based on our tests, it produced a balanced sweetness and acidity in its' cup profile. 

We cannot recommend an espresso grinder in a lower price category as we find any that lived up to our expectations. 

Another grinder from a higher price range is the Ditting 807 Lab Sweet which retails at around 3000€.