You Need This Coffee Grinder
We looked at hundreds of reviews and picked the three best coffee grinders depending on your budget. If you don’t like to wait, here is the summary:
Best All Around Coffee Grinder:
Capresso Infinity Burr
Best Budget Coffee Grinder:
Krups Fast Touch Blade
Best High End Espresso Coffee Grinder:
Rancillo Rocky
Why Is A Great Coffee Grinder Important?
A good coffee grinder is an essential part of making a tasty cup. Many people think there is little difference between fresh ground coffee and old grounds out of a can. I’ve yet to meet anyone that can’t be convinced of the benefit of fresh ground coffee after a quick taste test. The change in taste, aroma, and flavor from old ground to fresh ground is simply astounding.
A fresh grind can turn a bad coffee into an acceptable cup. An old grind can turn the best coffee in the world into a bland stale pot of brown water. If you are buying high end or expensive coffee pre-ground, you are likely wasting your money.
Why Is Fresh Ground Coffee So Much Better?
A properly roasted coffee bean is a complex combination of elements. That beautiful coffee aroma comes from the essential oils that are created during the roasting process. Roast too little and the oils are never created. Roast too long and they become burnt. Imagine oil in a frying pan. There is a fine line between the proper oil temperature and blackened burnt oil. It’s the same way with coffee.
Those coffee oils only stay around for so long. Once ground most of the oils that give coffee it’s great flavor are GONE in thirty minutes. Where do they go? Evaporated into the air.
Grinding just before brewing produces the best taste by far. While vacuum sealing directly after grinding can help somewhat, those essential oils still escape. What doesn’t escape during the vacuum sealing process is left on the bag or on the sides of the can rather than in your cup where it belongs.
Which Coffee Grinder Is Best? What Are The Different Types?
Blade Grinders: These are what most people think of as home grinders. They have a blade that spins and chops up the beans. They are by far the most economical choice, typically costing under $20. A blade grinder is a good way to start if you want to try grinding your own coffee at a low cost. Pros: Low Cost, easy to clean, can be used to also chop herbs or nuts if you decide to upgrade. Cons: Loud, hard to achieve consistent results, blade causes friction which can burn some flavor from the coffee.
Burr Grinders: The burr grinder is a great choice for home grinding. They range in price from around $50 all the way up to $300 or more for the more fancy models. Burr is not a brand name but rather the technique used for the coffee grinding process. Two metal wheels crush the beans between them as the spin either at different speeds or in different directions depending on the type. Burr grinders still grind at a high speed, which can cause some heating during the grinding process, but typically only when grinding large quantities at once. This usually isn’t a concern for the home grinder. Pros: High quality grind at a reasonable price. Easy to achieve consistent results. Cons: Loud, can be harder to clean.
Conical Burr Grinders: These are similar to regular burr grinders, but instead of two flat surfaces grinding the beans, they use a cone with an inside and outside element to crush the beans. This allows for a finer degree of grinding over a traditional burr grinder and a much slower rotation with little or no heating of the grounds. Pros: Conical burr grinders are quieter and less likely to clog than regular burr grinders. Cons: higher cost, but prices have dropped dramatically in recent years. Today a good conical burr grinder can be had for under $85.
While there are other methods of grinding coffee, including roller grinders for industrial size grinding, or traditional mortar and pestles, these three are the dominant methods for the home grinder.
Using a Single Cup Keurig Brewer?
While those single cup Keurig brewers are great in a pinch, the prepackaged K-Cups can’t match a fresh grind in terms of flavor and aroma. However, you can have the best of convenience and speed at the same time. There are reusable K-cup filters that can be filled with fresh ground coffee for that perfect single cup convenience but with fresh ground taste.
Most people find that one reusable K-cup filter is not enough, as it’s frequently dirty from the last cup. A conical burr grinder and two or three K-cup filters are perfect for that single cup lifestyle.
