Coffee Grinders: The Most Important Weapon in Your Arsenal

It can be easy to overlook the importance of having a seriously capable coffee grinder. With all the weird and wonderful gadgets available for brewing coffee these days, the humble grinder often takes a distant backseat.

But what many (if not most) fail to realize is that a good coffee grinder really is one of the most important weapon in your coffeemaking arsenal. Quite simply, nothing you can do will compensate for poorly-ground coffee, if you don’t grind your beans properly in the first place.

If you’re serious about brewing barista-quality coffee at home, it all starts with a great coffee and a good coffee grinder.

As for which type of coffee grinder you should choose, personal preference plays a role. There are benefits and drawbacks to electric coffee grinders and manual coffee grinders, but it’s ultimately down to which of the two works best for you.

Manual Coffee Grinders

Traditional burr coffee grinders have been around in one form or another for centuries. Designed in all manner of weird and wonderful shapes, sizes and configurations, the objective has always been the same - to crush beans into consistent grounds at the turn of a crank.

Even today, consistency remains the biggest advantage of a manual coffee grinder. No budget electric grinder on the market can rival the flawless consistency or the control you’re able to exert over a decent manual grinder. Hence, for those who take their coffee very seriously, there’s really no alternative.

On the downside, manual grinders demand a small amount of elbow-grease to operate, though the process isn’t particularly labor-intensive.

Electric Coffee Grinders

With an electric coffee grinder, you simply press the button and the blades or burrs do the job for you. Options range wildly - everything from a simple €20 battery-powered grinder to the outstanding Mahlkoenig X54 home grinder.

In terms of convenience and practicality, nothing beats a good electric coffee grinder. But at the same time, some would argue that they’re not always up to scratch where consistency is concerned, namely blade grinders.

How an electric grinder performs will usually be determined by the quality of the device and its operating mechanism - most use blades, though some use a powered burr system, which is definitely a better option since it offers much greater consistency of coffee grounds.

A Choice or a Compromise?

Truth is, most people would not be able to differentiate between two cups of coffee brewed using the different types of grinders. You’d have to be a serious connoisseur (and somewhat on the selective side) to detect any real difference in the resulting coffee.

In any case, there’s no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ option outright, as it depends entirely on the quality of the machine and how you use it. Not to mention, the quality of the coffee beans you buy, and how you put the grounds to use.

Brewing outstanding coffee is perfectly possible with both electric and manual coffee grinders, so it’s entirely up to you which you go with!

At Hayman’s online coffee store, you will find the best coffee beans in the world, including the legendary Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, best Kona coffee Hawaii, and Panama Geisha coffee beans (also called Gesha coffee). These spectacular gourmet coffees are available as green coffee beans (for home roasting), roasted whole bean coffee, best ground coffee, Nespresso®* compatible pods, and coffee pods compatible with Keurig K Cup coffee makers (incl. Keurig 2.0 models)**. Click here to order today and enjoy free worldwide shipping!

 

* Nespresso® is a registered trademark of Société des Produits Nestlé S.A., unrelated to Hayman®. Our espresso pods are not created or sold by Nespresso®.

** Keurig and K-Cup are registered trademarks of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. unrelated to Hayman®. Our pods are not created or sold by Keurig®.