If you’re considering what method to use to grind your whole coffee beans, you’re in the right place. No matter your chosen coffee brewing method, this guide will help you determine the best coffee grinding method for your needs. Here I explain methods that are both automatic and manual. These can be good for most setups, including pour over coffee using a coffee dripper, french press, muslin bag, and many others. For many of the options I describe, there are new and old versions available. If you choose a method that has been around for awhile, you might be able to find yourself an antique coffee grinder.
Why grind your own coffee?
You can buy coffee pre-ground, so why should you do it yourself? The answer is freshness. When coffee beans are first roasted, they off-gas for the first two to three days. You can definitely use them during that time, but they are not at their peak yet. On day three or four, they are their most fresh. At this point, they will continue to be delicious for about a week. After that, they begin to go a bit stale. They can still taste okay for a few more weeks, especially if they are stored properly in a cool dry place. However, they are best during that first week after the off-gassing. This is because the oils evaporate over time.
Grinding the beans into smaller pieces increases the surface area. In turn, they are more exposed to air, causing the oils to evaporate faster. This makes them go stale and can affect the flavor. Because of this, if the beans are pre-ground, they will not have a good taste for as long as they would if kept whole. They should still be safe to drink as along as nothing else is going on, but many people don’t like the taste of stale coffee. That’s why we like to keep the beans whole for as long as possible. I like to grind mine at the last possible moment, while my water heats up.
There are a few common ways to grind coffee beans, as well as a couple of less common ways. In the list below, I explain the least two common ways first, then I describe the more popular methods.
Coffee Grinding Methods:
- Two rocks: You put your coffee beans on top of a rock and smash them with another rock. This costs nothing.
- Mortar and pestle: a step up from two rocks, and my personal choice. This is basically a stone basin or bowl (the mortar) with a thick wand, usually of the same material (the pestle). You put your beans or herbs in the the mortar, and move the pestle around in a way that breaks them up. With coffee beans, this looks like a smashing/mashing motion, and with softer things like herbs and spices, this looks like moving the pestle around in a circle, causing them to break apart by scraping. The benefits of this are that it’s easy to use, it’s easy to clean, it’s multipurpose, and you have complete control over the results. The cons are that it can be more time consuming than some other methods, and it requires manual effort.
- Blade grinder: This kind has a basin at the top where you put coffee beans or herbs, and two blades that whir in a circle. It basically cuts through anything that’s in there. They tend to give an uneven grind, but they are very easy to use. If you are using one of these, hold the button down for a couple seconds, then shake to redistribute the material, and repeat. Check on what’s in there every 2-4 seconds of grinding. This won’t give the most even grind, but it certainly does the trick.
- Handheld burr grinder: This is a small device that you crank by hand. Inside is a reservoir for whole beans, a metal burr inside a metal chamber, and a reservoir for ground beans below that. You put the beans in the top, close the lid, and crank. These can be difficult to operate, but it’s a phase almost every coffee aficionado goes through.
- Electric burr grinder: This is the same mechanism as a handheld burr grinder, but it does the work for you, powered by a wall outlet. You can set the grind level by moving a slider. These usually have larger reservoirs where you can store whole or ground beans, but I don’t recommend using them for storage if you want to maintain freshness. They are great for grinding coffee, though. They can provide a very even grind to an exact size.
The first three options can be used for both coffee beans and herbs, but burr grinders are best left to coffee only. They wouldn’t do much for grinding most herbs, and they’re very difficult to clean. So, unless you want it to smell and taste like your herbs for pretty much ever, use a burr grinder for coffee only.
Why am I talking about herbs and spices on a post about coffee?
Because I’m going to post recipes that involve herbs and spices! That’s going to be the most fun part of this blog. Adding herbs or spices to coffee can give your coffee a nice flavor, and some herbs have been shown to provide health benefits.
Now you know why grinding your own coffee beans can elevate the flavor of your coffee, as well as the most popular types of coffee grinders. I hope you were educated and entertained by this post. You can bookmark this post and use it for reference later. If you like it, subscribe to Herbs and Brew 🙂