GoKawiilNailing your coffee-to-water ratio matters -- experts often cite a golden ratio as the benchmark -- but grind size carries just as much weight. Grind too coarse or too fine, and even the best beans won't live up to their potential.
If you've been drinking coffee for a while, chances are you've settled into a routine -- a go-to method, whether that's drip, espresso, or pour-over, plus a small arsenal of gear to go with it. But the brewer is only part of the equation. A handful of factors shape what ends up in your cup, bean freshness included, but grind size is easily the most underrated.
Most experts recommend grinding fresh at home, but not all grinders are created equal. The best ones produce a consistent, even grind that gives you more control over the final cup. That means a burr grinder.
What is a burr grinder, and how does it work?
A burr grinder gives you maximum control over the beans you use to make a cup of coffee -- it's one of the most important coffee tools you can own. Patrick Holland/CNET
Unlike a blade grinder, which grinds coffee beans by slicing them, burr coffee grinders crush them. Burr grinders use two abrasive or notched discs or plates, known as burrs, that rotate either parallel to one another or concentrically.
"A burr grinder gives you maximum control," Kaleena Teoh stresses. Teoh is co-founder and director of education for Coffee Project New York, and praises burr grinders for "giving you the power to brew the coffee exactly the way you want it to be."
Burr grinders are able to grind beans evenly and to a precise coarseness. Kuzmik_A/Getty
As the coffee beans are squeezed between them, they're crushed to a preset size determined by the distance between the two burrs, which is adjustable to suit both the type of coffee being made and personal preference.
When you use a burr grinder, the coffee beans get crushed to a predetermined size -- which is more consistent than a blade grinder.
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