Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

Coffee is definitely one of the most versatile beverages in the world.  Coffee can be bought pre-ground in a powder form, which is a great convenience.  However, real coffee enthusiasts (like myself) will insist on grinding the coffee bean just before brewing, so as to be able to capture the most flavor into the brew.

Different kinds of coffee makers and brewing methods require different kinds of coarseness when grinding the coffee.  A cheaper electric coffee grinder usually do not have such a wide range of grind settings and thus limit the types of coffee which can be brewed.  A conical burr coffee grinder is more expensive, but usually has a wider range of grind settings.  Here are some grind settings and some recommended ways to brew the coffee in each case:

Coarse

Coarse ground coffee is suitable to be used in percolators and in a french press.  A coarser grind is required because a french press is filterless, and too fine a grind will allow too much of the ground coffee to seep through the press.  When that happens, you’ll end up drinking lots of sediment (definitely happened to me before).  French pressed coffee is very easy to prepare and is typically stronger than most drip type brews.

Fine

Finely ground coffee is suitable for the drip coffee makers.  Drip coffee makers are probably the most common types of electric coffee makers.  Most of them come with a cleanable cone filter.  Most pre-packaged and pre-ground coffee you can get at the supermaket also are finely ground (unless you happen to be a shop that sells gourmet coffee).

Extra fine

Extra finely ground coffee is suitable for making espresso.  Espresso machines are usually designed to be used with extra finely ground coffee and using coffee of any other fineness would result in badly tasting coffee.  The extra fineness of the coffee allows the hot water in an espresso maker to pass through the coffee in the most optimal time, resulting in the best espresso brew.

Be sure to buy a coffee grinder that can grind the coffee beans to the required fineness (or coarseness), depending on what kind of coffee brewing method you want to use.  I would recommend a good conical burr coffee grinder which has the best versatility and results in coffee of the best taste.

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