But first, a little about the history of the coffee grinder:
Before the time of the grinder, coffee was prepared by boiling whole coffee beans for so long that flavour and caffeine were eventually extracted. The result was of a completely different flavour than black gold, rather a thin and bitter brew with high caffeine levels. It wasn't until the 13th century that coffee beans were crushed in small stone mills when coffee was introduced to Arabia. A few hundred years later, in the 15th century, cylindrical coffee mills were invented in Turkey. The predecessor of the classic table model with drawer (as pictured, photo: Mohylek) saw the light of day in the 18th century, while the first electric coffee grinder was produced in 1879 by the Hobart Manufacturing Company of Troy in Ohio, USA.
3 good reasons to get a coffee grinder
Flexibility: By having a coffee grinder on your kitchen counter, you'll be able to brew all types of coffee - press pot, funnel coffee, hand brew and mocha brew - from the same bag of coffee beans. Because the different brewing methods have different contact times with hot water, the degree of grinding is used to adjust how much flavour is extracted from the coffee bean. Read more about this in our grinder guide further down this page.
Flavour: A large proportion of coffee's more than 1,000 aroma and flavour components are released when they react with oxygen (oxidation). This means that the coffee has lost around 60 % of its flavour compounds 15 minutes after the coffee beans have been ground.
Preference: Although there are a number of guides to help you choose the right grind for different brewing methods, it's your own flavour that's most important when drinking coffee. With a coffee grinder, you can influence the flavour intensity of your coffee by fine-tuning the grind to your own preferences. We tell you more about how you can influence the flavour using a coffee grinder in the grinder guide below.
What type of grinder should I choose?
The quality of coffee grinders can be easily distinguished by looking at how evenly they grind the coffee beans. This is very important for brewing good coffee with a predictable flavour. The cheapest grinders on the market have simple, rotating knife blades that simply cut up the coffee beans, giving a very uneven result. A good coffee grinder must be built with a grinding mechanism consisting of rotating grinding surfaces that grind the coffee beans evenly and stably. A popular home grinder, which has become known for good quality at a pleasant price, is Wilfa Black Aroma. It grinds coffee for most purposes within the four walls of your kitchen. If you're the discerning type, or want a grinder to serve a high-end espresso machine, you may want to look at alternatives in slightly higher price ranges. But for most people, Wilfa's coffee grinder does the job and then some.
Grinder guide: How should coffee be ground?
The coffee grinder is in the house, a bag of whole coffee beans has been purchased - what's next? Before we break it down into grinding and brewing methods, let's start with some basic theory: the finer the coffee is ground, the larger the contact surface from which the hot water can extract flavour. In practice, this means that the choice of grind affects extraction - that is, how much flavour is extracted from the coffee. The human palate prefers the taste of coffee when around 20 per cent of the soluble components in the coffee have been extracted. This is achieved by adapting the degree of grinding to the brewing method's contact time between coffee and water. At the same time, the amount of coffee has a major impact on the taste, and most people will find it tastes best when the coffee is made with between 60 and 65 grams of coffee per litre of water.
Now let's put theory into practice: Before you grind the coffee beans, it's a good idea to weigh out exactly how much you need. Calculate around six grams of coffee per decilitre of water, depending on your equipment and preferences. Then set the grinder according to your brewing method and pour the coffee beans into the bean cup. Many grinders, such as Wilfa Black Aroma, has specified a number of brewing methods where you set the degree of grinding. You can use this as a starting point before fine-tuning to your own taste. The rule is simple: the finer the grind, the more flavour is extracted from the coffee. If you want a chopper with an advanced coffee grinder, and would like to grind for espresso, this is the way to go. Wilfa Uniform that apply.
Read more about which coffee beans you should buy here.
Degree of grinding for different brewing methods
- Espresso (extra fine grind) is brewed under high pressure with a very short brewing time. This requires an extra fine grind, and you may need to up the quality when buying a grinder to get a good enough result. Wilfa Uniform is an example of such a coffee grinder.
- In the classic mocha pot (fine paint grade) steam pushes the water through a metal filter filled with coffee. This brew has a slightly longer contact time with water than espresso and requires a fine grind.
- In an aeropress (between fine and medium) the coffee is brewed for around a minute before being pressed through a paper filter. The normal degree of grinding is somewhere between mocha (extra fine) and filter (medium).
- When filter brewing on coffee maker (medium grind) and Hand brewers (medium grind) of the "Kalita Wave" or "Chemex" type pass water evenly through the coffee for anything from two to five minutes, depending on the brewing volume. Here, it's common to settle on a setting around the middle of the scale, often with a slightly coarser grind for large brews.
- In the press pot (coarse grind) hot water is in constant contact with the coffee for anything from four to six minutes. In order to minimise extraction, you must therefore grind the coffee coarsely. The same applies to boiling coffee, which is often ground even coarser for the press pot.
How to clean the coffee grinder?
Now for the boring part: cleaning. Because coffee is an organic material filled with coffee oils, some residue will build up in the grinder over time. This can affect the flavour and requires a little effort on a regular basis. Fortunately, it's very simple and all you need is a cup of oatmeal: Set the grinder to its coarsest setting, add the oatmeal and grind through. Then grind the same oatmeal (now coarsely ground), but this time on the grinder's finest setting. Remove the oats and the grinder is once again ready to grind a far more aromatic raw material: freshly roasted coffee beans. Brushing the blades and container once in a while or using a suitable grinder cleaner will also go a long way.
See how you can clean with oatmeal here.
