Why grinding fresh matters
Getting the grind right is the first, most important step to improving your coffee experience at home. Freshly ground coffee is the best. From the moment you grind your coffee it starts to oxidize, which accelerates the aging process. For the best results, you should grind your beans within 15 minutes of brewing. Blade grinders unevenly chop and shatter coffee beans, while burr grinders give you a more even grind which allows, in turn, for a better, more balanced brew.
The hand grinder
The best entry-level way of enjoying freshly ground coffee is by using a ceramic burr grinder like our Rhinowares Hand Grinder. These are portable (fits inside your Aeropress) and easy to put together and use. They are also the most budget friendly option if you are just starting to grind your own coffee.
Pros
- cheapest option
- portable
- perfect for Aeropress on the go or pour overs, where you grind a small amount at a time
Cons
- takes longer
- fiddly to calibrate if you are brewing using different methods all the time
- a lot of effort if you need to grind larger amounts of coffee eg. cafetière or filter machine
How to use it
Check out our first film in our Rough Guide series which shows how to assemble your grinder.
And here is the second short film showing you how to set your grind size.
Trouble shooting
Ok, so you have ground and brewed your coffee, but what do you do if it doesn't taste the way you want?
Here's some of the main problems:
Coffee tastes weak
You maybe need to add more coffee relative to water, you could also check if your grind size is to coarse.
Coffee tastes sour
When your coffee is sour (like lemons) it is most likely under extracted. Under extraction (caused by a grind that's too coarse or too short a brew time) results in sour flavours with a lack of depth.
Coffee tastes bitter
Bitterness in coffee is different to sourness. Think of the pith in an orange. Grind size affects the surface area of coffee that is exposed to water. If the coffee has too small particles (ground too fine) it will likely taste bitter and chalky.
Hope this helps you get on your way with coffee grinding!
Find out more about brewing excellent coffee at home with our BREW GUIDES.