Coffee Grinder Buying Guide

How Much should be spent on a Coffee Grinder?

Generally, the more expensive the coffee grinder, the better the espresso that can be achieved. An inexpensive grinder may grind ok when new, but inexpensive materials will lead to a short service life and inconsistent results. Then, past a certain point, you will be paying for a higher capacity grinder, something that is more at home in a cafe for example. Good quality domestic coffee grinders start around the $300 mark and go up to around the $800 mark. Beyond $800 we are really talking about grinders that have better features or capacity and would be at home in a low volume commercial setting.

Burrs or Blades?

This issue is simple: a blade coffee grinder cannot be used for grinding espresso. The inconsistent particle size produced from this type of grinder will produce disappointing espresso - every time!

Grinder Quality

A quality coffee grinder will have:

  • big grinding burrs - the bigger the better
  • powerful motor
  • metal burr carries
  • rigid metal construction
  • small steps (if stepped)
  • clean sweeping doser (if dosered)