Rant: I have been grinding my beans wrong for 2 years and just figured it out

So I have this burr grinder I got from a garage sale for like $15, and I always set it to the finest setting because I thought finer meant more flavor. I was making espresso with a cheap machine and wondered why my shots ran super slow or just choked. Last week my buddy Mark came over and saw me using it, and he laughed and said I was basically making dust instead of grounds. He told me coarse is better for drip coffee too, which is what I drink most days. I swapped to a medium grind and now my morning coffee actually tastes clean instead of bitter and muddy. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you’ve been doing a basic thing totally backwards for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivan_murphy801d ago

Hard disagree. @caseythompson probably got lucky with a grinder that can actually do medium coarse right. Most cheap grinders produce uneven crap at coarser settings and you get more fines than anything. I been running espresso fine for years with a dusty grind and my shots taste fine if you dial in the dose and pressure. You were likely just overpacking or using stale beans. Grind size isnt the only variable.

caseythompson1d ago

Oh man, yeah I had almost the exact same problem with an old hand grinder I got off Craigslist. I was using it for French press but grinding way too fine thinking I was being fancy. Switching to a medium coarse setting was a total game changer for my morning cup.