Coffee Grinders
Can't I just get my local café to grind my coffee?
If you're serious about good coffee, we would strongly advise against this. The chances of someone guessing just the perfect grind for your machine? Pretty much zero. In any event, ground coffee is stale within minutes of being ground, so your money is wasted. Store-purchased pre-ground coffee, no matter what the technology used, is completely stale. Supermarket beans? Also stale. Purchase coffee which is fresh - beans with a roast date no more than a couple of weeks old before you start using them.
Conical or flat burrs?
There are two classes of grinder: blade (whirly blade) and burr. Whilst cheap blade grinders are sold as coffee grinders by many department stores, they have little relevance to coffee and should be avoided.
Of the burr grinders, there are cheap and expensive conical burr grinders and the flat burr grinders. In order of size, price and performance we consider entry-level conical grinders, then flat burr grinders and then finally the large commercial conical burr grinders.
A note on doser vs doserless grinders
In the years prior to 2000, doser grinders were found in most cafés and the homes of those who were serious about coffee. The limitation: if the dosing chamber is allowed to fill, the coffee in the doser becomes stale within a few minutes.
Doserless grinders are now much more common and allow for fresh coffee at all times. We find that doser grinders are far less popular given the convenience of doserless grinders and we no longer recommend them in any application. Nevertheless, we can source Mazzer, Anfim, Compak and Macap doser grinders if required.
How much do I need to spend?
We advise that you purchase the best grinder you can afford. It doesn't make sense to pair a $3,000 espresso machine with a $300 grinder and forego shot quality. Contact us to discuss your options - we call them warts and all.
Grinders by budget
Blade / Whirly Grinders - Avoid
Under $100
All very cheap grinders will be "whirly blade" appliances. They create very uneven particle size and are in fact spice grinders. They should be kept for spices, not coffee.
Small Conical Burr Appliances
$100–$200
In this price bracket, you will find the Sunbeam EM series at your local department store. These are barely adequate for espresso and have a limited lifespan. Although they're the best of a decidedly average bunch, we advise against them.
Buy a high-quality hand grinder instead. It will give you $3k grinding performance for little more than $100.
Better Conical Burr Appliances
$350+
Finally we have a grinder we can recommend in this price range.
Fellow have released their Opus 2 grinder and we can confirm that it does a great job at all grind sizes. It's fast, clean and relatively quiet. A bonus is that it also stops automatically when the grind is complete.
Flat Burr Small Commercial - Manual & Single Dose
$400–$700
Best buy: DF54
Now we're talking! At this price point, you are purchasing a grinder which will grind on demand into a dosing cup. Your local café may well be using one of these for decaf. These grinders will produce very consistent particle size and with care will last a long, long time.
In this price bracket, our pick is the DF54 which offers low retention and outstanding performance. It's our best-buy recommendation in the sub-$500 class. Grinders in this category are also quite compact - ideal for tight spaces.
Digital Doserless Flat Burr & Grind-by-Weight
$800–$2,700
Best buy: Mazzer Mini G
These are aspirational grinders for home users. While grind quality is identical to the flat burr grinders above, you gain the convenience of a digital timer or grind-by-weight system - set your dose precisely and get repeatable results shot after shot with no scales required.
Our best-buy recommendation in this class is the Mazzer Mini G - a genuine grind-by-weight on-demand doserless flat burr grinder that delivers exceptional consistency, outstanding build quality, and a workflow that puts it well ahead of timer-only grinders at a similar price. It is the grinder we reach for first in this category.
Other strong options include the very quiet Macap Leo 55, the Rocket Espresso Faustino 3.1 and Giannino, and the Anfim Luna (a rebadged Mahlkonig E65S). All are excellent digital doserless performers.
Single Dosing Flat Burr Grinders
$1,000–$2,500
Best buy: CF64V
Our best-buy recommendation in this class is the CF64V. At $1,099 it delivers 64mm flat burr performance that rivals grinders costing significantly more - exceptional grind quality, near-zero retention and a clean single-dose workflow. It's the grinder we'd buy ourselves at this price point.
We also rate the Olympia Express Moca SD, DF 64 Gen 2, DF83V and Acaia Orbit highly in this category. All are outstanding options for the home enthusiast who single doses.
Large Conical Burr Electronic Doserless
$1,700–$5,000
In this price bracket, we switch back to conical burrs - but it's not a case of the same grind quality as the cheapies. These big, very fast grinders run large burr sets and need big motors and powerful gearboxes to operate them. The burrs rotate more slowly than those of flat burr grinders. Grind quality improves incrementally, but mainly for those who prefer black coffee. This is generally undetectable under milk.
Great examples include the Mazzer Kony-G (our pick in this class at over $4.5k) and the Mazzer Robur S, both of which we can source to order. You will be grinding at 4–6 seconds per double shot with these monsters.
Super Flat Burr, Grind-by-Weight & Manual Bag Grinders
$3,500–$5,000+
Best buy: Mahlkonig E65S GBW
This group includes the top-end flat burr grinders which are in vogue in many specialty cafés. They're quick and expensive. Commonly seen manual versions include the Mahlkonig EK43 and EK43S.
Grind by weight? These are game-changers! The Mahlkonig E65S GBW is excellent, but the Mazzer Mini-G is our current favourite. Our big-budget recommendation in this category is the larger and faster E80S GBW - an incredible grinder.
What about hand grinders?
There are inexpensive small hand grinders such as those manufactured by Hario and Rhinowares, but we can't recommend these for espresso as they are either too slow or there is far too much variation in particle size. Far better hand grinders which employ commercial-quality conical burr sets will do the espresso job brilliantly - albeit with a good workout for those arms. All of these great hand grinders solve the deficiencies of the cheaper hand grinders and offer large conical burr sets which produce an excellent, consistent grind.