Every coffee connoisseur knows that grinding your own coffee beans is the only way to get the best tasting coffee! Coffee loses most of its aromas and flavor just fifteen minutes after grinding. So if you don’t already, you should jump out of bed a few minutes earlier, grind your own beans, and brew a cup of coffee that’s truly worth waking up for!
To help you get started with grinding your own beans, we’ve put together this list of the best coffee grinders. Whether you need a coffee grinder for pour- over coffee or one for grinding up espresso beans, you’ll find it on this list. So keep on reading!
Burr Grinder vs Blade Grinder
First, we just wanted to take a second to address a question you might ask yourself while reading this product roundup. Why aren’t there any blade grinders on this list?
The short answer is, blade grinders create an inconsistent grind size whereas burr grinders like this don’t.
Blade grinders are a lot like blenders and food processors—they have one big blade that spins around and chops up the coffee beans. That kind of blade works well in a blender, but falls short on our list for the best coffee grinders.
The single blade chops the coffee beans up pretty unevenly. The fine chunks of beans fall to the bottom of the grinder where the blade is and get chopped smaller and smaller. The big chunks fly to the top of the grinder where they only get hit by the blade occasionally. So you end up with pretty big chunks of coffee grounds and really fine ones, which leads to an uneven extraction and a bitter cup of coffee.
Burr grinders have two burrs, which are abrasive surfaces that crush the beans. The crushing motion that the burrs create gives you a more even, consistent grind size and a yummier cup of coffee!
Burr grinders are preferred by baristas and home brewers alike, so we thought we’d skip the blade grinders altogether instead of including a few out of pity. Blade grinders, you just don’t make the cut on our hunt for the best coffee grinders!
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
This grinder is marketed towards beginners, but it has a lot of advanced features that make it a great choice for coffee experts too. It has 40 different grind settings that allow you to experiment with different brewing methods. It’ll give you the perfect grind for pour overs, espresso, drip style coffee, and more, so you’ll never need another grinder!
One of the things that really stood out to us about this coffee grinder is the excellent customer service. This grinder is made of high quality parts from Europe, but as with all appliances, sometimes its parts break.
After the warranty period, it costs $45 to get the grinder repaired. But two reviewers said Baratza wouldn’t accept their money even though the warranty period was up! This company really stands behind its machines and will help you keep yours up and running for years to come.
The only complaint we heard from reviewers is that this machine is slow. But slow machines keep the coffee beans cooler, which preserves more of their flavor. If you’re willing to stand at the machine for a minute or two longer, you’ll be rewarded with extra delicious coffee!
What We Liked
- Good entry level grinder with relatively few fines
- Very quick motor can take down 40g
- Easy to use and dial in, nice big rotating on/off switch on the side
What We Didn’t Like
- Loud. Not crazy loud but too loud to talk in a conversation
- Ridiculously messy; grinds are everywhere
This grinder is the champion of early, busy mornings! You can set the machine to grind for up to 60 seconds and it’ll run by itself. You won’t need to turn it off manually, so you’ll be able to finish getting ready for the day instead of standing around and waiting for your coffee. Multitasking at its finest!
This grinder doesn’t have as many settings as the Baratza grinder, but it still has everything you need. It has 16 different grind sizes and can produce fine, extra fine, medium, and coarse coffee grounds. We don’t know what more we could ask for!
Just like the Baratza coffee grinder, this one works slowly, so it’ll preserve the flavor of the coffee beans.
One of the main complaints we saw about this grinder is that it’s a little hard to clean up after each use. A little bit of coffee tends to get stuck on the sides of the holding container, so you have to tap the sides or use a utensil to scoop it out. That minor annoyance sounds like it’s worth it for a great cup of coffee!
What We Liked
- Very consistent grind size with little dust/fines
- Static does not seem to be an issue
- Price is right
- Relatively easy to clean
- Relatively quite
What We Didn’t Like
- Very messy! You WILL have grounds all over your countertop
- Transparent bean reservoir lid is … confusing.
Baratza Sette 270Wi-Grind by Weight Conical Burr Grinder
If you’re serious about making great espresso, then you need to have this coffee grinder in your kitchen! Baratza teamed up with Acaia, a brand that makes amazing coffee scales, to bring you this super smart burr grinder.
You can program this grinder to dose out a specified amount of ground coffee directly into your portafilter. You won’t need a scale to weigh your coffee grounds anymore because this grinder doses so accurately. Isn’t that awesome?
Just like Acaia scales, this coffee grinder comes with an app that allows you to track the data from your grind sessions. If you pull a perfect shot, you’ll be able to see exactly how you did it and replicate it later.
Another thing we love about this machine is the breadth of grind settings. There are a whopping 270 different grind settings! No other machine allows you to fine-tune your grind size as much as this one.
The only drawback of this grinder is the price. It’s $549… so it’s not exactly affordable. But we think it’s chock full of features that really do justify the hefty price tag.
What We Liked
- Grinds consistently
- Weight measurement is very accurate.
- So easy to use
What We Didn’t Like
- Installing the burr can be slightly annoying — the alignment mechanism wasn’t well designed
OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
This next grinder will hopefully give you a lot less sticker shock! It’s $99, but we’ve seen it on sale for around $65. It doesn’t have a ton of extra bells and whistles, but it definitely has everything you need!
This grinder has a timer that keeps your last setting, so all you have to do in the morning is push to start. It’s great for those mornings when you’re extra groggy and in need of coffee!
It has 15 different grind settings from fine to coarse, so you’ll be able to get the right grind for most brewing methods.
This coffee grinder also holds almost a whole pound of coffee beans and has durable stainless steel burrs that provide a consistent grind size. It’s a great, affordable machine for entry-level homebrewers who don’t want to drop $500 on a premium grinder!
What We Liked
- High quality, consistent grind
- It’s aesthetically pleasing and takes up little room on the counter
- It isn’t super noisy
- The price for this level of quality is unbeatable
What We Didn’t Like
- The grounds container doesn’t lock into place and will sometimes vibrate out during grinding
- You can’t remove the bottom burr to clean it
JavaPresse Manual Coffee Grinder with Adjustable Setting
If you’re looking for a super affordable coffee grinder that doesn’t sacrifice quality, then this manual burr grinder is a great option. This one is only $23.99 and still produces a consistent grind size!
Manual burr grinders are so inexpensive because they don’t use any electricity. You operate them with a hand crank, so they’re essentially the same coffee grinders your grandparents owned!
They do have some advantages over electric burr grinders, though. They’re a lot quieter, so they won’t wake up everybody else in your house when you use them. They’re also extremely portable because they don’t need to be plugged into an outlet. You can keep one at work and have freshly ground coffee whenever you want it… how awesome is that?
You would think that this type of grinder wouldn’t have a lot of grind settings, but it actually has 18! You’ll be able to grind beans for the French press, percolator, espresso machine, Aeropress, and more.
If you’re not ready to put a little elbow grease into making your morning cup of joe, then this isn’t the right grinder for you. But if you’re willing to forgo some of the convenience of electric coffee grinders, you’ll save a lot of money and get an equally good cup of coffee!
What We Liked
- Can grind anything from fine to coarse for a variety of uses
- Perfect size for 1-2 people
- Stainless steel is pretty nice
- Reasonably priced
What We Didn’t Like
- Kind of difficult to clean
- very slow to grind (takes 3-5 minutes for a fine setting)
