Why Grind Size Matters — From Coarse to Fine
So, you’ve got yourself a grinder to grind all your coffee fresh at home! That’s great! But now you’re stuck on what grind size to use for your chosen brew method? Why can’t everything be one grind size, why are there so many numbers? This grind size explainer will hopefully help you learn why grind size is so important in coffee!
How We Refer to Grind Size
You’ll often see grind size referred to as fine, medium, and coarse, with descriptors like table salt or sand used to help define the grind size and texture. This helps brewers and roasters share recipes that can be followed so everyone can get similar results.
These vague descriptors are used because every grinder will grind differently — even two of the exact same model will produce slightly different results at the same setting!
For most purposes, we can remember:
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Fine grind – espresso grind. Powdery, with a small amount of grit.
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Medium grind – filter grind. Consistency of sand or table salt.
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Coarse grind – French press grind. Consistency of coarse salt.
You’ll also hear terms for the grinds in between these, such as medium-fine, medium-coarse, or extra-coarse, depending on the brew method.
Extraction — How Coffee Is Brewed
When we pour hot water over coffee grounds, the water pulls out (or extracts) all the solubles from the coffee. These are made up of acids, sugars, and bitter compounds — and grind size has a big effect on how much of these components are extracted.
With a coarse grind, the coffee will extract slowly. With a finer grind, it will extract super quickly (too quickly for most methods beyond espresso). That means if we use the wrong grind size for the wrong method, we might end up with too much or too little of these components - leading to over- or under-extracted coffee. This is because a finer grind contains more ground coffee particles per gram, so has an increase in surface area for hot water to draw out the solubles, so extraction will be faster.
If you were to put the same coffee at a coarse grind and a fine grind in the same amount of water for the same amount of time, the fine grind would extract faster due to an overall increase in extractable surface area
So How Do I Figure Out Grind Size?
Below, you’ll see a picture of five different grind sizes used for different methods. Memorising grind sizes by sight and touch is super helpful to check if your grind is close to what’s recommended.
1. Turkish - Like flour, clumps, 2. Espresso - Fine table salt, should stick slightly to hands, 3. Filter/V60 - Similar to sand, 4. French Press - Sea Salt, 5. Cupping/Cold Brew - Raw cane sugar
After finding a close grind size with your grinder, follow one of our brew guides and tweak the grind size slightly each time you brew - a little more coarse or a little more fine - and see how it affects your cup.
If it tastes too weak, you’ve likely gone too coarse. Too strong or bitter? You’ve probably gone too fine.
For espresso grind size, check out our Espresso Dialling-In Guide, since espresso brewing works a bit differently from filter methods.
You can also google your grinder followed by “grind size for …” - usually, you’ll find suggestions from the manufacturer or other coffee lovers. Honest Coffee Guide even provides grind size charts for over 100 grinders, which are a great starting point when you get a new grinder:
👉 https://honestcoffeeguide.com/coffee-grind-size-chart/
Grind Size Matters
Grind size might seem like a small detail, but it’s honestly one of the biggest factors in brewing great coffee. Once you start paying attention to it - and making small adjustments - you’ll find your brews get way more consistent (and a lot tastier). So go experiment, take notes, and most importantly - enjoy the process.
Because once you nail your grind, you’re halfway to café-quality coffee at home.
