Does grind matter?
You bet it does…grind too coarse and your coffee will be underextracted, weak and insipid; grind too fine and it will over OVER extracted, bitter and tannic (like leaving your tea bag in the cup for too long!)
How to get it right?
- Use a burr grinder
this pulverizes the coffee into consistent particle sizes instead of the uneven chunks you see from using a cheap old blade style model – you can buy a decent one, like a Mr Coffee burr grinder, from Target for $40 or so – but get your ear plugs out cos it’s noisy!
step up to $100 or so and get a nice, stylee Bodum (drop in a pic) which is powerful AND quiet…there are lots of other options too but I like the Bodum..easy to clean as well. Be aware – If you brew dark roasts you’ll have to clean your grinder of oils more frequently - Use the right amount of coffee
Only YOU know how strong you like your coffee but here’s some guidelines – I use and recommend:
1.5oz coffee for a 34oz French Press – grind feels like sea salt (coarse)
.75oz coffee for a 10-12oz pour-over – grind feels like fine sand (smooth)
.75-1oz for a 16oz Clever Coffee Dripper – grind feels like table salt
My tip? forget the tablespoons etc..just weigh it once then you can eyeball it. Not strong enough? You can:
- Use more coffee
- Grind a little finer
- Let it steep longer..you’ll dial it in and have great coffee..it’s not rocket science
Too strong? Reverse all the above.