What Is The Best Coffee Grinder For Pour Over Coffee?

Last updated on May 28th, 2024 at 10:37

It is important that you find the best coffee grinder for pour over coffee as you must ensure that it helps you to get a better and more consistent grind size without spoiling your coffee beans.

This article takes the complexities out of grinders – Flat Burr or Conical Bur?, Blade grinder Or Burr grinder? Ceramic burr or metal burr? Hand crank manual grinder or electric?

A grinder is not just a simple grinder, you need to get the best one that you can and invest in what will produce you the best possible and most delicious coffee.

Of course, you will be able to use it for a number of different coffee drinks, and it should last you a number of years.

This article takes out the complicated process and aims to help simplify it and help educate you in what to look for in quality coffee grinders.

Keep reading as I dig down and talk about what to look for in the best coffee grinder for pour over coffee.

What Is The Best Grind Size For Pour Over?

Before we dig down and tell you what the ideal and best grind size is for pour over coffee, let’s discuss why grind size is important.

Why is Grind Size Important For Coffee Brewing?

The grind size is one of the important variables in coffee brewing. Using the wrong grind size or using the wrong grind settings, you will get a cup of coffee that is too strong and too overpowering or too weak, watery, and more like a cup of tea than a cup of coffee.

If you are using great coffee beans, you just won’t get the flavor notes that you are looking for extracted from them.

You can try to compensate for coffee grinds that are too large by increasing the extraction time and reducing your extraction time when your grinds are too small. You can also alter the temperature to compensate.

Hotter water extracts more, cold water extracts less.

These adjustments can only do so much and aid a bad grind and will not get you the perfect cup of coffee that you are seeking. They can only really compensate while you wait for a new grinder or your current one to get repaired.

Read: Handheld coffee grinder

What Is The Ideal Grind Size For Pour Over Coffee?

The ideal and perfect grind size for pour over coffee is a medium-coarse size for most pour over coffee makers. A Chemex pour over will require a slightly more coarse grind and use a coarse grind. This is due to the paper filter used with a Chemex being slightly thicker and having a longer extraction time.

What is just as important as the size of your grind is being able to get a good quality uniform grind size. This is because of the very reasons we have set out. Uneven non-uniform grinds will extract their flavors and compounds at different rates.

Consistency is very important. I’ll talk about which type of grinder will get greater consistency and a uniform grind size later.

How To Choose The Perfect Grinder For Pour Over Coffee

A hand-cranked grinder is a lot cheaper and is good to use when you are travelling or for those that love the art of making coffee. You get a grind that is dialed in, good size setting variability and good consistency in size to brew most coffee drinks and get a great cup and good quality flavor profile extracted from the coffee grinds.

It is labor-intensive and much slower process that puts most people off. An electric burr grinder is much preferred for the grinding of coffee on a daily basis.

This is where the complexities start. There is much greater heat dissipation from electric grinders which has an adverse effect on your ground coffee as it starts to bloom them early and thus causes a slight loss in flavor.

There is the aspect of ceramic burrs vs metal burrs – the benefit of which is heat insulation from the ceramic burrs and thus less heat dissipated when grinding which makes ceramic a better material.

Coffee lovers and coffee enthusiasts that love metal stainless steel grinders will point out that metal burrs stay sharper for longer and thus a better quality of grind for longer.

This is not at all a concern as it is a part that is easily replaced, and I personally don’t think there is much difference in terms of how long they will last. Maybe only a few months of a difference.

For me, the greatest factor is the quality of grind produced, consistency in size and a reduction in heat.

One easy trick to test a ceramic burr grinder for quality is to check its weight. If it is heavy, it is a quality ceramic burr grinder made of stronger and more durable components.

A great brand that makes durable, tough, long-lasting grinders is Baratza. Their designs look good and use very responsible manufacturing processes. They also have a number of spare parts available, so you can fix your current grinder, replace the worn out burrs rather than you buying a new one just because of the worn out burrs, which saves on waste and landfill usage.

They do this even for their obsolete model.

Blade Grinders vs. Burr Grinders

Blade grinders work well for spices, but it is not something that I would recommend that you use for coffee.

If you own a blade grinder, go buy a burr grinder and gift your old blade grinder to someone who does not appreciate coffee!

The functionality of a blade grinder is that it functions like two machetes that are slicing your coffee beans with little to no regard for the size.

Everyone in coffee culture knows this is bad. Very bad!

The design of burr-styled coffee grinders has the capacity to grind your coffee beans in a uniform manner and achieve a consistent size time and time again.

The reason for this is that they really do grind your beans using a crushing action. They crush your beans between the grooves until they are of the preselected size. This is a very different process from the cutting action of blade grinders.

Unfortunately, with a burr grinder, you have fewer choices. The two main options are an electric burr grinder or a manual burr grinder and when you choose which of the two you want, you will have to choose between a conical burr or a flat burr.

Let’s now dig in to those sub topics!

Electric Burr Grinder Vs Manual Burr Grinder

A manual coffee grinder, also known as a hand-cranked grinder, is a cheaper option and, as mentioned, great when travelling. It is still a good quality burr grinder that will get you good results.

It is a small enough choice for camping provided you have the space for fresh coffee beans and the rest of your pour-over coffee gear or moka pot and as long as you do not make coffee for too many people as grinding can be time-consuming.

The problem of grinding for multiple cups and a matter of convenience, is solved with an electric grinder coffee grinder.

Heat wise, there is actually very little between them as manufacturers like Baratza have low speed grinders that solve that problem and reduce both the speed of the burrs, the heat produced and the noise.

Ceramic Burrs Or Stainless Steel Burrs

A conical burr grinder gives you two choices: stainless steel, metal or ceramic. While I am not a material scientist, these topics are debated amongst coffee aficionados regarding which is best and why.

As I have already stated – sharpness, which is not really something that should come into the debate as a burr grinder uses a crushing force to grind coffee beans. The question is heat resistance, which to me makes ceramic burrs a much better choice.

While it is true that metal is more durable, your ceramic burrs are not likely to break any time soon. Just don’t go about dropping them! Even at that, the burrs are replaceable.

Coffee enthusiasts prefer ceramic burr for the very reason of no losing any flavors due to the reduction in heat transfer and slight bloom of the grounds prior to brewing, meaning that no additional flavors are lost.

Conical burrs are the preferred shape as far as I am concerned, as in my opinion, they are far easier to clean than a flat burr.

Gauging The Quality Of Burr Grinders

I touched on this earlier. Gauging the quality of your burr grinder is easy. The easiest way is to check its weight online or physically pick it up. At least 3 kilos (6.6 pounds) should be the minimum weight.

The heavier the grinder, the better quality the materials used in its construction. Lighter weight grinders have more light-weight plastic materials which are weaker and less durable.

A long warranty period is also a sign that I look for as it shows that the company has confidence in their products and that they are well-made and durable. They expect them to last.

The Top 2 Best Coffee Grinder For Pour Over Coffee

I have narrowed down my choice of the best coffee grinder for pour over coffee to just two grinders – a simple choice for you.

A or B! Or should I say the Baratza Encore Grinder or The Baratza Virtuoso Grinder. These are specifically chosen by intention. You have a choice of a ceramic conical burr grinder and a stainless steel conical burr grinder.

The Baratza Encore

The Baratza encore is described as high quality entry level grinder, Personally, I rate it as much higher and good enough for expert home baristas. It is not one I’d use for commercial use as the grind size is limited to 250 microns at the smallest to 1,200 at the largest.

On the smaller end you will need something smaller than 200 microns, more so if the coffee shop in question wishes to brew Turkish coffee.

With 40 settings, you can rest assured you have plenty of settings for the perfect grind size for all coffee drinks and brewing methods that you are going to make at home.

Baratza Encore Grinder Settings

Please use this table below as a guide for which settings to use with the Baratza Encore coffee grinder.

Type Of Coffee Drink	Baratza Encore Grind Setting
Turkish Coffee	1-3
Espresso	4-9
Aeropress	4-23
Moka Pot	4-16
V60	11-16
Pour Over	11-29
Siphon	11-29
Flat Drip	17-23
Drip Machine	17-23
Chemex	24-29
French Press	31-36
Cupping	31-36
Percolator	31-36
Cold Brew	31-40
Cowboy	37-40

Baratza Virtuoso

The Baratza Virtuoso is said by many to be a better grinder than the Baratza Encore and step up due to the ability to produce greater consistency and the ability to make more micro adjustments to the grind size.

Baratza Virtuoso Grinder Settings

Here are some suggested settings that you can use with the Baratza Virtuoso coffee grinder.

Type Of Coffee	Baratza Virtuoso Grind Setting	Extraction Time
Espresso	8	~ 20 Sec To 30 Seconds
Aeropress	12	~ 1:30 To 2 Min
Hario V60	15	~ 2:30 Min To 3 Min
Automatic brewer	18	~ 3 MMin To 5 Min
Chemex	20	~3 Min To 5 Min
French Press	28	~4 mins

Frequently Asked Questions About Best Coffee Grinder For Pour Over

What Kind Of Coffee Grinder Is Best For Pour Over?

The best type of grinder for a pour over is a ceramic conical burr grinder. The ceramic material is always the best material to use. It has the greatest resistance to heat and less heat transfer than a stainless steel burr. The conical shape is better and gets a more consistent grind size.

Finally, the crushing action of a burr grinder provides a better quality of grind than a flat blade grinder.

Do You Need A Good Grinder For Pour Over?

Yes, you need a grinder for all different brew methods and techniques. A good quality burr grinder will last you for 10 years or more depending on how much you use it and how well you keep it maintained. All grinders will be able to produce the quality medium grind size needed for various pour over techniques including Hario V60, Chemex and regular pour overs.

Can You Use A Blade Grinder For Pour Over?

Yes, you can use a blade grinder for making pour over coffee. However, at Latte Love Brew, we don’t recommend that you use this type of grinder as you get a lack of consistency and quality in the grind size which leads to an uneven extraction of the coffee.

What Grind Is Best For V60 Pour Over?

The best grind size for a Hario V60 Pour over is a medium to fine grind size, number 11 to 16 on a Baratza Encore grinder.

Is Espresso Grind Good For Pour Over?

No, an espresso grind will be too fine for pour over coffee and may lead to an over extraction of your coffee and will likely end up tasting overtly bitter. Pour over is one of the brew methods, if not the brewing method, that gets the most total dissolved solids into your brew and thus too fine a grind can end up as overtly bitter. 

Which Is Better Flat Or Conical Burr Grinder?

It depends on which type of coffee you are brewing. A ceramic flat burr grinder is much better for espresso as they get a better, more accurate, finer and more consistent grind size. For all other types of coffee, a ceramic conical burr grinder is better.

Why Does Pour Over Coffee Taste Better?

Yes, pour over is one of the best and better brewing methods due to the constant flow of fresh hot water and its ability to get more total dissolved solids into your coffee than other brewing processes like drip coffee.

It is particularly good a coaxing more of the delicate and intricate flavors from the beans.

What Kind Of Roast For Pourover?

The best roast to use for pour over coffee is light roasts and blonde roasts due to this brewing technique being rather excellent at coaxing out the unique flavors of origin from the beans. Pour over brewing will get more of these flavors into your brew.

Frappé-Ing It All Up – Best Coffee Grinder For Pour Over

The best coffee grinder for pour over coffee is undoubtedly a straight fight between two great coffee grinders by the same manufacturer, Baratza.

I have given you two choices as some people will prefer a metal burr while others will prefer a ceramic burr. A secondary reason is there is a big difference in price.

Personally, when I am selecting a grinder of high quality and one that has spare parts and will make them (as Baratza will) when the machine or model becomes obsolete, it is not something I consider, as grinders, good quality grinders will last you at least 10 years.

Take good care of them and this will last even longer. The only things that will ever need replacing are your burrs and the electric motor, which should not need replacing at all unless you are making extreme amounts of coffee!

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