Well, well, well. You find yourself here reading a blog about whether size does in fact matter. In terms of grind size - yes, it absolutely does. To put it simply, grind size matters because it directly controls extraction speed, surface area and flavour balance. But before we get into the details, we have a pretty great analogy courtesy of one of our team members who used to be a barista. Bear with us…

You're on the beach. Delicious coffee in hand. Oh nooo - it spills.

Scene 1. You're on a rocky beach. You watch your coffee disappear quickly through the gaps in the rocks.

Scene 2. Sandy beach. You watch your coffee slowly absorb into the sand.

Now you might be sitting there thinking what on earth does this have to do with coffee. Well, if you own a grinder, whether that's built into an espresso machine or a handheld one, it will have a fine or coarse setting. As a visual learner you can now think of it like this:

Fine = sandy beach. Takes longer to pass through.
Coarse = rocky beach. Passes through quickly.

You're welcome.

How to know if your coffee is ground correctly?

Sometimes it's easier to see it than explain it. Here's a quick visual guide:

Extra fine: powdered sugar
Fine: flour
Medium fine: table salt
Medium: sand
Coarse: rough salt
Extra coarse: sea salt

So what grind size do you actually need?

Espresso

The classic. Whether you're using a high end La Marzocco, a home Sage machine or a Moka pot, you need very fine coffee. Because espresso needs high resistance, pressure and maximum surface area for a quick, rich extraction. 

Our recommendation: Girl Crush and Oh My Goth.

Filter

There are lots of different filter brewers out there, each with slightly different grind size needs, so we're going to group them.

Our recommendation: Back to the filter 

French Press/Cafetière

You need a very coarse grind. French press has a longer steep time, so a coarse grind prevents bitter over-extraction and stops tiny particles slipping through the metal mesh filter.

Chemex and Filter Drip Machines

These are looking for a medium coarse grind. Both use thick paper filters which restrict how quickly water flows through. A finer grind would stall the water completely, causing over-extraction and a bitter taste.

V60

This one is a little different. Hario filters are actually much thinner than Chemex filters and the large bottom hole drains quickly, so you need a medium fine grind to slow the water down enough for proper flavour extraction.

Our recommendation for any and ALL filter: Back To The Filter. Forgiving, delicious and works every single time no matter your setup.

One last thing worth knowing - if we're only thinking about grind size:

Bitter coffee = probably too fine. Go coarser.
Sour or weak coffee = probably too coarse. Go finer.

Congratulations on making it to the bottom of this one. Grind size is genuinely confusing and with coffee there are always a lot of variables, one thing that is ALWAYS consistent - how delicious our coffee is.  We think you deserve a reward. Use code SIZEMATTERS for 10% off this week only.