One of the first questions that pops into the mind when diving into the wonderful of coffee is the following: should I purchase a grinder?
The answer is yes, absolutely yes!
I was not aware of the difference between freshly ground coffee and one bought ground from the store. You see, the coffee bean acts as a protection for all the aromas and flavors that are inside. When you grind the coffee all these substances can start to dissipate and the result is evident on your cup of coffee. So try to buy your beans whole and use a grinder.
So now that this is settled, the next question develops, what grinder should I use?
Let me tell you a little bit about our personal journey.
Manual burr grinder
Me and my wife, we first started using a manual burr grinder. In the beginning, it was fun and exciting, but after a while, we grew lazy in using it. It requires some minutes of hard work and I have to tell you, it is not easy on your arm and shoulder. You definitely need to have a certain strength and determination to use your grinder, and sometimes you are not in the mood for this.
However, it does have its advantages. First of all, the coffee grounds have a great consistency between them, meaning that you do not get coarse and fine grounds. You can easily change the desired grind level by adjusting the distance between the top nut and the locking ring.
Because it is so light weight and portable you can carry it anywhere. It does not require electricity so you can use it to go camping for example.
The one we bought is of the brand Thiamo. It uses a burr system to grind the coffee beans.
Blade grinder
So next, we started using a blade grinder. This one did not require any manual work, and you get a decent cup of coffee. It is easy to carry around and convenient. It is definitely worth having at the beginning of your coffee journey.
Depending on the time that you grind then the finer or coarser the result will be. What I did to try to have consistency when using the blade grinder, is that I would try to fill it every time with the same amount of coffee beans, and then I would count the amount of time it took to grind. I usually used a ten second count and be done.
The problem with the blade grinder is that the particles are not the same size after grinding. You would get really fine particles, as well as really coarse ones and this can have a detrimental effect on the consistency of the quality of your cup of coffee.
Electrical Burr grinder
However, when you continue diving into the world of coffee you want more and more quality. So next comes the burr grinder. Since we had a coffee shop we were aware of the consistency that you could get when you used a burr grinder, and we could not help it, we wanted one for our home.
You see, with a burr grinder you get consistency. You determine the desired level of grind, being 1 the finest and 5 the coarsest, and you will get that level every time.
With the blade mill, on the other hand, you get different sized particles. So it is more difficult to get consistency over time.
Why is consistency important? Well, when you discover what works for you for a particular method you will want to use that every time.
For example, when I first started using an Aeropress I first used the mill with a medium grind level, number 3 in this device to be exact. But I wasn’t satisfied with the result. So I switched to 1 and the result was much better. Trying to achieve this same level of consistency with the blade mill is hard.
This particular mill has many functions that I love.
First, the container for receiving the ground coffee has a very ergonomic feel. It is really easy to grab and then pass the coffee to your brewing method without much spill. I was amazed to see that it weighed exactly 100 grams. So if was easy to determine how much ground coffee was inside without having to put the scale to zero.
Next, it has a button that can switch on and off the automatic grinder. This means that you when you touch the base of the mill with the gathering container it will automatically start grinding. You can switch this one and offf.
Also, the precision is amazing. And you can grind up to very fine particles like the one you would need for an aeoropress for example.
Finally, I love the aesthetic of the small machine.
Comparing blade, burr and manual burr grinder
The following table compares these three types of coffee grinders: blade, electrical burr and manual burr grinder.
| Variable | Manual Grinder | Blade Grinder | Burr Grinder |
| Mechanism | Burr | Blade | Burr |
| Energy source | Manual activity, does not require electricity | Electricity 110 V | Electricity 110 V |
| Portability | highly portable and light weight | highly portable and light weight | heavy, not easy to carry around. Has many parts |
| Convenience | Ideal for camping because it is very light and portable, and does not require electricity | highly portable and easy to use, requires electricity | very easy to use, requires electricity and makes very consistent coffee. |
| Consistency of the ground coffee | Highly consistent | Low consistency | Highly consistent |
| Price | low starting $25 aprox | low starting $25 aprox | higher starting at $200 aprox |
So at the end the selection of a coffee grinder depends on whether or not you need something you can carry around or not. Whether you want or need consistency between the ground coffee and your budget.
The most important thing is that if you are considering a coffee mill it is because you are learning and evolving in your coffee journey. The type of coffee grinder you choose will accompany you in that journey, and there is no wrong or right on this.