Grinding coffee beans the very first stage of making your coffee; it’s the moment when the aroma bursts from the beans, filling your sense with the early tantalising taste of what’s to come - and getting it right is so important. When you get your grind size right, the coffee is flavourful and delicious, but get it wrong and you can end up with a drink that’s watery and unappetising.
Getting your grind right requires two key elements - the level of coarseness of your grind, and the consistency of it. Good coffee is made by having the grinds the right size for your brew method, and making sure that the ground coffee is uniform. At Niche Coffee, getting the grind right is at the core of what we do - so let us share our experience and expertise to help you achieve coffee greatness every time!
Choosing grind size by brewing method
The different way you brew your coffee is going to have a huge impact on the size you want your grind - there really is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to coffee brewing. This is one of the reasons why buying pre-ground coffee won’t result in a top-tier cup; the chances are high the factory grind will be far from the perfect level you need.
| Brewing method | Niche Zero grind size range | Niche Duo grind size range | Texture comparison |
| Espresso | Fine (5-20) | Fine (0-10) | Table salt |
| Moka Pot | Medium-Fine (20-30) | Medium-Fine (10-20) | Sand |
| AeroPress | Medium (30-35) | Medium (20-30) | Sea salt |
| V60 | Medium-Coarse (35-45) | Medium-Coarse (30-45) | Sugar |
| French Press | Coarse (45+) | Coarse (45+) | Breadcrumbs |
Espresso
Espresso requires a fine, consistent grind with your grinder set to ‘fine’, or between 5-20 on a Niche Zero and 0-10 on a Niche Duo. Grind makes a huge difference to your puck; too fine and the water will take too long to travel through the coffee, leading to a bitter over-extracted brew; too coarse and the coffee will be under-extracted, leading to a weak drink or sour taste.
When you adjust the grind for your espresso, you’re tuning it to your taste, bringing out the flavours you enjoy most. Remember to write down your results to achieve repeated consistency for each top-level brew.
Moka Pot
A good Moka pot grind can be similar to espresso, but a little coarser because Moka pots are more likely to clog if the grind is too fine, building up pressure and leading to bitter over-extracted coffee once more. Again, too coarse and the water will rush through the pot, under-extracting and resulting in weak, watery coffee. Use a medium-fine grind, set between 20-30 on your Niche Zero and 10-20 on your Niche Duo.
AeroPress
The right grind size for AeroPress brewing can be quite flexible - a lot here will come to personal taste. Though it’s still a pressured coffee like Moka pot and espresso, the pressure here is a lot less (under one-tenth that of an espresso) so there’s not quite the force that works best with a very fine grind. Here, you’re looking for a medium setting, with your Niche Zero set between 30-35 and your Duo set between 20-30. Finer grinds will be closer to the intenseness of an espresso shot, while coarser grinds will offer a smoother and lighter cup of coffee.
V60
V60 filter coffees will lead to slow dripping, bitter coffee if the grind is too fine. With no pressure, the water has to be able to pass gently through the grinds, resulting in the brighter flavour for which V60 coffee is renowned. A medium to course grind (between 35-45 for Niche Zero and 30-45 on your Niche Duo) will give an even flow of water through the coffee bed, leading to a delicious and flavourful brew. Too coarse, however, will allow the water to run past too fast to pick up the full flavour of the coffee, leaving you with a very thin and tasteless drink.
French Press
In a French press, the water and the coffee sit together for longer. A coarse grind is perfect here, as anything too fine is going to leave sediment in the drink, make plunging difficult, and lead to considerable over-extraction. Set your grinder to 45 or more to produce coarse grinds that are more defined and less like powder, and enjoy your aromatic cup.
Remembering that taste is personal
One of the wonderful things about coffee is that it’s a subjective art, rather than a pure objective science. What works for one person may not be perfect to the next - there’s just so much personality in brewing a good coffee.
That means, even with a guide like this, you need to experiment and be willing to make notes to get your perfect grind size. Remember:
- If it’s too sour, weak, or watery - your grind is likely too coarse, make it finer.
- If it’s bitter or harsh - your grind will be too fine, grind a little coarser.
- If it’s just right - take notes and keep it consistent for the next time!
Consistency is key. This is why using a high-quality grinder that you can fine-tune to perfection is important. With a Niche grinder, you can repeat your perfect settings every time to make sure your coffee is just how you like it.
Why the Niche grinders are the perfect option
No matter which brew method you use, the Niche grinder's are here for you to get the consistent grind you’re after. Armed with this guide and a our premium quality grinders, you can achieve the perfect grind size with ease. The Niche's offer:
- Stepless grind adjustment - Fine-tune your grind size to exacting specifications and then repeat the same consistent level every time you grind.
- Zero retention - Every gram of coffee goes into your brew, with nothing left behind stuck in the grinder to ruin your calculations or sour the next cup.
- Perfect for all brew methods - Want a coarser grind for your V60, followed up a little later with a extremely fine espresso grind? No problem. Simply turn the dial and produce the right level of consistently ground coffee.
- Easy to use - Premium quality doesn’t mean top-level difficulty. The Niche's are simple to use - just turn the dial to the setting you’re after, pour in the beans, and flick the switch. There’s nothing else to it.
Making coffee with your Niche Zero or Niche Duo is deliciously simple.
Experimentation with Niche
If you’re looking to truly enjoy everything that coffee can bring, we encourage you to shrug off limitations. It’s so easy to become locked into thinking you have to follow rules that someone else has set down before you - but as this grind size guide shows, there’s plenty of room when making coffee to dial things up or down to find the grind that gives you the flavour you most appreciate.
There are also many different ways to brew coffee. It’s all too easy to focus on espresso, grinding your coffee as fine as possible to produce a dense puck for pressured coffee, but there’s much to be enjoyed outside of this single brew method. With a Niche grinder, you can create courser grinds for V60 or French press, delicate medium-fine grinds for an exciting Moka pot brew, or find a place in the middle to enjoy a hand-pressed AeroPress.
At Niche we heartily recommend experimenting. This ultimate grind size guide provides a solid foundation, but the best results will come from tweaking and fine-tuning to suit your taste.