Coffee Grinders

Coffee grinders are the perfect accessories for coffee drinkers: everyone has an opinion about how to brew the perfect pot, and the “secrets” include clean water and freshly ground coffee beans. By using a grinder, the bean oils are unleashed and you have a delicious aroma even before brewing a pot.

There are three main types – crusher, blade and burr. The crusher is the ancient one: in fact, it was a mortar with a pestle used to mash the beans. Blade grinders chop the beans, slicing them into small grounds, but the grains are not the same size and not all the oils are released. Burrs use motorised plates with pyramid-shaped teeth which allow for the perfect grind.

For the better models, the speed can be varied so as to get different sizes of the grains. And for those of you who like a more romantic look in your kitchen, you could get a manual coffee grinder: some of them look really nice (but grinding takes some physical work! On the plus side, they make less noise than an electric grinder)

The professionals prefer the conic burrs (be advised, they are very noisy). Some have a dial or buttons for adjusting the speed. Other useful features include a timer and an auto-switchoff. It also helps to be able to see the beans during grinding, that’s why you should avoid those that are made of dark-coloured plastic or glass, as this hinders your view.