5 Best Coffee Grinders

A Grinder is the Most Important Piece of Coffee Equipment You'll Buy

Within 60 seconds, ground coffee begins to oxidize and lose flavour, so grinding just before brewing releases all the flavour, oils and aroma in the beans.

Why is Grind Size so Important?

Whether you're brewing a pour-over or a French Press, it's the brewing method that dictates how coarse or fine you need to grind your coffee beans. Grind size dictates how long the water runs through the grounds – that's the brew time.

Do I Need an Espresso Grinder?

If you're only pulling espresso shots, then you need a grinder capable of an espresso grind.

What are the Two Most Important Features to Look for in a Grinder?

Burrs

The burrs are the part of the grinder that crushes the coffee beans into a uniform size; most home machines use conical or cone-shaped stainless steel burrs. There are two systems of grind adjustments; stepped or stepless, and some grinders offer both. Stepped grinders lock into incremental steps, whereas a stepless grinder has an infinite number of grind settings. It's all about trial and error and experimentation when learning about your adjustment settings.

Motor

The power behind the grind! At the entry-level are geared systems where the speed of the motor is reduced through a gearbox and the burrs spin slower to ensure less heat build-up. In a direct-drive grinder, the motor directly turns the burrs.

Here's Our List of the 5 Best Coffee Grinders in 2021

1. Baratza Encore

   The Baratza Encore boasts 40 individual grind settings ranging from medium-fine to coarse. Though not the best coffee grinder for espresso, it's excellent for many of the most popular brew methods such as Chemex, pour-over, Aeropress and French Press. The Encore is a conical burr grinder and houses a powerful, high-torque DC motor. It is compact, easy to clean and can handle 8 ounces of coffee beans. Why we love it: The Baratza Encore is our best performer in the entry-level category.

2. Eureka Crono

   It's the best grinder for espresso, although the Crono has two burr options for either espresso or filter coffee. Eureka's stepless grind adjustment for espresso is second to none. The Crono's 260W/1350rpm motor supplies the power for superiorly consistent grind types, including espresso. With a 300 gram hopper and a unique removable plastic grounds bin, the Crono packs it all into a small, efficient design that's a perfect addition to the home brewing setup.

3. Fellow ODE

   Fellow is primarily a product design company based in San Francisco. New in the coffee space, they are garnering great reviews for their foray into home-brewing equipment. Thanks to an enthusiastic response on Kickstarter, the ODE was developed, reaching its $200,000 goal in less than two hours! Featuring commercial-grade 64mm flat burrs and 31 grind settings, users say the Fellow ODE is noticeably quieter than other grinders.

4. Eureka Specialita

   The most recent addition to the Eureka family of best coffee grinders, the Specialita is a step up from the other Mignon grinders featuring 55mm burrs and micro-metric adjustment capabilities. A handy LCD Touch display allows you to input exactly how long your dose is. Subtle yet precise digital time adjustment, along with a super quiet chassis to keep your morning grind noise to a minimum. A champion in the espresso grinder category, the Specialita's small footprint is designed with the home barista in mind.

5. Eureka Atom Specialty 75

   World-renowned for their high-speed grind dispersion and silent technology for noise reduction, Eureka also stands out for additional features such as anti-static technology to avoid clumping. Massive 75mm burrs with an almost 900 watt motor in compact housing make this grinder one of the best choices for commercial grind quality on your kitchen counter. The easy-to-use micrometric adjustment system allows for the fine adjustments needed for perfect espresso and has the grind range for any brew method.

Honourable Mentions

Niche Zero Grinder

The Niche Zero is an espresso-focused grinder from the UK, which was also a crowd-funded project. Our go-to coffee expert, James Hoffmann, was initially skeptical but ended up being quite delighted with the results once he tested the Zero in his lab. Watch him put the Niche Zero through its paces.

Mahlkönig X54 Grinder

The German company dubbed “King of Grinders” has been manufacturing professional coffee grinders for decades; the new X54 is the first in their home line, named for its 54mm steel flat burrs. With grinding capability from espresso to French Press, the X54 certainly is one of the best coffee grinders. It is just being released in the US this summer, and we're hoping they'll announce plans for distribution to Canada by next year.