Coffee Grind Size Chart: Visual Guide to Grind Coarseness Standards - Differences Between Moka Pot and Espresso Bean Grind Sizes, Ratios, and Extraction Times

Many factors influence coffee flavor. During the brewing process, these include coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, water temperature, and more. Among these, grind size is particularly crucial. There's a saying in the industry: "You can buy a cheaper coffee machine, but you must get the best grinder." This speaks to how significantly grinding truly affects coffee flavor.

If coffee grounds are too coarse, the surface area is small, making it difficult to extract sufficient flavor compounds, resulting in weak, tasteless coffee. If grounds are too fine, the surface area is too large, extracting excessive bitterness and astringency. Therefore, choosing an appropriate grind size is extremely important.

Hand-Drip Coffee Grind Size Standards

So how should we distinguish hand-drip coffee grind size standards? FrontStreet Coffee uses freshly roasted coffee beans as an example. Experienced hand-drip enthusiasts know that single-origin coffee beans for hand-drip brewing are divided into light-to-medium roast and medium-to-dark roast.

Light-to-medium roasted coffee beans typically exhibit acidity, while caramelized compounds are not easily extracted. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a medium-fine grind size (80% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve with 0.85mm mesh, equivalent to fine sugar size). A medium-fine grind slows water flow through the coffee bed, better extracting acidic compounds, sweet compounds, and caramelized substances to create balanced coffee flavor.

For medium-fine ground coffee, the recommended brewing water temperature is 90-91°C. Too high a temperature will over-extract caramelized compounds, producing bitterness; too low a temperature will under-extract, only capturing some acidic and sweet compounds, making the coffee flavor bland and uninteresting.

Meanwhile, medium-to-dark roasted coffee beans generally favor lower acidity with noticeable body thickness, meaning caramelized compounds are more abundant. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a medium-coarse grind size (70% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve with 0.85mm mesh, equivalent to coarse sugar size). A medium-coarse grind speeds up water flow through the coffee bed, preventing caramelized compounds from being over-extracted, allowing the coffee's flavor and mouthfeel to be sweet and mellow without producing unpleasant bitterness.

For medium-coarse ground coffee, the recommended brewing water temperature is 88-89°C. Too high a temperature will make the coffee flavor bitter and hard to swallow; too low a temperature will make the coffee flavor bland and uninteresting.

The above are the hand-drip coffee grind size standards, which FrontStreet Coffee has developed through extensive practice and scientific validation. So how exactly should you sieve your coffee grounds? FrontStreet Coffee is here to explain.

How to Use a 0.85mm #20 Sieve

Regarding grind size, FrontStreet Coffee determines this through sieving methods. Based on the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) grind recommendations for hand-drip coffee, combined with practical operational verification by FrontStreet Coffee. If you don't have a sieve at home, FrontStreet Coffee suggests observing flow rate to judge: if water flows too quickly, the grind is too coarse; if water flows too slowly, the grind is too fine.

First, prepare 10g of coffee beans for grinding. Initially determine a grind size based on fine sugar and coarse sugar sizes, then pour into the sieve, cover the lid, and shake left and right to allow coffee grounds to pass through the sieve into the collection tray below. Continue until no more coffee grounds pass through the sieve. Then prepare an electronic scale and container, tare to zero, pour the sieved coffee grounds into the container and weigh. If the sieved grounds reach 8g, it's medium-fine grind; if they reach 7g, it's medium-coarse grind. If the pass-through rate is too high, adjust the grind coarser; if too low, adjust the grind finer.

Black Coffee Brewing Methods and FrontStreet Coffee's Grind Size Sieve Pass-Through Rates:

Cold Drip > Hand-Drip Siphon 80% > American Drip 75-80% > Cupping 70-75% > French Press 65-70%

How Fine Should Espresso Coffee Be Ground?

The base of espresso coffee is espresso, what we commonly call espresso. Espresso extraction occurs rapidly under 9 bar high pressure from the coffee machine. Extraction time generally doesn't exceed half a minute, so this requires espresso grind size to be much finer than hand-drip coffee grind size to extract sufficient flavor compounds to support espresso coffee.

Each grinder's standard is different. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's Fiorenzato 900N grinder as an example, FrontStreet Coffee's average grind setting is between 1.8 and 2.0, though this isn't absolute. Baristas calibrate daily before opening, adjusting extraction parameters—including grind size—based on the espresso beans' aging state, daily weather conditions, and the final taste in the cup.

For example, today FrontStreet Coffee's extraction recipe is 20g of coffee grounds, grind setting at 1.8, extracting 40g of coffee liquid in 27-28 seconds. The 1:2 ratio is chosen to preserve more complete coffee flavor, while this flow rate is selected to highlight the dark chocolate and aroma of FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend used in the store.

Moka Pot Grind Size

The Moka pot also belongs to the espresso family and is positioned as a home coffee appliance. When brewing coffee, a Moka pot generates 1.5-3 bar pressure, and when used properly, it can also produce crema.

Many friends are concerned about Moka pot grind size. It should be slightly coarser than espresso machine grind size, with particle diameter around 0.3-0.55mm. You can determine this in two ways: first, purchase a particle size gauge or Moka-specific coffee powder for reference; second, through continuous experimentation—usually not too many times, 3-5 tests should be sufficient. If the grind is too coarse, coffee liquid will spray out rapidly, possibly like a fountain; if the grind is too fine, you'll hear the bubbling sound of boiling water but no coffee liquid coming up, indicating it's too fine, and you should quickly turn off the heat. Remember to take safety precautions when conducting such tests.

What Coffee Beans Are Best for Moka Pot?

Coffee beans suitable for Moka pot generally require medium-to-dark roast. FrontStreet Coffee recommends trying espresso blend beans first, such as FrontStreet Coffee's specialty espresso blend, which uses Brazilian and Colombian coffee beans to produce coffee with clean, balanced nutty chocolate flavors, suitable for espresso machines and Moka pots. For more distinctive flavors, you can choose FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend, which combines FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and Honduras Sherry beans, highlighting caramel, vanilla chocolate, and sherry wine flavors.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473