What Grind Size is Suitable for Pour-Over Coffee - Standards for Pour-Over Coffee Grind

FrontStreet Coffee - Pour Over Coffee Grind Size

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The Difference Between Coffee Grind Sizes

Generally, extremely coarse grind is suitable for cold brew extraction, coarse grind is suitable for French press extraction, medium-coarse grind is suitable for drip extraction, medium grind is suitable for pour-over or conical filter drip extraction, fine grind is suitable for espresso extraction, and extremely fine grind is suitable for Turkish coffee.

The Impact of Grind Size on Pour Over Coffee

The grind size has a significant impact on pour over coffee. With other parameters being the same, finer particles result in higher extraction rates. Different machines use different scales to indicate coarseness, but each machine's scale is unique. So how do we communicate with each other? What do the terms medium grind, medium-fine, and medium-coarse that we often hear actually look like? How coarse is considered coarse, and how fine is considered fine? It's generally accepted that particles the size of No. 2 sugar crystals are considered medium-coarse. Slightly coarser than that is called medium-coarse, and slightly finer is called medium-fine.

What You Need to Know About Grinding

Different coffee grinders produce different grinding results (even with the same brand and model). Different types of burrs create different shapes of coffee particles, and these different shapes result in different extraction effects (some are flaky, some are blocky, and some tend to be round).

Different coffee grinders have different particle size distributions. Different distributions of coarse and fine particles result in different extraction effects (some have a higher ratio of fine particles, while others have fewer).

Suggestion: When discussing grind size with others, it's best not to mention specific settings but rather describe the tactile feel of the particles. For example: like flour, like salt, like coarse salt, fine sugar, sugar, coarse sugar, and so on.

Coffee beans with different roast levels will produce different grinding results even with the same grinder and the same setting. At the same setting, darker roasted coffee beans will produce finer particles. This is because darker roasted coffee beans have lower moisture content and are more brittle.

(If you're observant, you'll notice that when using an electric grinder, the sound is different when grinding beans with different roast levels; if you're using a hand grinder, you'll find that grinding light-roasted beans makes your hand more sore.)

Suggestion: When you get a new batch of coffee beans, test grind them before brewing to find the particle texture you want.

About FrontStreet Coffee

In short, FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research establishment that loves to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation just to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, we hold three coffee events with significant discounts because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years!

Important Notice :

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