How Coffee Grind Size Affects Taste: A Visual Guide to Espresso Grind Sizes

How Coffee Grind Size Affects Taste - Common Grind Size Chart

It's important to note that due to the different conditions of each grinder (even from the same brand), the particle size produced at the same setting will vary. Therefore, you need to purchase a standard sieve to determine the particle size of your ground coffee.

Often, we only know that espresso grind size is much finer than pour-over, but there isn't an easy-to-understand data that tells us exactly how fine. Compared to pour-over coffee grind size, FrontStreet Coffee believes finding the right espresso grind size is even more difficult.

In pour-over grind sizing, we can use sieves for calibration, and the tolerance for error is relatively large - a 70-80% pass rate through a #20 sieve can still produce a good cup of coffee.

However, espresso uses pressurized, short-time extraction, which means it amplifies all characteristics - both good qualities and defects are magnified. This makes the requirements for grind size much more stringent. If the grind is slightly too fine, water passes through the coffee bed more slowly, leading to over-extraction. If the grind is slightly too coarse, water passes through too easily, causing under-extraction. This deviation might be caused by just 0.1 of a grind setting.

If you're a beginner looking to quickly find the right espresso grind size, you can follow FrontStreet Coffee's step-by-step method.

Step 1: Initially Lock in the Grind Range

This is a step for beginners who are just starting with espresso. First, adjust the grind setting to feel like flour - you can feel the coffee grounds with your hand, which should be soft and smooth without any roughness.

Then apply the common espresso extraction formula: a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, with extraction time between 20-30 seconds. The dose can reference the standard amount marked on your portafilter basket - for example, use 18g for an 18g basket, 20g for a 20g basket. After fixing both the dose and ratio parameters, adjust the grind size to control extraction time within 20-30 seconds. If the extraction time exceeds 30 seconds, make the grind coarser for the next extraction. If the extraction time is under 20 seconds, make the grind finer for the next extraction.

Step 2: Adjust Based on Flavor and Extraction Feedback

When you successfully find a grind setting that extracts coffee within 20-30 seconds, you can proceed to the next step - fine-tuning based on actual results.

Because that common extraction formula is just an ideal state, in reality, different coffee beans, different espresso machines, and other factors mean that even if it fits this formula, it might not necessarily taste good (if you've tasted it and there are no issues, you don't need this step). So we need to taste and then make fine adjustments based on flavor performance.

Now, the adjustment object is just the grind size - the dose and ratio are also included in the adjustment objects. If the espresso's flavor shows prominent acidity and lacks body, you need to make the grind even finer. If the coffee shows burned or bitter flavors, you can make the grind coarser, or increase the ratio, for example to 1:1.8.

When you adjust it to suit your taste, the current setting is the espresso grind size you need.

Some friends ask FrontStreet Coffee, "I don't know how to research grind size - can you grind the coffee into powder and send it to us?" Although FrontStreet Coffee can grind it for you, we usually recommend purchasing coffee beans to grind yourself. There are two reasons for this. The first is freshness - espresso grind particles are much finer than pour-over, which means coffee flavor compounds dissipate faster, and carbon dioxide is released more quickly. When most of the gas has escaped, it becomes difficult to produce good crema, and the coffee's flavor is not as pleasant.

The second reason is that espresso grind size is not fixed. In fact, espresso bean grind size is affected by degassing level and weather conditions, requiring daily fine-tuning of the grind setting to ensure extraction quality. If you use pre-ground coffee, parameters that worked well a few days ago might become unstable afterward.

Therefore, if you want to make espresso yourself, learning to adjust the grind size and purchasing whole espresso beans is the best approach.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473