The 6 best coffee grinders for drip coffee, espresso, and more

Pros: Sturdy, nicely weighted, 40 grind settings

Cons: Not ideal for espresso

The Encore won't get you immaculate grounds, but it will reduce the number of boulders and fines (how coffee pros refer to too-large and too-small particles) in each grind. Using Kruve sieves — a set of stacked sifters that separate coffee grounds at your determined grind size from any outliers — we found that the Encore managed between 70 and 80 percent of our target French press grind (600-1100 micrometers), outperforming the other grinders we tested. 

However, when we tried a finer grind for espresso (250-500 micrometers), the results were only 50 to 70 percent on-target, with the irregular particles mostly being fines. A too-small grind can lead to over-extraction, which results in a bitter brew. So, while this machine will serve most home coffee brewers very well, we recommend upgrading to the Baratza Sette 270 if you plan on making espresso regularly. 

Although many of its competitors feature ceramic burrs, the Encore's is made from stainless steel, making it significantly more durable. That being said, all burrs will eventually require replacement, regardless of material. This machine is also among the quieter burr grinders we tested, registering at 74 decibels, or a little louder than a vacuum at a yard away. 

Pros: Stainless-steel burr, stainless-steel finish

Cons: Only 15 settings, not for espresso, plastic parts

The quietest of the machines we tested, at 70 decibels (a noise level we compare to a vacuum cleaner one yard away) OXO's Conical Burr Grinder is the gadget to buy if you're a French press, drip, or pour-over enthusiast who is ready to trade in their blade grinder for an entry-level burr grinder.

We ended up with a little more than half of our target French press grind size, with lots of fines mixed in, but fared slightly better when we switched to a coarser setting. Our coffee was certainly a step up from the batches made with blade grinders.

While we applaud OXO for outfitting this grinder with a stainless steel burr without sacrificing affordability, we found the Baratza Encore's burr to be more robust (it's a leap up in price for a reason). Further, the OXO Conical Burr Grinder has 15 settings to the Encore's 40, and the former's burr is held in place by a plastic cap while the latter's is secured with a stainless steel wingnut. It will also not make espresso grounds.

Otherwise, it's a better investment than any blade grinder we've tested, so if you're not willing to make the investment in an Encore (or a Fellow Ode), this will be a major improvement in your home coffee setup.

Pros: Works for all grind sizes, stainless steel burr, stainless steel finish

Cons: Only one programmable setting, some ground retention within machine, some plastic parts

If you want the best possible grinder for as little investment as possible, the Virtuoso+ is your best bet at the moment. It isn't as immaculate in its performance as its sibling, the Sette 270, but it covers just about every grind size, can usually just barely pull off espresso grounds, and is equally as dependable. 

The Virtuoso+ is also what barista trainer Sum Ngai of Coffee Project NY chooses to use at home, citing that it's easy to use, easy to clean, churns out consistent grounds, and offers just enough settings (40 in all) to be viable for any brewing method.

That said, this is a do-it-all package at a reasonable price, and if you take your home coffee seriously, it's a great step toward improving your setup without making a major investment (top quality burr grinders can easily go for four figures). 

The Breville Smart Grinder Pro performed similarly in our tests and is a good grinder by any measure. It puts out fairly even grounds, has multiple fittings to accommodate espresso portafilters of different sizes, and its interface is user-friendly. However, we found that the Baratza Virtuoso+ produced more consistent grounds, especially when it came to espresso.

Pros: Perfect for espresso, macro and micro grind settings, high speed, user-friendly interface and programming

Cons: Not ideal for coarser grounds, loud

Achieving the perfect espresso grind requires a finely-tuned auger designed for working with precise, minuscule particles. If you're exclusively making espresso with one of the best espresso machines, the Baratza Sette 270 is one of the best coffee grinders you can buy.

One of the common issues with coffee grinders is that most will pulverize your beans to dust much smaller than the generally recommended 250-500 micrometers for espresso. This is where the Sette 270 shows what it's made of. While every machine up to this price point left us with at least 10 to 20 percent fine particles, the Sette 270 produced such a negligible amount of fines that not only could we not weigh them, we couldn't scrape enough together to transfer them from the basin to the scale. 

Overall, the Sette 270 is an excellent choice if you're serious about espresso, or use a moka pot (which also requires particularly fine grounds), but it might be overkill for less-precise brewing methods. Our top pick, the Baratza Encore, will suit most other coffee-making needs.

If you're really looking to splurge, we wholly recommend the Rancilio Rocky grinder. It's highly capable and professional-grade, but bulkier and more expensive than the Sette. 

Pros: Small, quiet, efficient, consistent

Cons: Takes physical effort and time

One of the best ways to get quality grinds on the cheap is a good manual grinder, and everyone from our coffee reviewers to experts at the Specialty Coffee Association and Coffee Project NY swear by Hario's Skerton Pro, a compact little number that tucks away nicely just about anywhere, and makes scant a sound. (This is also a great choice for folks who don't want to wake up sleeping households early in the morning.)

Coffee grinders tend to be shockingly expensive to most people, which is why coffee experts point budget- or minimalist-minded home coffee brewers to manual coffee grinders. They work almost infinitely better than most machines two, three, and even four times their price, so long as you're grinding for anything but espresso or finely-ground stovetop coffee (a Moka pot or a Turkish/Greek/Arabic coffee pot), this device is plenty precise for a quality brew.

We also like that maintenance is easy; it's seven pieces in all and you can adjust the grind size without taking it apart (as opposed to several other options out there). 

Note: if you are making espresso or Turkish coffee, you'll need something a little more finely tuned, and we can't recommend Comandante's C40 enough (either the MK3, or the newer MK4, if you can find it). This is the best coffee grinder for someone who really wants to hone their craft. The only reason it's not a top pick is that, at $400, it's far too expensive for most budgets and interests.

Read our full Hario Skerton review to learn more.

Pros: Simple, small footprint, long-lasting

Cons: Inconsistent and uncontrollable grind

While burr grinders produce far more consistent coffee grounds than blade grinders, there's no getting around the fact that they're significantly more expensive.

In short, blade grinders will break your beans down into grounds and you will be able to make decent coffee — provided your go-to brewing method isn't fussy — but you're probably not going to get top-tier results by using one. If all of that sounds fine, the Krups' will more than suit your needs. 

It took about 30 seconds to produce a somewhat coarse French press grind that landed us on the safer side of not being left with too many fines. If your go-to brewing method involves a paper filter, it's even easier to get away with using a blade grinder: the paper filter will catch the fine particulate so that it doesn't end up as sludge (but know that you'll still end up with over-extraction and bitterness).

Blade grinders can last an incredibly long time with zero upkeep — some friends and family members have had this exact model for over 20 years — and, if you ever decide to upgrade to a burr grinder, you can still use the Krups blade grinder as one of the best spice grinders (burr grinders, on the other hand, are single-purpose machines).

Burr vs blade grinders: Burr grinders work by carefully crushing coffee beans between two revolving sharp-edged surfaces, or "burrs," and perform better than blade grinders because you can adjust the space between those burrs to determine the size of the grounds. Blade grinders work similarly to the best blenders, pulverizing coffee beans with a propeller-like blade attached to a motor. You won't get consistent results, but you will always get coffee without breaking the bank.

Grind consistency: The most important factor when determining the quality of the best coffee grinder is consistency. In the case of espresso, the aim was 250-500 micrometers. For French press grounds, we shot for between 600 and 1100 micrometers. Keep in mind, though, that these are just general suggestions, and look for uniformity of particles above all.

Espresso compatibility: While the ability to produce consistent, uniform grounds in the 250-500 micrometer range is the most essential coffee grinder requirement for making espresso, it's not the only factor we considered. Having a portafilter holder and a programmable interface also streamline the espresso brewing process, and we made sure to note machines with these features. 

In testing coffee grinders, I applied several years of tireless personal and professional research on my quest to achieve the perfect espresso pour. We also consulted the expertise of Sum Ngai (co-founder of the SCAA-accredited Coffee Project New York), Brooklyn Roasting Company founder Jim Munson), and Home-Barista.com founder and editor Dan Kehn.

Consistency: We used the brand-recommended settings for French press coffee and espresso on each grinder, as well as our own settings, based on expert input, personal experience, and guidelines set forth by The Craft and Science of Coffee. We then measured the grounds with a set of Kruve sifters — a series of stacked screens that separate coffee grounds at your determined grind size from any outliers — to see how many fine particles and boulders were left behind after each grind. Once we achieved the best yield of a target size, we repeated the process to check for consistent results.

Programming: We noted whether or not you could program your own settings, and tested this function on each machine that offered it, docking points for grinders that made the process overly complicated. 

Settings: We recorded the number of settings on every machine, and tested to see how each grinder performed on several of those settings, noting accuracy, consistency, and speed. Espresso is the most demanding grind size, and you'll need a machine with stainless steel burrs and at least 40 settings. Generally, we found that the brands' recommended settings were often off-target, so we included our own additional suggestions for each machine. 

Noise: We measured noise levels with a decibel meter, but ultimately this didn't factor too much into our final rankings. Some of the best burr grinders also happened to be the noisiest, but it's an inconvenience we can live with for quality coffee.

Coffee grind size chart

In order to decide grind size ranges for particular brewing methods, we consulted experts including Dan Kehn of Home-Barista.com, Sum Ngai of Coffee Project NY, Kruve's grind size guide, and The Craft and Science of Coffee. These are some basic parameters to help you get started.

How do you clean a burr grinder? 

A quick cleaning of stainless steel burrs involves using a small brush that is almost always included with your purchase of a grinder. Remove the hopper, pop out the burr, and brush it off.

How do you maintain a coffee grinder? 

In some cases, especially if it's been a while between quick cleanings, you'll need to do more work to remove the grounds and oils that have been wedged between the burrs. Remove them both and feel free to wash them with soap and water, but they must be perfectly dried — no exceptions — before going back into the machine or you're going to face corrosion.

Are coffee grinders worth it?

Dan Kehn, founder of espresso enthusiast forum Home-Barista.com said one of the best coffee grinders is a key investments you can make to get the most out of your coffee. "This is not a weed whacker, it is a precision instrument," he said. A coffee grinder reduces your coffee beans to a precise size so that you can extract even flavor.

How long do coffee grinders last? 

A good coffee grinder consistently produces uniformly sized grounds. Eventually, the burr will get dirty and/or wear out, but that doesn't cost too much to replace. You should easily get 10 years out of a good coffee grinder, and much longer out of manual ones.

How do manual coffee grinders work? 

Manual coffee grinders work just like the best pepper mills. The finer-tuned the burr is, the more dynamic your grind size can be.

Blade (grinder): A grinder that works like a blender or a propeller, employing a set of blades attached to a motor.

Boulders: Large grounds that are undesirable because they will under-extract and leave coffee watery.

Burr (grinder): A mill, usually made of ceramic or steel. It consists of a rough-edged pair of abrasive surfaces, one a disc-like shape, the other forming a ring around the first. 

Basin: The container into which the grounds fall.

Fines: Small grounds almost dust-like in size, these are too small to brew as they'll be over-extracted and leave coffee tasting bitter.

Hopper: The basin that stores the beans in the top of a burr grinder, ahead of grinding. You'll usually have to remove this to access, clean, and replace burrs.

Micrometers: The standard unit of measurement for coffee grounds (.001 millimeters).

(Grounds) Retention: The amount of grounds left trapped in the machine and/or burrs after grinding.