Grinding coffee at home

The aroma of coffee is an extremely powerful stimulant, so it is not surprising that e.g. B. the coffee advertisement uses this element.

You probably immediately think of a cup of coffee, the aroma that emanates from it and a happy human face.

But do you know what the prerequisite for this aroma is?

While we can’t yet physically smell the scents featured in adverts on the other side of the screen, coffee is a very special product – when we see people enjoying the scent on the screen, it’s easy for us to think of its smell to remember.

That is, of course, once we’ve smelled it! If you think that pouring water over the already purchased ground coffee is enough to get the enticing aroma, unfortunately, you will be disappointed.

Even with the best beans, there’s still one step between you and the perfect cup of coffee: the grinding. So in this case you can’t click one coffee grinder waive.

The joke in the coffee world is that you can make good coffee in a mason jar. The only condition is that the beans must be freshly ground and of good quality.

The power of freshly ground coffee

Imagine you have two containers of ground coffee in front of you. If you hold your nose and just look, you can’t tell anything about the properties of this coffee.

You only have to smell a little and you can immediately appreciate the strength of the aroma and smells.

The aroma tells you which coffee is freshly ground and which is not. It is not entirely correct to say that we smell with our nose because with our nose we can only inhale and pass on the air full of aromatic molecules.

The smell itself is picked up by nerve cells and perceived by the brain. But let’s leave the study of the human sense of smell to the scientists and let’s get back to that fragrant black cup of coffee.

It is estimated that more than 800 aromatic substances can be found in coffee.

This number is constantly growing as technology improves.

However, as mentioned before, if you want to enjoy the strongest aroma from your coffee, one condition must be met: the coffee beans must be freshly ground. It is said that within just 15 minutes of being ground, coffee has already lost more than 60% of its aroma from exposure to the environment.

Therefore, after grinding the beans, it should not take too long before the coffee itself is brewed.

Have you ever wondered why the beans need to be ground in the first place before making coffee?

The answer is simple: by grinding the beans you are doing the hardest work of all, ie. you increase the surface area of ​​the coffee by turning the relatively large beans into fine grains – granules.

This allows the water to extract all the flavours and aromas from the coffee. You can experiment by pouring unground coffee beans into the water: even if the beans remain in the water for a long time, the water will not absorb any aromas.

Simply put, hot water with floating beans doesn’t turn into a cup of black, fragrant coffee.

Pre-ground vs. freshly ground coffee

The aroma of the coffee is protected from our noses by the hard coffee beans. Grinding the coffee bean releases the flavour molecules and creates an aroma that cannot be mixed with anything else.

Not for nothing is it called one of the most complexes in the world.

Only here lies the dilemma. In a world that is always in a hurry, it seems easier to buy already ground coffee beans.

However, ground coffee loses its taste and aroma due to oxidation if it is stored for a long time.

In other words, you may gain time by buying ground coffee, but you lose the flavour and aroma of the coffee. Grinding a larger amount of coffee yourself, which will last at least a few days, is not the best solution either.

Freshly ground coffee is coffee whose beans have been ground before the beverage is prepared.

Coffee accepts no compromises in this regard. Which do you prefer: a few free minutes in the morning or a delicious cup of freshly ground coffee?

A coffee grinder for the household – what is important?

To reiterate, the purpose of grinding coffee beans is to prepare the coffee granules for contact with water.

We’ve already learned that only by freshly grinding the coffee beans can we get the best aroma and flavour out of coffee, so we won’t be without a coffee grinder.

It would be very easy if the only thing that mattered when choosing a coffee grinder was the freshness of the grind… You also need to look at the quality of the grinder – how evenly it grinds the coffee (the type of grinder and the quality of the grinder are important here ), choose a grinder that suits your lifestyle (handheld or electric), and find out if it grinds the coffee to the grind required for the way you brew coffee, and see if it’s easy to use and clean…

Below we will discuss the questions that most often arise when choosing a coffee grinder, as well as practical tips on what to pay attention to and which details are less important.

Disk grinder vs. impact grinder

The first question that arises when choosing a coffee grinder is the grinder or grinding discs. There is only one answer to this question: the grinder.

The very popular coffee grinders with grinding discs can also simply be called coffee grinders because of their compactness and price.

In this type of machine, the coffee beans are split unevenly and part of the coffee is ground into flour while the other part resembles fine salt.

Accordingly, the finer grains extract more bitterness from the coffee, while the coarser chunks add unwanted acidity to the coffee.

You end up with a well-balanced, bad-tasting coffee and a dirty cup when you drink it. So if you already own one of these grinders, you should continue to use it for grinding spices, which is actually what it’s best for.

However, when it comes to the question of whether it is better to buy pre-ground coffee or a disc grinder with burrs, the coffee grinder would still win.

Quite simply because of the problem of freshness already mentioned. However, if the taste of the coffee is already important to you and you choose a coffee grinder, coffee connoisseurs strongly advise you to choose one with a grinder.

By the way, the price of a coffee grinder with grinding discs and grinders is only a few tens of euros!

The mill with a grinder has two advantages.

First, the grinder grinds the beans more evenly – we’ve already learned that. And secondly, only one grinder allows you to grind the coffee with different coarseness, which is very important if you prepare coffee in different ways at home.

From a simple water infusion to any filter coffee method – such as filter coffee machines, Chemex, Harry V60 – to the unusual espresso.

Manual coffee grinder or electric coffee grinder?

The second question is whether a manual coffee grinder or one electrical coffee grinder is better. There is no definite answer to this as it depends on your habits, needs and preferences.

To make your decision easier, we recommend that you consider a few important aspects.

• Compactness, lightness, mobility. A hand coffee grinder is more compact, lighter and more mobile. If you travel a lot and want to take your coffee grinder with you, a hand coffee grinder is clearly the best choice. An electric coffee grinder takes up more space, is heavier and doesn’t easily fit in a suitcase.
• time, patience, and strength. The hand coffee grinder is the perfect choice for small quantities of medium to coarse-grain coffee. But if you drink a lot of coffee, a hand coffee grinder requires patience, strength and time. In other words, using a hand coffee grinder means you need to roll up your sleeves, especially when you need to grind more coffee at once and with a finer grit. It’s much easier with an electric coffee grinder, it does the work for you. With an electric coffee grinder, you can free up your hands and your time. But there’s one important thing we mustn’t forget: there are people who delight in the mere possibility of creating something with their own hands. So if you are one of these people, you should opt for a hand coffee grinder.
• Price. If you ask those who have already bought a coffee grinder, you will surely hear that the price can also influence the decision. A good electric coffee grinder is more expensive than a good hand coffee grinder. So if you’re on a budget, you can make your choice quicker. As mentioned, before you do that, consider whether you have the desire and patience to grind the beans yourself every time given the savings and choosing a manual grinder.
• Grinding sound. Another important aspect that is often underestimated is the sound. If you need rest, because you z. B. have a small child, then assess the noise of the electric coffee grinder – whether it will disturb you. The hand coffee grinder wins on this point as it has a much lower noise level.
• Espresso and other preparation method. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if you can’t live without good espresso, go for an electric coffee grinder. First of all, a hand coffee grinder can rarely achieve the degree of grinding required for espresso preparation. And when you find one (handheld coffee grinders are the most expensive segment), you have to put in a tremendous amount of effort to grind the coffee every time. As already mentioned, the finer the grinding, the greater the effort. And the evenness of the grind is also questionable… An electric coffee grinder is much more convenient and tailor-made for this purpose – if you choose the right grinder for your espresso style, it will automatically grind the coffee as coarsely as you need for the perfect cup need espresso, smoothly and very quickly.