How to grind coffee beans for your brewer

Quick answer: grind size by brewer

Grind coffee beans right before you brew, and match the size to how long the water touches the coffee: fine for espresso, medium for drip and pour over, coarse for French press and cold brew. A burr grinder gives the most even result.

Sizes and times are the National Coffee Association's, and the Turkish row is from Wikipedia's coffee preparation article. The rule underneath it, in Wikipedia's words: methods that expose the grounds to hot water for longer need a coarser grind than faster methods.

When to grind

Grind just before you brew. Wikipedia's coffee preparation article explains why: ground coffee goes stale faster than roasted beans because far more of it is exposed to oxygen. The National Coffee Association gives the same advice, and its storage guide puts whole beans at 1 to 3 weeks of freshness at room temperature against 1 to 2 weeks for ground coffee.

So buy whole bean if you own a grinder, grind only what the next pot needs, and keep the rest in an airtight container somewhere dark and cool, which is also the NCA's advice.

Burr grinder vs blade grinder

A burr grinder crushes beans between two surfaces, and the gap between them sets the size: wider for coarse, closer for fine. A blade grinder spins a metal blade, and how long you run it decides how fine the coffee gets.

The table draws on Wikipedia's coffee preparation and burr mill articles and the National Coffee Association's drip coffee guide. Blade grinder dust causes a practical problem too: Wikipedia notes it can clog sieves.

Step by step

With a burr grinder

1. Set the grinder to the size your brewer needs from the table above. Start in the middle of that range if the grinder has numbered steps.
2. Weigh the beans for one brew. Our guide to the coffee to water ratio has the amounts.
3. Grind, then look: compare the grounds to table salt, kosher salt or rock salt.
4. Brew straight away, taste, and move the setting one step if the cup is off.

With a blade grinder

1. Grind in short bursts rather than one long run, and shake the grinder between them so the beans move around the blade.
2. Stop and check against the salt comparisons. It is easier to go finer than to fix a grind that went too far.
3. Use it for drip, pour over or French press, where the NCA sizes are medium to coarse. Wikipedia does not recommend blade grinders for pump espresso machines, so for espresso use a burr grinder or coffee bought ground for espresso.

No grinder at all? Buy coffee ground for your brewer. For Turkish coffee, Wikipedia notes that a mortar and pestle can reach the powdery fineness it needs.

Troubleshooting

Grind size is the easiest fix for a cup that tastes wrong. A smaller particle has more surface area and extracts faster, and Wikipedia's coffee extraction article links under-extraction to a sour taste and over-extraction to bitterness. That is the grind size rule in practice:

• Sour or thin: grind finer.
• Bitter or harsh: grind coarser.
• French press cup muddy and gritty: grind coarser, and consider a burr grinder, since blade grinders make fine coffee dust.
• Pour over draining very slowly: the grind is too fine for the filter, so go coarser.
• Espresso running fast and sour: grind finer. See making espresso at home.

Grinding coffee: questions

Should I grind coffee the night before?

No. Grind right before you brew. Wikipedia's coffee preparation article says ground coffee deteriorates faster than beans because more of it is exposed to oxygen.

How long does ground coffee stay fresh?

About 1 to 2 weeks at room temperature, against 1 to 3 weeks for whole beans, according to the National Coffee Association's storage guide.

What grind should I use for cold brew?

Coarse, like rock salt, according to the National Coffee Association, with about 12 hours of steeping.

Can I use a blade grinder for espresso?

Wikipedia's coffee preparation article does not recommend blade grinders for pump espresso machines, because they produce particles of widely varying sizes. Use a burr grinder for espresso.

Whole beans from Washington State roasters

Freshness starts at the roaster. Among the Washington roasters we list, Espresso Vivace in Seattle ships whole bean orders the day they are roasted, Olympia Coffee roasts every coffee to order each day, and Zoka's four person team roasts every weekday in Bellingham, as their pages said on September 27, 2026. For someone who wants to go one step further back, Boon Boona, Indaba and Vivace also sell green coffee for home roasting. Buying beans this close to the roaster keeps the money with a Washington crew; why local roasters matter puts names to it.

Palouse Coffee Club sends a 12 oz bag from a different independent Washington roaster every 2 or 4 weeks, roasted to order. Choose whole bean if you grind at home, or ground if you do not. $16.99 a bag. First bag free, you pay $7.99 shipping. Build your box.

Sources

• Grind sizes and contact times: National Coffee Association guides to espresso, drip coffee (also burr and blade grinders, grinding fresh), pour over, French press and cold brew
• Freshness of beans and ground coffee, storage: National Coffee Association, Storage and shelf life
• Coarser grind for longer contact, staling, blade grinder dust, Turkish grind: Wikipedia, Coffee preparation
• Burr gap, friction heat: Wikipedia, Burr mill
• Grind size and sour or bitter coffee: Wikipedia, Coffee extraction
• Washington roasters' roasting and green coffee: each roaster's own pages, as recorded on its profile on this site, checked 2026-09-27