Blade Grinding

Thanks for filling out our Better Coffee questionnaire. Even though you have no complaints about your coffee, I know I can give you some pointers that will make you realize how much better it can be. 

Let’s start with your grinder. Blade grinders aren’t really made for coffee; they are spice mills. The industry has marketed them for coffee because they are inexpensive, but truly they make terrible coffee. One of the biggest leaps in my early coffee-drinking experience was upgrading to a burr grinder. If you change nothing else about your coffee making, this will yield better coffee, undoubtedly. I prefer to hand grind my coffee, and I use a Comandante grinder. But if you’re looking for an entry-level electric grinder, the Baratza Encore is an adequate choice.

Of course there are a lot of other, more fussy ways of making coffee beyond an auto-drip, and done right, these will all lead you into better coffee. But that’s probably a conversation for another day. 

The last, most foundational thing about making excellent coffee is the coffee itself. There is an amazing amount of diversity in coffees, and each roaster will create different tastes in each one. So your best bet is to find a roaster whose roasting style you like and then taste various coffees they offer  I think we do a pretty good job. And if I were to give you a jumping off point, I’d recommend one of our top standards, Costa Rica La Minita.