Coffee Training Lab

Coffee Grinding

Coffee Grinding - Size Comparison Chart

Grind Size	Real World Reference	Feels Like	Brew Method
Extra Coarse	Bigger than Kosher Salt - Ground Peppercorns	Rough and gritty - visible chunks but still uniform	Cold Brew - Cowboy Coffee
Coarse	Kosher salt - pepper flakes	Still gritty - small grind slivers present	French Press
Medium-Coarse	Coarse Sand	No slivers of grinds	Chemex
Medium	Regular Sand - Table Salt	Slightly smooth - can feel individual grains	Drip Coffee Makers, Siphon Pots
Medium-Fine	Fine Sand - Granulated Sugar	Smoother than Medium Grind, but with grains still discernible	Aeropress (2-3 Minutes), Hario v60, Kalita Wave
Fine	In between Granulated Sugar and Powdered Sugar	Smooth and silky in texture, not fluffy. Small grains detectable	Espresso, Aeropress (1-2 Minutes)
Extra Fine	Powdered Sugar - Flour	Cannot feel individual grains, very powdery and fluffy	Turkish Coffee (Ibrik)

Coffee Grinding Table

Things To Consider When Grinding Coffee

Too coarse of a grind = under-extracted coffee: Sour, Acidic, Salty in flavor

Too fine of a grind = over-extracted coffee: Bitter, Burnt, Acrid.

To fix these problems, adjust your grind in small increments until you find the right size.

Choose your starting grind by comparing Brew Time and Agitation. A longer brew time indicates the need for a coarser grind.