Shocking truth: a reliable coffee grinder is a key equipment to a finer coffee experience.

Yup, as surprising as that may sound, but owning a good, strong coffee grinder will be a much more rewarding investment than upgrading your coffee maker. Yes, it’s the coffee maker that brews but through our decades of roasting and grinding, we realized something that can transform your coffee experience. Hear us out.

Let’s get straight to the point: a great grinder transforms your coffee from the inside out. Every cup will be more flavorful and delicious. With a grinder, you’ll be able to hold total control over your coffee’s flavor and strength. You can now brew coffee that could rival your favorite café.

We’ll give you three good reasons why a good coffee grinder matters:

• REASON #1: BREW BETTER COFFEE ANYTIME

  If you own a coffee grinder at home, you can brew better coffee every time. Not satisfied with your first brew? With a grinder, you can simply fix it by refining your coffee and making adjustments to your grind.

  The method by which you refine your coffee simply requires you to make a small grind size adjustment to use next time you brew. If the change is right, your next cup will be improved. It all has to do with controlling coffee extraction.

  To explain it better, we’ll try to share our knowledge of how coffee extraction works.

  Brewed coffee is the result of the interaction between water and ground coffee. So the water gets into the coffee and starts to pull a lot of things out, such as caffeine compounds or antioxidants. Some of these things are dissolved, some are not.

  The natural flavor of the coffee gets pulled out first or extracted, and then the acids. As extraction continues, these harsh compounds are mellowed out with calm, smooth flavors that come with the beans (ie. Hazelnut Coffee, etc.)

  Bitter tannins are the last that got extracted, and that’s why when you leave your coffee for too long, it’s stale and bitter because the tannins finally overwhelmed the natural flavors of the beans.

  Your goal is to brew coffee with control over every extraction stage. And you can only do that with a coffee grinder. How the beans are ground plays a role in the coffee’s overall balance. Stop too soon or extract too far and you’ll have coffee that lacks flavor or is not balanced. With a coffee grinder, you can prevent that from happening.

• REASON #2: FRESHLY GROUND COFFEE IS THE BEST COFFEE

  Some pre-ground coffee lacks any flavor. And that’s because they’re stale. It’s more bitter than it has to be. It may come as a shock, but most pre-ground coffees in the market are stale coffees because they’re not freshly ground.

  A true (well, legit) freshly ground coffee features some incredible flavors. But just like any other ingredients, coffee suffers the same fate when they get exposed to oxygen: a slow breakdown of organic molecules that lead to the deterioration of fresh, natural flavors. In short, they become stale.

  This process is called oxidation.

  When coffee oxidizes, its natural aromatic oils evaporate. These oils are responsible for some of the most vivid flavors in coffee, including those sweet and nutty hints.

  Now, here’s the thing: coffee remains fresh only for thirty minutes after it is ground. Whole beans, on the other hand, can remain fresh for two weeks or more after being roasted.

  When you have a grinder, you can have an authentic (and well, legit) fresh coffee experience.

• REASON #3: YOU CAN USE ANY BREWER YOU WANT

  Because you can grind your beans according to your preferred grind size, you now have the freedom to use whatever brewer you have at home.

  The Aeropress, for example, brews its best when the coffee beans are ground from medium to fine sizes. These smaller coffee particles complement the mechanics of the Aeropress, but coarser grounds would clog the metal filter and brew bad coffee.

  With your grinder, you’ll be able to set the grind size so that it compliments your brewer.

WHAT’S A GOOD COFFEE GRINDER?

Lauded by the most respected experts in the coffee industry, Baratza’s Encore Coffee grinder features a whopping 40 individual grind settings, from fine to coarse. The Encore’s flexibility allows its grinds to be compatible with popular brewing methods such as pour-over, Aeropress, Siphon, and Chemex. It’s also convenient and easy to use. Whether you are looking for an espresso grinder or a grinder to help you explore that extensive range of brew methods, the Encore is a great all-around home grinder.