Grinding Your New Beans

So you've just received your new bag of Sollevato coffee (NICE!) and now the fun part begins: grinding those beans! Buying whole beans and grinding them right before you brew ensures the freshest coffee. Though it is typically an afterthought, the grind size that you choose will determine how well your cup will turn out, so it's pretty important. The goal is to perfect your grind size for the best flavor extraction.

 Grinder

In general, the relationship between grind size and extraction is this - too course: under extract | too fine: over extract. This relationship is due to the amount of exposed surface area of the ground beans. Without even knowing grind size you can taste certain things to know if you are too course or too fine. For example, under extracted coffee can taste sour, acidic, or somewhat salty. Meanwhile, over extracted coffee can taste very bitter and lacking of a notable coffee bean flavor.

Another huge factor in determining the proper grind is the grinding equipment itself. You want to ensure that you have achieved a consistent grind across all the bean(s). If you go to the beach and are expecting a sandy, smooth beach and instead have a mixture of sand, sharp rocks, and dust you're not going to be happy - same for your coffee brewer! To keep your brewer happy you want to give it what it likes - consistency. Coffee that is inconsistently ground does not extract properly across it's spectrum and will thus effect the flavor. Conical burr grinders are the best for ensuring ground consistency.

 

Use the chart below as handy guide to determining what size your grind is.Coffee grind

 

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