The problem with coffee grinders........

So many things happened today that it's difficult to know exactly where to start. So I've decided on this blog to focus on two coffee grinder issues and refer you back to a couple of my earlier blogs.

The first was a customer in our shop who has a house in Spain. He was telling me that he usually bought a very high roasted coffee from the local Supermarket, and with his "blade" grinder was able to achieve a great taste. He had worked out the amount of time required to grind this coffee so as to achieve a perfect extraction. However now he was using a different coffee that was a bit lighter roasted, he was experiencing problems with the level of extraction.

What he has experienced is what we as roasters experience every day. Different coffees require to be ground slightly differently in order to achieve perfect extraction. This is largely because of the level of oils emanating from the coffee. Lighter roasted coffees are effectively slightly drier than their darker roasted cousins and therefore as a rule of thumb tend to need to be ground slightly finer to achieve perfect extraction.

However because coffee acts like a sponge, so its characteristics will change even over a 12 hour period. A very humid day will result in the grind needing to be slightly different to a hot dry day. All very scary indeed, but very useful to know when you are experiencing problems.

As to choosing the right grinder have a look at my blog of Friday 18th August in the archive for full details.

The second issue was that of blunt grinding blades, and the impact that they can have on the quality of the coffee being delivered into the cup. It is sadly one of the most neglected areas in espresso production, but again vital to monitor to ensure drink consistency.

I refer you to my blog of Thursday 21st September which goes into more detail.