If you are serious about your coffee and either roast at home or buy whole bean (in our opinion, buying whole bean is the only way to buy roasted coffee), then you need a burr coffee grinder or a powerful blade grinder. Using a coffee grinder at home produces significantly better-tasting coffee than buying ground coffee at the store (or online!).

So what is the difference between a burr and blade grinder? A burr grinder has teeth that cut the coffee beans in one pass, without overheating, nor destroying them. A burr grinder has different settings and allows you to pick the type of grind (very fine to coarse) desired. This is what commercial coffee grinders do. A blade grinder has a rotating knife that cuts the bean repeatedly (until pulverized, if kept on long enough or if you have a weak motor). Weak blade grinders (under 100 watts) heat the coffee beans causing flavor loss. On a blade grinder the degree of grind is controlled by the amount of time the engine is engaged. So, if you are going to get a blade grinder, make sure it has a powerful motor.

A burr grinder is good for all types of coffee brewing methods. A blade grinder is not good for very fine coffee grinds like espresso and Turkish/Greek coffee. A powerful blade grinder is fine for French Press, Pourover or Drip coffee makers.

Commercial grinders are designed for continuos use and have heavy duty, solid-metal burrs.