Once you’ve had a delicious cup of coffee, it’s challenging to go back. The beans’ freshness is one of the most critical aspects affecting the flavor of coffee, alongside the coffee machine and serving temperature. Once ground and exposed to air, coffee beans lose taste.
Grinding your beans before each brew preserves the freshest taste and lets you easily customize the grind size, a crucial selling feature, whether you choose fine grinds for espresso machines or medium grinds for drip coffee makers, or coarse grinds for those who prefer a French press or cold brew.
Nothing will enhance your morning coffee more than freshly switching to ground whole beans.
Whether you brew with a $3,000 liquid-cooled quantum AI-powered espresso machine or a $20 Mr. Coffee, switching to whole beans will drastically improve your coffee-drinking experience.
We compared the fine, medium, and coarse settings and the decibel level of each coffee grinder to produce different, evenly ground coffee. Here is our recommendation for the most refined small coffee grinders.
OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
There is no better coffee grinder than the OXO Brew Conical Burr Grinder! in its price range (around $100) that we’ve tested, and discovered that anything below that price signifies a considerable decline in uniformity and durability of the grind.
Suppose you primarily consume drip or French press coffee. In that case, the OXO is a fantastic alternative to the more expensive Baratza Encore because of its reasonably uniform grind, a broad range of settings, and user-friendliness (which offers a more consistent, versatile grind).
Additionally, the OXO grinder includes a simple timer ranging from 0 to 30 seconds and a 12-ounce bean hopper readily removable with the beans still inside (thanks to a shut-off valve).
With Baratza grinders, you must either dump the machine over a bowl or ground the whole hopper’s contents.
The performance of the OXO burr grinder pleased our testing. It created uniform coffee grinds that could be used for espresso, cold brew, or any other beverage.
The hopper (in which the beans are kept) has a UV-blocking tint and an airtight cover, which aid in taste preservation.
It can also accommodate up to three-quarters of a pound of coffee beans, the most of any grinder we tested.
The grinder functions with the push of a button and grinds into a static-resistant stainless steel container with a cover with a large enough hole to dump the grounds into a coffee filter without creating a mess.
The cover also prevents ground coffee from scattering after grinding. After the grounds have been drained, the container may be reattached and prepared for the next round.
- Grind settings: 15
- Coffee bean capacity: 3/4 pound
- Cup settings: None.
| OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder | Specifications |
| 15 grind settings with a High-quality 40 mm stainless steel conical burr set | |
| Easy to use with the one-touch grinding capability |
Chestnut C2 Manual Coffee Grinder
Many individuals may have a limited budget or a small kitchen. So we set out to locate a manual grinder that was portable, affordable, and easy to use daily for less than $100.
The correct response is the Chestnut C2 Manual Coffee Grinder, the less expensive alternative from the coffee business Time more, whose high-end grinders are highly acclaimed by coffee specialists.
The C2 is a joy to use because of its amazingly smooth and rapid grinding action and its pebbly, easy-to-grip aluminum surface (on the black version at least; it also comes in smooth matte white).
The Porlex, our previous top selection, has an integrated rubber band for the handle, but this grinder is similarly portable.
The C2 is still relatively new, but based on our two-month test run (during which we used this grinder many times each week), it seems well-constructed and durable.
Due to its modest size, the C2 can only produce enough coffee grounds for one or two cups at a time (which takes a couple of minutes).
Additionally, it is ideal for drip coffee or brewing with a French press, Chemex, AeroPress, or pour-over brewer, but not for espresso.
DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill
There are 18 grind sizes for the Cuisinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill. The finest grind is optimal for espresso, the medium grind for drip and pouring, and the coarsest grind for a cold brew and French press.
The grounds container includes a small hole that enables grounds to enter a coffee filter quickly and mess-free. Additionally, the container may be replaced securely in the base with one hand.
The grinder includes a coffee scoop and a cleaning brush for easy maintenance.
- Coffee bean capacity: 1/2 pound
- Grind settings: 18
- Cup settings: 4 to 18 cups
Infinity Plus Conical Burr Grinder
Regarding burr grinders, we found the Capresso Infinity Plus Conical Burr Grinder to be the quietest. Like our quietest blade grinder, the Krups, the Capresso produced a low, muted sound.
It has 16 grind settings, all of which are easily selectable because of their well-indicated markings.
A dial on the grinder allows you to adjust the number of cups to be ground from 1 to 12. The ergonomic container may be extracted from its enclosure with one hand.
It has a broad opening and little static, making it excellent for pouring coffee grinds into a filter.
- Coffee bean capacity: 11 ounces
- Grind settings: 16
- Cup settings: 1 to 12 cups
Smart Grinder Pro
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro is superbly built for espresso and coffee connoisseurs. It has 60 grind settings that provide some of the most uniform results.
The most delicate setting produces fine grinds that do not clump together, while the coarsest mimics store-bought ground coffee.
The grinder’s huge digital display makes it simple to pick the grind size, cup quantity, and grind duration, with adjustments available in increments of 0.2 seconds.
The coffee grinds fall immediately into a plastic container marked for espresso, drip, and French press cups.
If you don’t use all of the ground coffee at once, the container includes a cover for the opening in the lid.
This grinder’s attachment for portafilters is its defining characteristic, enabling you to ground coffee straight into the filter used in your espresso machine.
The days of measuring and filling with scoops are over.
- Grind settings: 60
- Coffee bean capacity: 1 pound
- Cup settings: 1 to 12 coffee cups, 1 to 8 espresso shots
Manual Coffee Grinder
A manual coffee grinder is ideal for people seeking the quietest method of grinding coffee. It is also a cost-effective alternative to electric burr grinders.
Compared to the other two manual grinders we tried, the JavaPresse had the most user-friendly handle: it was ergonomic, simple to operate, and did not slide off during testing.
Its grind settings were also the simplest to adjust (through a dial on the bottom of the grinder, similar to pepper mills), and we like seeing the coffee grounds via the container’s viewing glass.
- Grind settings: No specific settings are marked, while the grind size can be adjusted through a dial at the bottom of the grinder
- Coffee bean capacity: 6 tablespoons
- Cup settings: None
Final Thoughts
- EVERYTHING IS IN the beans.
- Among the electric grinders we’ve tested, the Brew grinder from Oxo hits a good balance between price, usability, and functionality.
- It is a conical burr grinder that gives the precision necessary for most brewing processes.
- There are fifteen alternatives for any brewing condition, ranging from espresso coffee ground finely to French press coffee ground coarsely.
- Its small, thin form does not take up counter space, but its 16-inch height may make it challenging to fit beneath the cabinets. Remember, you have to have space in order to take the lid off and pour in beans.
- It is loud, but not too so, and grinds quickly.
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