Best Coffee Grinders for Espresso

Espresso is the hardest thing you can ask a grinder to do. The grind has to be fine, even, and adjustable in steps small enough to move a shot by a few seconds. Most grinders sold as all-purpose cannot do the third of those, which is why this list is much shorter than the grinder category.

Step size decides whether you can dial in at all

A shot that runs four seconds fast needs a grind slightly finer, and if the next setting is a large jump you will overshoot in the other direction forever. This is why stepless or very finely stepped grinders dominate espresso recommendations, and why a 40-step grinder covering French press to espresso is usually the wrong tool even when its burrs are good.

Numbers help but need reading. The Baratza Sette 270Wi's 270 steps and the Breville Dose Control Pro's 60 are not measuring the same thing; what matters is how many of them fall in the espresso zone.

Retention is the figure makers leave off the box

Coffee left inside the grinder from the last session comes out in the next one. On a machine holding several grams, your first shot of the day is partly yesterday's coffee, and the dose you weighed is not the dose you brewed. Single dosing - grinding exactly what you are about to use - is the workaround, and grinders designed for it hold very little back.

It is also the specification most often absent from a spec sheet, which is itself informative.

Conical or flat

Conical burrs are more common and more forgiving, and typically give a rounder, heavier shot. Flat burrs tend toward clarity and separation and are less tolerant of a sloppy routine. Neither is better; they suit different tastes, and the difference between two good grinders of either type is smaller than the difference between grinding well and grinding badly.

What to ignore

Motor wattage. It tells you about torque and heat, not grind quality, and a higher figure on the box has no relationship to what is in the cup. A slower grinder that produces less fines heat is generally the better machine.