The Best Burr Coffee Grinder For You In 2023 Is Below…

You’re here to find the best burr grinder. That tells me you understand how important grinding your coffee beans is when trying to brew an amazing cup of coffee.

True story: It took me years, and I blew somewhere around £1150 in wasted beans and crappy grinders (Ouch!) to understand the importance of grinding. I had amazing beans and brewers, but no matter what I did, my coffee tasted average. My grinder was letting me down, and I had no idea.

That’s what this article is about. I want to stop you from having the same problem I had by helping you find the right burr grinder for you and your needs. Read on to learn more.

Blade vs burr grinders (and why its so important)

First things first, I want to say: thank you for helping rid the world of shitty coffee. I know you’re here because you’ve already done your homework. You know the importance of getting the grind right. You want the best coffee possible.

You already know that only a fool would choose a blade grinder over a burr grinder. The video below is a refreshing reminder of it. And you wouldn’t think of buying pre-ground coffee because you know that it just never tastes as good as freshly ground beans (if you want to learn the science behind this, read this article).

I respect you and thank you. I hope I can help you find the perfect grinder. Let’s do it, shall we?

How to Choose The Best Electric Grinder

Please don’t be impatient; all I ask is that you spend 2 minutes to read this section, and you’ll know exactly what to look for in your perfect grinder.

Think About Consistency

I know it, you know it, we all know it – The aim is to end up with grinds that are very consistent in size for filter coffee. This means each ground will be extracted to the same degree, and your coffee will taste better. But this is less important for espresso-based coffee.

Don’t take my word for it, listen to one of the best in the business, Scott Rao (1) has to say:

Grind size is extremely important to get right. And to get it right, you’ll need a conical burr grinder.

Manual vs Electric Coffee Grinders

The first micro decision you have to make is: do I want a manual or electric burr grinder? Manual, while requiring more work, are good options if you are brewing in smaller quantities, or if you want to take your grinder traveling with you.

In fact, most serious coffee lovers have both. In this article, we’ll only be covering electric grinders. If you’re looking for a hand grinder (aka a manual grinder or coffee mill), read this article.

Grind Settings: Pulse, Auto-Grind And Timed Grinding

The best coffee grinders don’t necessarily have to have all the bells and whistles, but if you’re grinding daily, multiple times per day, certain extra features go a long way.

Most options available have a ‘pulse.’ Push the button and your coffee grinds. Let go of the button, and your coffee does not grind. Simple. Some grinders have an ‘auto-grind’ function which allows you to grind without having to push the button. Turn the dial, the coffee grinds, and you can check your Facebook news feed while you wait. And then some grinders have a ‘timed grinding’ function. Set the time, and let her grind.

Do you really need all these extra features? And are you willing to pay more for them? If you grind for more than one cup at a time: yes, they will make your life easier.

But if you just brew a cup or two a few times a day, a push to grind button will do the trick. Don’t over complicate things.

Number of Grinding settings – how many is too many?

Grinders with hundreds of settings could be a case of over-engineering. Yes, having more grind steps will allow you to do more. But do you really need 500 settings?

This totally depends on you, though. As humans, we tend to fall victim to ‘more is better’ when buying new things.

Instead of choosing a grinder based on the number of settings, here’s my advice:

• You’ll need 40+ settings if: you want to use ALL brew styles (including espresso and cold brew) and you love to experiment like a true coffee scientist.
• 20-40 settings will do if: You want to brew most typical brew styles, and experiment a little here and there.
• Less than 30 settings are fine if: you use standard brew styles, like French press and pour over, and are happy with leaving it at that.

You’ll need super-fine grounds for Turkish coffee (yes, finer than espresso). Such a small grind size is usually out of range of your typical electric burr grinder. You’ll need a Turkish grinder. Likewise, you’ll need something that can grind extra coarse for cold brew. Check out our list of the best coffee grinders for cold brew.

For all you’ll ever need to know about coffee grind sizes, download our handy coffee grind chart.

Does It Grind Into A Portafilter or Bucket?

Some grinders have a handy little bracket that holds your Portafilter in place (which is the handle thing that takes your grinds for espresso brewing). They grind your coffee beans and spit the grounds into the portafilter. And some grinders will spit your grinds directly into a container.

If you want to brew espresso, having a portafilter holder is very handy. If you want to brew espresso AND other styles, make sure this bracket can be removed.

If you are not grinding for espresso, you definitely don’t need a Portafilter holder – It will just get in the way and make things hard to clean. Cleaning your grinder is critical for it to keep performing, but it’s not exactly a thrilling activity. Choosing something easy to clean is a great decision in the long run.

Getting Technical: Burr size, type, RPMs

While this section may seem a little nerdy or technical, your grinder is usually your most expensive purchase. So the more you know the better. You can watch Steven from Home Grounds explain the difference in features between cheap and expensive grinders in this fun video:

We have high-speed grinders and low-speed grinders. Grinder speed is measured in revolutions per minute (RPMs), which affects your final brew in several ways.

A little problem: The higher the RPMs the more consistent the grind. But with speed comes heat, and heat is bad when grinding; it changes the flavour of the coffee (ruining it).

As per the Coffee Technician Guild’s website (2):

High-speed grinders get around the heat problem if they have large, flat burrs, and a powerful motor. These burrs result in super consistent grinding without risking heat buildup. The grinders that fall in this category are best for espresso grinding.

Low-speed grinders generally have conical, ceramic burrs and grind at slower speeds to avoid heat and static buildup. You’ll find these burrs in most home market grinders and most on this list. Read more about flat vs conical burrs here if you really want to nerd out on this topic.

To sum it up: Higher RPMs = better IF the grinder has larger, flat burrs and a powerful motor.

Burr Coffee Grinder Reviews: The 7 Best Coffee Grinders of 2022

Based on years of nerding out on coffee and coffee grinders by our friendly review/research team, these are the 7 best burr grinders in 2023. Get one of these and you’ll be miles closer to making the best coffee of your life.

And now, for the main event – the reviews:

Looking for something cheap? You don’t want to ‘stoop’ to the low levels of buying pre-ground coffee, and you definitely don’t want to butcher your beans with a blade grinder. But you don’t have much to spend. Good news: the Bodum Bistro can help (read our full review of the Bistro here).

We’ll be the first to admit that this is NOT a 10/10 grinder. So why would we include it in the list? Because it’s cheap, very easy to use and maintain, and it’s innovative because it’s very good at eliminating grinder static issues.

The material and build-spec mean minimal cleaning and NO clogging from oily coffee beans. The borosilicate grounds bin also keeps this machine free from static-cling. This is a huge plus if you love convenience.

Simplicity, value, and style are what the Bistro flaunts… It’s a funky looking grinder that will grind well enough for your standard brew styles (such as french press and drip coffee). It’s even included it in Home Grounds’ list of the best grinders for pour-over brewing. You could use it for espresso, but you won’t be winning any awards for a perfectly pulled shot. The Cuisinart Supreme Grind is another budget grinder that often gets talked about, but the Bistro is a much better option.

Grind quality and consistency? With 720 RPMs and conical burrs, it’s good enough (better than using a hand grinder).

Grind settings and limitations? Not suited for Turkish coffee or even espresso, but for other brew styles, you’re good to go.

The Encore is the entry-level model for this brand (a brand well known for building quality grinders for people that value good coffee). Two ways to describe the Encore: ‘great value for money,’ and ‘minimalistic.’ ​​​​

There’s a rule in the coffee market, price = quality. And when it comes to coffee grinders, a small budget is usually a bad idea. The good news: The Encore is the exception to this rule. It’s priced extremely well and has outstanding grind consistency. The designers removed all the extra gimmicks that its bigger and better brother (the Virtuoso) had.

With the Encore, not only would you get one of the best coffee grinders for French Press brewing. You will also get a grinder that can handle most brew styles, without the extras. You’re here to grind coffee right? Full review of the Encore grinder here.

Early 2020 saw the release of the Encore in white, and I gotta say, I’m loving the new style Baratza is heading

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Grind quality and consistency? The Encore grinds at 550 RPMs and has 40 mm conical burrs; perfect for all manual styles of brewing.

Grind settings and limitations? 40 settings mean you’re good for most standard home-brew styles. You could grind for manual styles like drip coffee, and you can grind for espresso with the Encore, but you won’t have a world-class grind. Perfectly suited for manual brew styles.

The Virtuoso Plus is the updated version of the Baratza Virtuoso, which has been one of the industry’s favourite coffee grinders for the past 2 decades. It’s easy to use (and you can’t deny that it’s sexy AF) but the reason it’s so well-loved is the exceptional motor and burr design. Read our full review of the Virtuoso+ here.

The commercial-quality burrs and DC motor work together to reduce friction, heat, and grind beans extremely consistently. They say that if you ask a barista what grinder they have at home, chances are it will be a Virtuoso – that’s a strong vote! The upgraded ‘+’ model features a digital display and timer to make grinding even easier than before.

Grind quality and consistency? Grinding at 550 RPMs with commercial-quality 40 mm conical burrs allows the Virtuoso to deliver highly consistent grounds day after day.

Grind settings and limitations? 40 steps of adjustment mean you can grind for every brewing style apart from Turkish coffee. The Virtuoso is great if you want to brew espresso and manual at home. This is a great choice if you brew with coffee makers like Hario brewers or the Aeropress.

This gorgeous machine would not look out of place in a coffee shop, yet it was designed for the home. You’ll find this grinder in the kitchens of home baristas who are serious about grinding and brewing perfect coffee.

230 repeatable settings mean you can grind for all brewing styles, and features such as the digital timer and programmable buttons make it easy to use once you’ve dialled in those perfect grind sizes.

Grind quality and consistency? At 1350 RPMs with 54mm flat burrs, you’ll be grinding your beans as expertly as a professional barista.

Grind settings and limitations? 230 repeatable and saveable settings mean you can brew any style you want, from ultra-fine to super-coarse, you’ll have it all.

The only thing that’s been holding us back is the price. As far as home coffee grinders go It is expensive, but still not as expensive as the Fiorenzato F4. For more info on this solid grinder, read our Baratza Vario review here.

The Rancilio Rocky is a commercial-quality grinder designed for home use. Don’t be shocked when your new machine arrives with coffee dust within it – every model is factory tested with coffee to ensure they work perfectly. Like the Vario above, the Rocky Grinder was built for the home coffee brewing fanatic who wants the perfect grinding companion and is not willing to sacrifice on quality.

The difference, however, is that the Rocky is a workhorse and can handle more. It would fit in nicely in a large household or even a small office or cafe. It produces perfectly consistent grinds for espresso and all other brewing styles, and has a removable portafilter bracket so you can grind into a container for manual style brewing.

Grind quality and consistency? 50 mm flat steel burrs combined with a very powerful 1725 RPM motor means the Rocky can grind large amounts of beans with ease.

Grind settings and limitations? 55 settings will allow you to grind from superfine to super-coarse with ease. Check our full review of the Rancilio Rocky here.

This grinder has 4 major settings: extra-fine, fine, medium, and coarse. And then, it has 4 sub-settings within each setting. Why does this matter? Because you can grind super fine for Turkish coffee – the only grinder on this list that can do that. Combine this feature with the 40 mm conical steel burrs, the slow grind time (for avoiding heat), and the easy-to-remove upper burr for cleaning, and you have a fine home grinder that ticks many boxes… at an amazing price.

Grind quality and consistency? Hardened steel 40mm conical burrs and a nice low 450 RPM means the Infinity grinds at an astonishingly consistent level for its price.

Grind settings and limitations? None. You can grind from ultra-fine to super-coarse, meaning you can grind for all brewing styles, including Turkish coffee. We even recommend this grinder for cold brew lovers. Impressive!

Read our Capresso Infinity review.

The Smart Grinder Pro was designed for those who like tech-y solutions with plenty of options. In other words, it will make your coffee grinding, easy, repeatable, and give you flexibility between brewing styles. The Pro will grind your beans from espresso-fine to French-Press-coarse, and gives you the option of grinding directly into the portafilter, container, gold-tone filter basket, or paper filter.

High-quality burrs (which will last a long time), a sexy digital display and plenty of cool ‘make-life-easy’ features mean this grinder is fast becoming one of the most popular in the home barista market. Coffee grinders that tick this many boxes are hard to come by at this price range.

Grind quality and consistency? Low RPMs and high-quality burrs mean the smart grinder pro delivers the goods (or should I say, delivers the grinds) at finer and medium-fine grounds. Not so much at the coarser settings.

Grind settings and limitations? 60 settings (and 10 and micro-adjustments) mean you can brew everything but Turkish coffee. Not recommended if you are a serious French Press fanatic, though. Read our full review of the Sage Smart Grinder Pro.

THE VERDICT: What is the Best Coffee Grinder?

This list is in no way exhaustive (i.e., there are hundreds of other grinders out there) however, these are the ‘top dawgs’ in the burr grinding space. Each is a good option in the end, but the overwhelming industry favourite is:

The Baratza Virtuoso PLUS Conical Coffee Grinder

It combines absolute precision with slow grinding/crushing power and is one of the quietest grinders on the market. This translates to an EXQUISITE cup of coffee. Let’s not forget that this grinder also received raving reviews from hundreds of coffee connoisseurs such as yourself – the people don’t lie.

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The Baratza Encore is a close runner up as the simpler, cheaper version of the Virtuoso. The Encore is voted best by other reviewing bodies, so it was a close one (3). But again – the above options are all considered as some of the best coffee grinders for home use, so any choice will be a good one.

We hope you enjoyed our grinder reviews above and are one step closer to finding the best burr coffee grinder to be your coffee maker’s sidekick.