The Best Coffee Grinders to Elevate Your Morning Cup to Barista Quality

In the end, the small amount of work up top was worth it because the Virtuoso+ gave a consistent grind and simply produced a better tasting cup of coffee. Also, while not designed specifically for it, we found the Virtuoso+ to be versatile enough to use with an espresso machine. It can certainly produce the grind for it (we’d recommend a setting somewhere between a six and a 10), but the design of the grounds container, with sharp edges, allows for easy transfer to a portafilter.

Honorable mention best coffee grinder: Fellow Ode Grinder

We want to make space to call out Fellow’s Ode grinder because it does what it does so well. It grinds with pro-grade 64 millimeter flat burrs and leaves no bean behind (we tested several times, putting 30 grams of whole beans in and getting 30 grams of ground beans out each time). The grind on those beans was perfectly consistent at each setting and produced delicious coffee.

This is also, perhaps, the most beautiful grinder on the market today. Sleek, minimalist design is a hallmark of all Fellow’s products (see their kettles and new vacuum-sealed coffee canisters) and the Ode is no exception. As a class, coffee grinders tend to look utilitarian, which is not meant as a compliment. Fellow’s grinder looks almost like a modern sculpture.

So why don’t we give it the nod as our overall winner? It just isn’t as versatile as the Baratza. It can’t do an espresso grind. But the thing to know is: Fellow doesn’t claim it can. The company didn’t seem interested in a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none situation; rather, it focused on making a grinder for Aeropress, pour-over, and immersion methods like French press coffee and cold brew. Some users also may find the Ode’s single dose-size hopper inconvenient: Unlike every other grinder we tested you can’t simply deposit a bag of beans in the hopper and store them there. The Ode requires you to measure whole beans beforehand, either by volume or weight (please do it by weight) and pour them in the grinder each time you want to brew. Ultimately this can keep your coffee beans fresher if they‘re stored in a dark, airtight place, but it does add an additional step to the process. All that said, if you make pour-over every morning, the Fellow Ode is the best grinder for you.

Best grinder for espresso: KitchenAid Burr Grinder 

KitchenAid’s burr grinder is a dream for grinding espresso, and with a price tag around $200 it’s a bargain by espresso grinding standards. The grinder has 70 settings which makes it versatile across all brewing methods, but the ability to grind directly into the portafilter makes it the best option for espresso drinks. There are other grinders that grind straight into the portafilter in this price range, like the Breville Smart Grinder Pro (which we tested and performed well), but the little bit of extra precision gives the KitchenAid an edge. We should say here that judging purely on its ability to grind, the slightly pricier Eureka Mignon Notte did a better job, but the Eureka is less user-friendly and requires the use of a scale every time. The KitchenAid is another grinder that uses time dosing to good effect. We found the best results for a double shot at 12.9 seconds on setting 64.

Best budget coffee grinder: Solis Scala Plus Compact Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

The Solis Scala is a great little grinder. It comes from the same Swiss company that makes our current top pick for the best espresso machine under $1,000 and outperforms grinders that cost four times as much. It is an entry level burr grinder, which means you give up features like digital timed dosing. However, the timer dial on the Scala is easier to set than our previous budget winner from Oxo. We found that for a double shot of espresso—or single serving of French press or pour-over—the timer should be set to three. It has 14 grind settings to the Oxo’s 15, but that’s enough for several brewing options. And though you can’t grind directly into a portafilter, the grind box on the Scala is small enough that it’s easy to transfer grinds for whatever brew method you’re using, espresso or otherwise. In fact, the whole grinder is pretty small, so it saves on counter space. With a price point well under $100, Solis produced something that is a real bargain considering the quality coffee you can brew with it.

Solis Scala Compact Burr Grinder

$89

at Amazon

Best manual coffee grinder: 1Zpresso K-Max

Like to drink alone? Or to combine your coffee prep with a little cardio? Or do you insist on grinding your own beans while you‘re on the road? For you, there are actually several hand grinders that can produce results as good as many electric burr grinders. As evidenced by the 1Zpresso here, they can actually cost as much as an electric grinder. But we were floored by the what this hand grinder could do. In just 24 seconds we ground 18 grams of coffee for a cup of Aeropress. And adjusting grind settings was as smooth and easy as any electric grinder (hand grinders can be notorious pains in the butt when it comes to changing the settings). While the 1Zpresso K-Max was the best manual grinder we tried, it wasn’t the only good one. If you want a fuller rundown on which hand grinders are good and which aren’t, you can read our best manual coffee grinder review here.

What’s the difference between burr grinders, blade grinders, and manual grinders?

Different coffee brewing methods have different grind requirements. Unlike the fine powder required for espresso, coffee made in a Chemex should be a medium-large gravel so that water can better pass through the filter. The basic blade grinder, which works like a mini blender or food processor, can’t produce consistent ground coffee for any brewing method.