How do I Grind My Coffee? What Equipment do I need? What Grind Level? Sounds like hell for the amateur, and heaven for the Coffee Nerd. Mainly because it means one more quantifiable way of measurement, and one more way to spend cash on yet another gadget.
In terms of equipment, you may have to replace that whirly blade grinder you got from the last divorce. The amount you spend depends on what kind of coffee you are making.
Drip Coffee isn’t too demanding, and $50 or so should get a nice grinder. French Press requires a consistently coarse grind, but shouldn’t cost you more than about $100 or so for something that will work nicely for both French Press and Drip. Now if you are doing Espresso, and want to do it right, you will be looking at something in the $250-$400 range. Most of these grinders will also work nicely for Turkish Coffee or Greek Coffee, the finest grind of all.
We are going to mention 7 grind levels to get you started. Sure, there are probably more levels than that in practice, but this will give you visual cues, so you can feel confident you are close.
Extra Coarse Grind
Cold Brewing, like the Toddy Brewer.
Extra Coarse Coffee Grind used for Cold Brewing methods.
Coarse Grind
French Press Pot
Cupping
Coarse Coffee Grind most commonly used for French Press coffee.
Medium-Coarse Grind
Cafe Solo Brewer
Chemex Brewer
Medium-Coarse Coffee Grind used in specialty devices like the Cafe Solo and Chemex Brewers.
Medium Grind
Drip Pots (like Bunn, Newco, Fetco)
Medium Coffee Grind used in Drip brewing methods.
Medium-Fine Grind
Pourover Cones (like The Clever Coffee Dripper, The Bonavita Immersion Coffee Dripper)
Vacuum Pots
Siphon Brewers
Medium-Fine Coffee Grind used for Pourover Cones, Vacuum Pots, and Siphon Brewers.
Fine Grind
Espresso
Stovetop Espresso / Moka Pot
Fine Coffee grind used for espresso.
Extra Fine Grind
Turkish Coffee (Ibrik)
Extra Fine Coffee Grind used for Turkish coffee.
Source: I Need Coffee