Making the perfect cup of coffee is subjective, as personal taste will always dictate how your cup is reviewed. However, there is certainly a set of elements that work together to produce excellent coffee; one of those elements is your coffee grinder.
Alongside the skill of the barista, the technique of the roaster, the source of the beans and the experience of the grower, your coffee grinder plays a pivotal role. Think about the journey your bean has taken to make it to your cup as we share a little information here today to help you decide between a manual or automatic grinder for your business or your home countertop.
What is a Manual Coffee Grinder?
Manual grinders have come a long way in recent years, and there are some specific applications where a manual grinder is ideal. They are particularly useful for popping into your luggage so that when you are travelling, you don’t have to compromise your morning routine with an instant coffee. Many enthusiasts may still grind their beans by hand, and there is certainly a place for a hand grinder when it comes to smaller servings, boutique single-serve barista setups and camping trips.
What makes a good manual grinder?
If you are opting for a manual grinder, you should consider a few different features to ensure that your grind is palatable and that the experience of grinding the coffee is not messy, annoying, or overly arduous. If you are looking at a manual grinder for travel, you should consider the following:
Size
Obviously, lugging a huge grinder around in your luggage is not going to work; if you have that much space, you might as well level up to an electric grinder. Look for a manual grinder that is compact that can go in your carry on if necessary.
Construction
While a lovely brushed stainless steel with rubber or plastic inserts in the basket or around the neck may be ideal, when you are travelling, it is probably better to opt for a plastic grinder. This will be lightweight, and it is less likely to damage other items in your bag if they get thrown around by handlers or turbulence.
Basket
The bottom of your manual grinder will generally be where the grinds accumulate. Be certain to choose a manual grinder that has a screw-on basket; you don’t want to have to wet wash your grinder when you are travelling. It’s better to just be able to wipe it out with a dry cloth, and if the bottom keeps popping off, you are likely to end up with residual grinds in your bag. Slide-on baskets are also prone to popping off as you crank the handle, which can be messy and irritating – and you may lose precious grinds!
Manual Grinder for Home?
While a manual grinder may be a good way to control the quality of your brew on the road, there are definitely some downsides to this method. If you are a true aficionado, a manual grinder will likely not cut the mustard when you are on your home turf. Apart from the physical effort required, and let’s face it, most mornings, working for your coffee is not going to be the preferred option. There are disadvantages in terms of the precision you can access in terms of the right grind – if you want a stellar cup every time, then automatic is the way to go.
What is an Automatic Coffee Grinder?
An automatic coffee grinder for home, work, or a commercial operation is largely preferable if you have the space and are willing to learn a little to get the result that will suit your preferences, including your brew method.
Electric with Manual Settings
An automatic coffee grinder will still have some manual settings – like an adjustable collar that sits under the ‘hopper’, which is the conical container you pour the beans into. This collar may be ‘stepped’ or ‘stepless’. This means it will either have notches that you can utilise to manually shift the grind setting to presets, or you can micromanage your grind with a smooth collar that doesn’t include any guiding marks.
Dosing & Roasts
You can also choose a coffee grinder that automatically grinds the perfect amount of coffee for your requirements. If you have a home espresso machine, you can adjust your grind for different roasts and your desired pour time. So you can choose from a digital or switch mechanism that automates the amount of the grind to your presets, or you might opt for a manual dose, where you control how much coffee is ground by turning a timing dial on and off.
Advantages of an Automatic Coffee Grinder
Obviously, the greatest advantage is the convenience. Imagine rolling out of bed in the morning, flicking a switch or turning a dial and having the most perfect grind descend into your portafilter basket, ready to produce a gorgeous pour every time.
If you run a business where coffee is served, automatic grinding is a no-brainer; browse the available coffee grinders here and choose the level of digitisation you prefer, take in the options for the noise level you are targeting and discover the difference between flat blade and burr grinders.
Manual vs Automatic
At the end of the day, we would say go for a manual as a great option for camping, and keep one in the house in case the power goes out. Buy a decent model for travel, but when you are on your home ground, it’s automatic all the way. It’s cleaner, quicker, requires less effort and is pretty much guaranteed to produce an ideal cup for your preferences.
Get in Touch
While there is a learning curve when it comes to adjusting the manual settings on your automatic coffee grinder, there are lots of tutorials online, and you can always give the friendly team at Segafredo Zanetti a call to get some tips on producing the perfect grind for your brew method.
You can shop for excellent coffee grinders here, and while you are on-site, pick up the very best beans because you can’t have exceptional coffee without exceptional beans.
