Roasting

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Inside this subsection are:

• Blending
• Grinding
• Roasting

What is grinding?

Grinding comes just after roasting (or blending) is finished, and it also plays an important role in the making a perfect cup of coffee. Coffee is often ground just a few minutes before brewing so as to retain freshness.

Grinding machines

In the past, people used to grind coffee in wooden mortars with a pestle. Nowadays, coffee is ground mostly by machines. The most common grinders are blade grinders and burr grinders.

• Blade grinder: low price but not high in quality – this type of grinder is said to grind coffee unevenly and lack reproducibility
• Burr grinder: more expensive but higher in quality – this type grinds coffee more evenly and is clean and easy to use.

Each brewing method requires different types of grinders:

• Drip method: medium size
• Espresso: fine size
• French Press: large size
• Vacuum pot: large size

Tips

Several grinding tips for you:

1. Coffee beans should not be ground if they’re not used for brewing immediately. This is because once the coffee beans are ground, their flavourful oils are exposed to open air, which might cause a loss in coffee flavour.
2. If you’re using the drip method for brewing coffee:
• If the drip cycle completes in less than 4 minutes: grind your coffee finer
• If the drip cycle completes in more than 6 minutes: grind your coffee coarser
3. If you’re using Espresso method for brewing coffee:
• If the extraction time takes less than 25 seconds: grind your coffee finer
• If the extraction time takes more than 30 seconds: grind your coffee coarser

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