From the moment coffee grounds finish being ground and come into contact with air, they quietly begin to oxidize, and the flavor and aroma change accordingly. Therefore, the ideal situation is to grind coffee beans right before brewing to ensure the best flavor. The grinder can be said to be a seemingly low-key but extremely important role in the coffee brewing process, and is one of the absolute indicators affecting the final flavor of coffee!

Open an online shopping platform and search for "grinder," and you can see a price range from 22 yuan to 71,271 yuan. Although this 3,239.6-fold price difference seems insignificant compared with the numbers in the "hundred million" unit that have been encountered in recent days, the price gap between products is absurdly large. So Front Street plans to publish an article on how to choose a grinder for everyone's reference.

Front Street is not a gearhead, so professional horizontal reviews of grinders are not Front Street's forte. But Front Street has been open for 8 years, has used seven or eight electric grinders, and has basically used all the popular hand grinders on the market. Below, Front Street shares some views from having used so many grinders.

Hand grinder or electric grinder?

Electric grinders comprehensively crush hand grinders in terms of precision, durability, and upper price limit, while the advantages of hand grinders are being lightweight, not needing electricity, and being able to adapt to such occasions. Comparing hand grinders and electric grinders at the same price, hand grinders are better. (A 1,000-yuan hand grinder has a huge advantage over a 1,000-yuan electric grinder.)

Front Street has listed some groups of people suitable for choosing hand grinders or electric grinders respectively. You can refer to it.

1. If you are a student (and still living in a school dormitory)

Your budget will not be too large (under 1,000)

You are just getting into pour-over coffee and want to explore slowly

You usually go to chain coffee shops and want to improve coffee quality

Fitness enthusiasts

Hiking enthusiasts, business trip experts

Then it is recommended that you choose a hand grinder first, and consider an electric grinder later.

2. If you want to get it done in one step

Your home is 200 square meters

You brew coffee at a fixed location

You pursue speed and accuracy

Your budget is sufficient (no upper limit)

You might as well go directly for an electric grinder.

3. If you are a gearhead

Collector

Coffee fanatic

Then it is recommended to get them all.

How to choose a hand grinder?

Now domestic hand grinders are rising. Foreign hand grinders costing over a thousand yuan can be pushed below 500 yuan domestically. So how should you choose? Basically, hand grinders under 200 are out of the question, hand grinders with ceramic burrs are out of the question, and vintage-style hand grinders are out of the question.

The remaining ones can be roughly divided into the 200-499 yuan tier, the 500-799 yuan tier, the 800-999 yuan tier, and the 1,000 yuan and above tier.

The 200-499 yuan tier can be considered entry-level hand grinders. You can pay attention to coffee grinding particle size. When buying, you only need to check whether it is dual-axis. In terms of lifespan, precision, and mechanics, they are basically similar. Suitable for beginners and office white-collar workers.

The 500-799 yuan tier can be considered advanced hand grinders. Basically, every brand will use a slightly better burr, and there will also be subtle improvements in the bearings, greatly improving durability. It is recommended to choose one with a larger burr diameter, which will make grinding more labor-saving and uniform. If you buy a hand grinder in this price range and pay attention to cleaning it normally, using it for two years is not a problem.

The 800-999 yuan tier can be considered high-end hand grinders. Basically, there are only about 3 models to choose from. They mainly improve the user experience, as well as innovations in appearance (they look better). Of course, you can see improvements in the data charts provided by the sellers (phone manufacturers would call this an insider move), but after Front Street's actual experience, when brewing coffee you do not feel an obvious difference from the advanced tier.

The 1,000 yuan and above tier can tentatively be considered expert level. You ask why Front Street does not divide it into 1,000-2,000 and 2,000-3,000? Because above 2,000, Front Street would suggest you go directly for an electric grinder and save trouble. Indeed, hand grinders above 1,000 yuan include 1,000-yuan ones, 2,000-yuan ones, 4,000-yuan ones, and the famous German hand grinder that rose from 1,500 to 2,500 yuan. Overall, the quality and experience will definitely show visible improvements over those under a thousand yuan.

How to choose an electric grinder?

Front Street especially does not recommend buying that kind of portable electric grinder. You can note that grinders that determine grind size by time, commonly known as "bean choppers," have a structure similar to a food processor, with two blades that randomly chop.

One thing to note when buying an electric grinder is whether your need is for a very fine espresso grinder or a drip pour-over grinder. The appearance and grinding range of the two are very different, and basically they cannot be used for both purposes (except for a few all-purpose grinders).

If you have a budget of 20,000, pick either the Mazzer zm filter or the Mahlkonig EK 43. Apart from the relatively beautiful price and the relatively large footprint, there is basically no reason not to buy it.

Of course, most friends will not have too high a budget, probably within 4,000 yuan, so what options are there? Front Street thinks the Royal Fuji and the Fellow ODE are good choices. The Royal Fuji's main selling point is its ghost burr, and its grind size is also quite suitable for drip grinding, mainly pour-over. The Fellow ODE is compact, pure black, known as the little black box, with a perfect appearance. Both grinders are small electric grinders, so they share a common problem: grinding takes a relatively long time.

Some friends also asked Front Street whether the little Fuji priced at 300-600 yuan on online shopping platforms is trustworthy. Front Street quickly took a look. Inside were various little Fuji shapes, with wording such as "little steel cannon," "complete defeat edition," and "domestic little Fuji." Meanwhile, the little Fuji seen on an overseas online shopping platform is equivalent to more than 3,300 yuan. This is obviously an imitator of the Royal Fuji.

Front Street has not used these grinders, but Front Street has used the Little Pony 610N, priced at about 800-900 yuan. Through grinding comparison with the little Fuji, the Little Pony loses to the little Fuji in precision, especially in the amount of fines, which is terrible. The experience of a certain barista at Front Street: when only using the Little Pony, you will not notice any problem, but once you compare, the gap is immediately obvious. As for how the 300-600 yuan "little Fuji" performs, Front Street cannot evaluate it. Pictures pictures pictures

There are also many electric grinders with relatively low prices and very good quality, but because Front Street has not used them, they will not be discussed one by one here.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.