The flavor expression of pour-over coffee depends to a large extent on the grind size setting. If the particles are too coarse, extraction is insufficient and the taste is thin; if too fine, over-extraction easily occurs and bitterness becomes prominent. So what range should pour-over coffee particles actually be controlled within? Different grinders have inconsistent scale standards, so how can this be expressed in a unified way? Starting from the principles of extraction, this article sorts out the mutual influences among coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature, time, and grind size, and introduces the method used by Front Street Coffee of measuring grind pass-through rate with a 0.85 mm standard sieve, giving the basic reference standard of an 80% pass-through rate to help coffee enthusiasts quickly find a suitable grinding baseline when facing different beans and equipment. [more…]

When you get an unfamiliar single-origin coffee bean, how do you accurately judge its flavor performance? Cupping is the industry-standard method. Front Street Coffee conducts cupping on every coffee bean it acquires, whether or not it goes on the shelves. This article uses the SCA cupping system as its benchmark and provides a detailed introduction to the equipment and parameters required for cupping, including sample bean processing, grind size calibration, coffee-to-water ratio, water quality and temperature requirements, as well as the operating procedures for dry aroma, wet aroma, breaking the crust, and skimming. After cupping is completed, the pour-over grind size and brewing water temperature must also be determined according to the roast level. Light-roast and medium-roast coffee beans each have different standards for sieve pass-through rate and water temperature selection. [more…]

Among the many variables in pour-over coffee, grind size is one of the core factors determining extraction efficiency and the final flavor. The coarseness of the coffee grounds not only changes the speed at which water penetrates the coffee bed, but also directly affects the coffee's strength, body, and the balance of acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. In this article, Front Street Coffee systematically sorts out the mechanisms by which grind coarseness affects extraction, and provides reference grind standards for different brewing methods such as cupping, pour-over, French press, espresso, moka pot, and cold brew/ice drip. It also introduces the calibration method using the No. 20 sieve pass rate, helping coffee enthusiasts find grind parameters that suit them. [more…]

Coffee beans must be ground to release their aromatic compounds, but different extraction methods and devices have vastly different requirements for grind size. Too coarse or too fine will throw the flavor off balance, so is there a generally accepted reference standard? This article uses the industry-standard cupping grind parameters as a baseline and examines, one by one, the suitable grind ranges for the French press, pour-over, cold drip and cold brew, siphon, espresso machine, and moka pot, while explaining how factors such as roast level and water temperature affect the final choice. Drawing on everyday brewing experience, Front Street Coffee offers practical sieve-passing recommendations to help coffee lovers find a grind plan suited to their own equipment. [more…]

Brewing a good cup of coffee makes grind size an unavoidable key variable. If the particles are too coarse, flavor extraction is insufficient; if ground too fine, it easily brings out bitter and off-flavors. But just how coarse counts as coarse, and how fine counts as fine? And how should you convert between different brewing devices? This article uses the industry-recognized cupping standard as its baseline and the No. 20 sieve pass-through rate as a unified ruler, providing reference grind ranges one by one for French press, pour-over, cold brew drip, and espresso machines, explaining how roast level and bean density affect grinding results, and finally including Front Street Coffee's approach to dialing in espresso extraction, helping you turn grind size from "guesswork" into "data." [more…]

For pour-over coffee enthusiasts, grind size is often the trickiest variable to master. Starting from the industry-recognized cupping standard, this article explains how to precisely calibrate grind size with the help of a No. 20 standard sieve, and analyzes in detail the differences in brewing performance caused by grinding too fine and too coarse. It also presents the practical calibration method recommended by Front Street Coffee, explains the sieve-passing rate ranges that coffee beans of different roast levels should match, and shows how to flexibly adjust the grind by observing the flow rate during brewing, helping you reproduce coffee flavors more consistently in your daily brewing. [more…]

Grind particle size is one of the key variables that determines the direction of coffee flavor. Starting from the practices of Front Street Coffee, this article systematically reviews the influence of grind size on extraction efficiency in pour-over coffee, the grind standards suited to medium-light and medium-dark roasts respectively, and how to use a 0.85mm No. 20 sieve to test the pass-through rate. It also extends to the extremely fine grind requirements of espresso, explains the effect of the grinder burr spacing on extraction time, and provides the specific extraction parameters and flavor description of Front Street espresso. In addition, the article also explains the relationship between the choice of Moka pot coffee grounds coarseness and the oils it produces, helping coffee enthusiasts find a grind plan suitable for their own equipment at home. [more…]

There are many factors that affect the taste of coffee. During the brewing process, the factors that influence coffee include the coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, water temperature, etc. Among them, grind size can be said to be very important. There is a saying in the industry: "You can buy a cheaper coffee machine, but the grinder must be the best." It has to be said that grinding really has an [more…]

The official recommended method for the AeroPress is actually the standard (upright) brewing orientation, but many coffee enthusiasts are more familiar with the inverted method. So how should you choose your grind size for standard orientation brewing? And what flavor differences do different grind sizes bring? In this article, we use Front Street Coffee's Panama Washed Butterfly as the test bean, selecting three grind settings—BG 5M, BG 5R, and BG 6M—and conduct a standard orientation brewing comparison while keeping water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, and technique fixed, evaluating each one across aroma, acidity, sweetness, cleanliness, and other dimensions. The conclusion: just like the inverted method, standard orientation brewing can reference the grind range used for pour-over, and the unique oily mouthfeel and smooth texture that come from pressure extraction are exactly what makes the AeroPress so appealing. [more…]

What is the first step in brewing coffee? Grinding beans. In recent years, with the rise of the specialty coffee wave, more and more people have come to enjoy drinking coffee, and at the same time, more and more people hope to fully experience the beauty and leisure of drinking coffee, so they choose to buy coffee beans and brew them at home. And so at this point, a [more…]

The essence of coffee extraction is using water to dissolve flavor compounds out of coffee beans, and among the several core variables that determine extraction results, grind size is often the most intuitive and the one that most needs precise control. The finer the coffee is ground, the faster water penetrates into the particles to extract compounds, and the more flavor can be dissolved in the same amount of time, naturally making the taste richer; conversely, the coarser the particles, the lower the extraction efficiency, and the coffee easily tastes weak. So how many levels of grind size are commonly available on the market? What grind levels suit espresso, pour-over, and French press respectively? And how does Front Street Coffee use a 0.85mm standard sieve to define the baseline for pour-over grinding? This article will break down, one by one, the mechanisms by which grind size affects taste, sort out the coarseness spectrum from Turkish pot to French press, and provide a reusable method for judging pour-over grind size. [more…]

Recently, a complaint about Manner's coffee grinding service sparked heated discussion on social media. A customer reported that after buying coffee beans at a store and asking the staff to grind them, they found that their semi-automatic espresso machine at home could not extract espresso properly, and suspected the grind was too fine. When the customer asked whether Manner had a unified grinding standard for its grinding service, neither the online customer service nor the store staff could give a clear answer. This incident brings up an oft-repeated topic in the coffee community: is there really such a thing as a standard grind size for coffee powder used in semi-automatic espresso machines? Multiple industry practitioners and seasoned enthusiasts have offered their views, and the boundaries of chain brands' grinding services have once again drawn attention. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat official account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). No matter what equipment is used to brew coffee, the coffee beans need to be ground, and the purpose of this is to allow the coffee's flavor substances to dissolve more quickly. Of course, not all of the coffee's soluble [more…]

Coffee beans must be ground before their aromatic compounds can be extracted, but different brewing devices work on different extraction principles, so grind size is not interchangeable between them. Using the industry-recognized cupping grind standard (70–75% passing through a No. 20 sieve) as the baseline, this article systematically breaks down the grind parameters and adjustment logic suited to each common brewing device, including the French press, pour-over, cold drip and cold brew, siphon, espresso machine, and moka pot. From immersion to pressurized methods, from coarse sugar to flour-fine powder, Front Street will explain one by one why each device requires a specific grind size, and how to flexibly fine-tune it according to roast level, water temperature, and extraction time, to help you find the grind solution that best suits your own cup. [more…]

When brewing pour-over coffee, grind size is often the key variable that determines the direction of flavor. Front Street Coffee frequently receives inquiries about how fine a grind should be used for a particular bean, but in reality, beans from different origins, varieties, processing methods, and roast levels each have their own suitable grind standards. Based on the practical experience of Front Street Coffee stores, this article explains the mechanism by which grind size affects extraction time and extraction yield, introduces the reference values for the passing rate of the No. 20 standard sieve, and explains the differential handling of medium-light roast and dark roast beans. At the same time, the article also discusses the concept of golden cup extraction and its true purpose, and finally uses Colombia Rose Valley as an example to provide complete brewing parameters and staged extraction techniques, helping enthusiasts brew good coffee that suits their own taste. [more…]

If you are a passionate lover of pour-over coffee, then you must know that the following factors are among the reasons that affect your coffee's extraction and flavor! So let's count them with Front Street: water temperature, grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, extraction time... Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet [more…]

Only freshly ground coffee beans can release their full aroma, but choosing a grind setting is not simply a matter of matching numbers. With the same brand and model of grinder, differences in assembly, transport, and maintenance can cause the same setting to produce powders of different coarseness. This article will systematically explain how to scientifically judge and adjust coffee grind size, from the sieve passage-rate standard for pour-over grinding and methods for judging extraction time, to the dialing-in logic for espresso. Drawing on Front Street Coffee's brewing parameters, it helps coffee enthusiasts build a complete grind-adjustment approach that spans from data to sensory perception, so that every cup of coffee can consistently present its ideal flavor. [more…]

Grind size is the key variable that determines the direction of coffee flavor, but how coarse counts as coarse and how fine counts as fine has always lacked a unified standard. This article uses the industry-recognized cupping grind as a baseline, and with the help of the passing rate through a No. 20 standard sieve, quantifies the grind requirements for French press, pour-over, cold brew, ice drip, and even espresso machines one by one, and also includes reference settings for the EK43s grinder. The article also specifically reminds readers that differences in coffee bean density and roast level will cause the same setting to produce different particle sizes, and finally provides Front Street Coffee's espresso extraction plan as a debugging example to help enthusiasts turn grinding from an empirical judgment into a reproducible data-driven operation. [more…]

Many coffee enthusiasts feel confused after getting coffee beans: which grinder setting should they actually use? In reality, the burr designs and setting standards of grinders from different brands vary greatly, and the same number on different devices can produce dramatically different particle sizes. Therefore, when Front Street Coffee performs daily grind calibration, it uses the Chinese No. 20 standard sieve (0.85 mm aperture) to measure the passing rate as a unified reference. This article will start with the specific steps for sieve calibration, combine different roast levels and brewing methods to give grinding recommendations, and share how to judge whether the grind is appropriate based on brewing time and the settling state of the coffee bed, helping you build a grind assessment system that does not rely on grinder settings. [more…]

How coarse exactly should you grind for pour-over coffee? Many beginners are told the answer is "about the size of granulated sugar," but that description is not very helpful for those just starting out. Drawing on the daily experience of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), this article first explains the specific size range of granulated sugar particles, then explains why grind size directly affects extraction results, and afterward gives the ideal particle range of 0.6mm to 0.8mm along with the practical method of an 80% pass rate through a 0.85mm standard sieve. The article also combines two criteria for judgment—brewing time and the settling speed of the coffee bed—and uses Honduras Sherry beans as a sample to compare the cupping concentration differences between two grind settings, BG #8s and BG #3s, helping readers build a quantifiable way of thinking about grind adjustment. [more…]