The Best Coffee Grinder For French Press

For a truly showstopping coffee, you need a consistent grind. This cannot be emphasized strongly enough.

Put simply, a grinder with cheaper blades will produce irregular results. Don’t sell yourself short if you want to grind your own beans.

Budget

Price plays an important role in every purchasing decision you make. It should not necessarily be the deciding factor but it’s important to set a budget you can afford and stick to it.

A French press itself is not particularly expensive. Since you will not be spending out a small fortune on an automatic coffee machine, perhaps think about setting some of that money aside to invest in a grinder. And that’s exactly what a good grinder is. An investment.

Once you have settled on a price range, this will make your decision easier by whittling away many options.

Size

Grinders come in a vast array of sizes from the ultra-compact through to much bulkier and more unwieldy models.

The amount of counter space you have will play a crucial part here. If you have a dinky kitchen without much room to spare, you’re much better off angling towards a mini grinder. For those with sprawling kitchens, a larger grinder would obviously be perfectly fine.

For those with large families or anyone who wants to use the grinder in a commercial setting, it pays to look for one with a spacious bean hopper. This will let you grind up plenty of coffee in one go.

There’s no right or wrong size, just the size that works best for your circumstances.

Sound

The noise of the grinder comes from both the motor and the burrs. The motor rotates and so kicks out a lot of sound. The coffee is ground between the burrs which is also far from quiet.

The speed of grinding is one of the leading factors behind a noisy machine. If you want to minimize this, seek out a grinder with a lower revolving speed.

A manual grinder will be quieter than an electric version.

Static

Heat buildup and static can be problematic with coffee grinders.

One way to lessen this is to choose a motor with a low revolving speed. Not only will this make for a quieter experience, you’ll also eliminate the twin menace of heat and static.

Manual Or Electric?

One of the first choices you’ll need to make is between a manual or electric grinder.

A manual grinder obviously requires you to put in rather more effort. Be honest about how you will get on cranking the swivel arm to rotate the burrs.

Manual grinders are smaller, easier to carry around with you when traveling and much quieter. Because they have fewer moving parts, they also considerably cheaper.

With an electric grinder, you are paying more in exchange for convenience. All you need to do is load the hopper, choose your grind size and hit the switch. They make a bit more noise and take up more space than manual grinders.

Only you know which of these styles will be the best fit for you.

Steel or Ceramic?

Most coffee grinders are made from either steel or ceramic.

Ceramic, as a general rule, tends to last twice the time of steel.

While it’s not as durable, you can replace steel very cheaply.

Blade or Burr Grinder?

One of the major dilemmas you’ll face when looking for the best coffee grinder for your French press is whether to go for a blade or burr grinder.

As with many options with grinders, it’s largely about the money and a question of compromise.

A blade grinder is undeniably the cheapest way to enjoy freshly ground coffee. The results, though, can be fairly inconsistent which is not good. They also generate a fair degree of unwanted heat.

Burr grinders, by contrast, are much pricier. If you think in terms of return on investment, they don’t seem such a bad deal. Their rugged durability combined with superior coffee means that a burr grinder is the connoisseur’s choice.

Conical or Flat Burrs?

With conical burrs, you’ll get a larger surface area. Flat burrs offer a bigger diameter.

Opinion is polarized on which works best. Both go very well with a French press so it really is simply a matter of personal taste.

Design of the Motor

In general, the cheapest grinders have very rapid motors. Mid-tier models have high-speed motors and gear reduction. The most expensive grinders have direct-drive motors and run at a much lower speed.

Lower grinding speed is undeniably best but it will cost you.

Stepped or Stepless?

We are talking here about how much you can customize the grind size.

A stepped grinder allows you a choice when it comes to grinding but it’s limited.

Stepless variants give you practically unlimited options.

Since you will be looking for a coarse grind for your French press, either type will be equally effective.

Doser or Doserless?

Yet another question: doser or doserless?

A doser grinder collects the coffee grounds in an inbuilt compartment. Doserless alternatives dispense them straight into the French press itself.

The main selling point of the doser grinder is ease and convenience.

With the doserless, it might cause a bit more mess and take a little extra effort but there is much less chance of old grinds becoming stuck in the machine.

Cleaning

A final point to look out for is linked to cleaning.

As a rule, manual grinders are much easier to clean than electric ones.

Regular cleaning is crucial to keep the grind quality high and to make sure that the interior does not get damaged.

Proper maintenance will also extend the lifespan of your grinder so think about how easy it will be to clean and make sure you keep up with this regularly.

We’ll now give you a snapshot of 5 of the best coffee grinders for your new French press…