Struggling to dial in your coffee grinder?
Stop chasing grind size and start chasing extraction time.
Getting your grinder right is one of the biggest factors in making consistently good espresso. Instead of worrying about whether your coffee looks too fine or too coarse, use your espresso extraction time to guide your adjustments.
Know your target extraction time
Start by knowing the recommended extraction time for your coffee beans.
For most Revs coffees, we recommend aiming for around 30 seconds for both a single and double espresso.
Once you know your target, you can use your grinder to control how quickly the espresso pours.
How to adjust your coffee grinder
Think of your grinder adjustment as speed control.
If your espresso is pouring too slowly, adjust the grinder to allow the coffee to flow faster. If it's pouring too quickly, adjust it to slow the extraction down.
On many grinders, increasing the grind setting number makes the grind coarser and speeds up the extraction, while decreasing the number makes it finer and slows the extraction.
Always check how your particular grinder is labelled, as adjustment directions can vary between models.
Purge your grinder after adjusting it
This step is easy to miss.
After changing your grind setting, there will still be coffee from the previous setting sitting inside the grinder.
Purge two coffees after making an adjustment and test the third.
This helps ensure you're actually testing freshly ground coffee at your new grind setting rather than leftover grounds from the previous adjustment.
Keep your coffee beans fresh
Once you've dialled in your grinder, protect your work by storing your coffee beans correctly.
Keep them in a sealed, airtight container away from heat, light and moisture. Fresher beans make it much easier to maintain consistent espresso extraction.
Dialling in doesn't need to be complicated: know your target time, adjust the grinder, purge and test again.
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