Coffee maker accessories Coffee grinders

Enjoy bean-fresh coffee with a coffee grinder

The flavours in espresso are created first by roasting the coffee beans and then grinding them to expose the coffee’s essential oils. The oils begin to evaporate immediately after grinding – so using freshly ground beans is the best way of capturing the most flavoursome essence.

But you'll need to put a bit of extra effort in to enjoy a bean-fresh cup of coffee. Unless you have a bean-to-cup coffee machine – into which you can load whole coffee beans – you'll first need to grind the beans down to use in an espresso coffee maker. For that, you'll need a coffee grinder.

Coffee grinders explained 

Coffee grinders come in an array of shapes, sizes and prices. There are two basic different types of coffee grinder: a blade grinder or a burr coffee grinder.

Burr coffee grinders

A burr coffee grinder crushes coffee beans using a grinding wheel, which is adjustable to allow you to produce very coarse or very fine ground coffee according to taste. You'll need to choose the extra-fine setting for espresso brewing.

A decent burr coffee grinder will be easy to load and use, offer several different grinding options and produce a consistently ground end product. Prices start from around £20, going up to around £150 for premium models.

Blade coffee grinders

As the name suggests, a blade coffee grinder has blades to chop up the coffee beans. The longer you use the coffee grinder for, the finer the beans. Blade coffee grinders can be quite loud, and some coffee drinkers complain that the ground coffee you get from them isn't always consistently chopped. 

On the plus side, blade coffee grinders are relatively inexpensive, with prices starting at around £10. 

Search for a Best Buy coffee maker to suit your taste - filter our coffee maker reviews by the type of coffee you prefer, and take a look at our espresso coffee makers video buying guide.

Rewind our coffee machines live event

Which? experts were joined by top coffee connoisseur, Whittard's Giles Hilton, and Bob Payman, who's been selling and servicing machines for 15 years, for a live chat. We were kept busy with your questions on the best coffee makers and how to perfect your espresso making.

Missed it? Log in to replay the Q&A in full at Which.co.uk/coffeelive.