Source:Best Coffee > News Author:qjroot Published:2026-01-10 12:52:47
For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee)
The coarseness of the grind in coffee directly affects the contact area between the coffee and water as well as the extraction time, and it directly affects the taste of the coffee. But at the same time, the grind setting is also the biggest headache for many people! In this article, Front Street will explain how to determine how coarse or fine the grind should be for different coffee beans.
First, we must make sure that the single-origin coffee beans or espresso blend coffee beans we buy are freshly roasted!
When buying single-origin coffee beans or espresso coffee beans, we must buy coffee beans whose packaging has a one-way exhaust valve and the corresponding coffee bean roast date. The "one-way exhaust valve" (the small button-shaped hole at the top of the coffee bag) is designed to allow the coffee beans to release naturally produced carbon dioxide while blocking other outside gases from entering the packaging. Every bag of coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee is freshly roasted and uses packaging with a one-way exhaust valve.
After buying coffee beans, we can look at the roast date, because coffee beans produce a large amount of carbon dioxide inside the beans during the roasting process, so we need to give the beans 3-7 days to release the carbon dioxide on their own, commonly known as resting the beans. If we take freshly roasted coffee beans straight to brewing, the large amount of carbon dioxide continuously released during the brewing process will make the entire extraction process very unstable. So how long should they rest? Front Street suggests resting medium-light roasted coffee beans for 3-4 days, and medium-dark roasted coffee beans for 4-5 days.
We just mentioned that the most direct manifestation of coffee bean freshness is the release of carbon dioxide from the beans. Beyond carbon dioxide, the degree of freshness of the coffee beans also determines the aromatic compounds responsible for the coffee's flavor and aroma. These small-molecule aromatic compounds volatilize faster than the large-molecule compounds that express the coffee's bitterness, so the less fresh the coffee beans, the less carbon dioxide and aromatic compounds they contain, and the fewer extractable substances there are as well. Best Coffee recommends drinking roasted coffee beans within 2 months at best, and if they have already been ground into powder, drinking them within 20 days is optimal. If the coffee beans are no longer fresh, no amount of grinding will help. To put it simply, when all other parameters are identical, the finer the particles, the higher the extraction yield; the finer the coffee is ground, the larger the contact area with water, and the higher the concentration of dissolved coffee; conversely, the coarser the coffee is ground, the smaller the contact surface area with water, and the lower the extracted concentration of the coffee. What happens when the coffee is ground too fine? What happens when the coffee is ground too coarse? How do we determine coffee grind size? Of course, coffee beans of different roast levels also call for different grind sizes. For example, at FrontStreet, brewing light-roast coffee uses a grind with an 80-85%% pass-through rate on a 0.85mm sieve. Medium-roast coffee uses a grind with a 70%-75% pass-through rate on a 0.85mm sieve. And dark-roast coffee uses a grind with a 65%-70% pass-through rate on a 0.85mm sieve. But everyone's requirements for coffee intensity are different, so these figures are for reference only; you can still adjust to different degrees based on your own preferred strength. Extra fine: suitable for making espresso (moka pot, espresso machine) When making espresso, you must tamp the coffee grounds firmly so they create resistance against the high-pressure hot water, which is the only way to truly extract the essence of the coffee. The more even and fine the grind, the more tightly packed the coffee puck after tamping, and the more evenly it resists the water. Only then will the "pressed" espresso have a rich crema. Fine grind: suitable for making drip bag coffee
How does the size of the coffee grind affect the coffee's flavor?
1. At the same gram weight, a finer grind requires more cuts, increases the surface area, and increases the area where water can contact the coffee grounds.
2. The finer the grind, the finer the particles the coffee grounds are cut into the shorter the distance from the surface of the coffee particle to its center the shorter the time for water to reach the inner part of the coffee particle for extraction / the easier it is to extract the coffee's flavor compounds.
In terms of particle appearance, the particles are smaller in size, and because the particles are smaller, the spacing between particles is shorter, making it harder for water to pass through them, so the drip time during brewing is longer. A finer grind results in smaller coffee particles, increasing the surface area of the coffee particles and increasing the places where water can extract coffee substances, so the concentration and extraction yield rise; the coffee tastes rich and intense, with obvious bitterness and astringency, while the remaining flavors are masked.
In terms of particle appearance, the particles are larger in size, and because the particles are larger, the spacing between particles is wider, making it easier for water to pass through the coffee grounds, so the filtration time during brewing is shorter. A coarser grind results in larger coffee particles, reducing the surface area of the coffee particles and reducing the places where water can extract coffee substances, so the concentration and extraction yield decrease accordingly; the coffee tastes thin and bland, with a light mouthfeel and almost no flavor.
Here at FrontStreet, we recommend using a No. 20 sieve (mesh size 0.85mm) to calibrate your grind size. Then take 10g of coffee beans, grind them roughly, and pour them into the sieve to sift. After sifting completely, see how much coffee grounds end up in the tray below the sieve, and use the pass-through rate to calibrate the grind size. FrontStreet Coffee grind size coarseness standard sieve pass-through rate: cold drip > pour-over siphon 80% > moka pot American drip 75-80% > cupping 70-75% > French press 65-70%.
What if you don't want to buy a coffee grind size calibration sieve?!
FrontStreet knows this whole process is quite a hassle, so here FrontStreet has put together a little summary of coffee grind sizes, so you can see roughly which grind sizes your own coffee brewing tools use. FrontStreet divides coffee grind coarseness into 5 types: extra fine, fine, medium-fine, medium, and coarse.
(From left to right: coarse, fine, extra fine)
This grind size is Qianjie's "soul mate" for making drip bag coffee. The main reason is that the drip bag is entirely made of filter paper, so the water flow is very large. Unlike pour-over, which has a narrowed opening, such as the commonly used three-hole dripper, which actually slows the speed of water flowing out, the drip bag needs a finer grind to increase the extraction surface area and extract more substances.
Medium-fine grind: suitable for brewing medium-light roasted coffee (various pour-over coffee drippers), recommended: Qianjie Guodingding, Qianjie Huakui, Qianjie Geisha, Qianjie Strawberry Candy
When Qianjie brews medium-light roasted coffee beans, it uses a medium-fine grind, about the size of fine granulated sugar, with a grind degree between 75%-80% passing rate. Because medium-light roasted coffee beans generally have rich acidity, a medium-fine grind degree can improve the overall sweet-and-sour performance of the coffee~
Medium grind: suitable for brewing medium-dark roasted coffee (various pour-over coffee drippers), recommended: Qianjie Jamaica Blue Mountain, Qianjie Golden Mandheling, Qianjie Huilan
When Qianjie brews medium-dark roasted coffee beans, it uses a medium grind, about the size of coarse granulated sugar, with a grind degree between 70%-75% passing rate. Medium grind is not prone to producing extremely fine powder, and it is also not easy for a large amount of water to accumulate in the dripper and soak the coffee grounds due to unstable water flow control at the beginning, which would cause over-extraction of the coffee.
Coarse grind: suitable for making coffee with a French press
A French press extracts the most original flavor of coffee by steeping for 4 minutes. Compared with pour-over coffee, its coffee liquid is relatively cloudy. The reason is that when filtering with a metal mesh, the pore size is larger, so in terms of grind size we need to use a coarse grind. First, the coffee's flavor is slowly extracted, and second, when the French press presses down the filter mesh, the coffee grounds will not "escape" through the gaps in the mesh and blend into the coffee, affecting the mouthfeel when tasting.
Recommended value-for-money everyday pour-over coffee beans: Qianjie Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gutingding, Qianjie Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha coffee beans
Espresso coffee bean recommendations: Qianjie Classic Blend, Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend
You can now purchase the above coffee beans at the Tmall "Qianjie Flagship Store". There you can also find 60 kinds of single-origin pour-over coffee beans and espresso coffee beans from all over the world. Qianjie coffee beans are freshly roasted and shipped within 24 hours.
Tmall Qianjie Flagship Store link: https://qianjieshipin.tmall.com
Or you can search "Qianjie Flagship Store" directly on Taobao
Qianjie Coffee store address: No. 315 Donghuadong Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
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