Does a $130 coffee grinder make better-tasting coffee than a $16 coffee grinder?
Short Answer: No, they both produce good-tasting coffee.
Long Answer: The grinder is just one aspect out of many that contribute to the quality of the finished cup of coffee.
Things I learned while performing this side-by-side comparison:
- The Comandante-style grinder took 41 seconds to grind 21 grams of coffee beans and the Hario-style grinder took twice as long (90 seconds) to grind 21 grams of coffee beans.
- Both grinders produced grounds that appeared similar BUT the grounds from the Hario-style coffee grinder took 45 seconds longer to finish brewing, compared to the Comadante-style grinder.
- The finished cup of coffee from both grinders tasted great, despite the differences I listed above.
Does this mean that that your coffee will taste good regardless of the coffee grinder you use?
Maybe.
In my specific case, it’s likely that since both coffee cups were made using identical beans, identical brewing methods, and identical amounts of filtered water, the resulting coffee cups were largely identical.
Controlling variables in your coffee-brewing process is the best way to ensure a quality cup of coffee, morning after morning.
There was a time where my coffee-making process was highly disorganized and I would never be able to pour the same cup of coffee twice.
I wish to think James Hoffmann for his series of coffee-related YouTube videos; thanks to James’ videos, I’ve learned a great deal about how to make a consistently-good cup of coffee.
If you read all the way to the bottom of this blog post, it’s likely that you will also like James Hoffmann’s videos.
If you’re still reading all the way to the bottom of this blog post, then maybe it’s because you’re looking for links to the specific grinders I used.
Here are my Amazon Affiliate links to the grinders.
If you click the links I’ve included, I may receive a percentage of the sale.
If you prefer to avoid Amazon, try searching for “Hario-Style Coffee Grinder” or “Comandante-Style Coffee Grinder”.
Comandante-Style Coffee Grinder – JUNOESQUE JM40 : https://amzn.to/30Gxmt2
Hario-Style Coffee Grinder – Mixpresso : https://amzn.to/3huRIfR