An often over-looked aspect of achieving a great cup of coffee is the coffee grinder you use. If you are truly looking to maximize the taste of your coffee, then it is crucial you invest in a good coffee grinder. Once coffee has been ground, it starts to loose freshness almost immediately. After 10 minutes, it becomes stale and starts to loose some of its best qualities.
The purpose of this article is to categorize the best coffee grinders by price, so you can align your own budget with the best home coffee grinder in that price range. Included with each category is a small coffee grinder review and a link to where you can find more information about that grinder including where to buy it.
For individuals on an extremely low budget, a blade grinder is the way to go. A blade grinder just basically contains a spinning blade inside that grinds up the coffee. Although a blade grinder may be adequate for regular coffee, they are usually completely unsuitable for espresso. This is because they do not provide a uniform grind and are unable to provide a fine enough coffee grind within 2 or 3 minutes (by that time, a lot of the flavor has already left.
The best coffee grinder in this price range by far, and the only one I would even consider putting in this coffee grinder review, is the Krups 203 Electric Coffee Grinder. For $25, it provides a reasonably consistent grind that does a good job for regular coffee. It has received considerable praise from reviewers (4.5/5 on Amazon) and is really the best home coffee grinder under $25.
Right now Amazon is offering the Krups electric coffee grinder for $18.
If you have a bit more money, the best coffee grinders in this category will actually get you much closer to achieving really good cups of coffee. My pick for the best coffee grinder under $100 is the Capresso Infinity Burr Grinder.
Unlike blade grinders, which have the tendency to overheat the coffee (thus spoiling the taste) burr grinders use rotating burrs to grind up the coffee at lower speeds. Higher end burr grinders are able to create very fine, uniform coffee grinds, suitable for both coffee or espresso (depending on which one you get). Without a doubt, burr grinders are considered some of the best coffee grinders to use.
The Capresso Infinity Burr Grinder does a fantastic job for regular coffee. You can get very consistent grinds with this machine, truly allowing you to get a full-bodied cup of coffee. Furthermore, the machine is well-built and can last a long time if you take care of it.
But while this machine excels at grinding for filter coffee, it does not do as good a job for espresso. If you have an espresso machine and really cannot afford a more expensive grinder, than you may as well get this one. But if you are very serious about quality espresso, than you might find that this machine is not quite the best home coffee grinder for your purposes.
To find out more detailed information about this machine, you will want to check out my Capresso Infinity Coffee Grinder Review.
Technically this machine retails for $190, but you can pick a brand new one up from Amazon for $90, including free shipping.
For this coffee grinder review article, I decided to include 2 machines in this category. Both of them are burr grinders, but one of them is more expensive than the other.
First up is the Baratza Virtuoso coffee grinder. With a retail price of $220, this grinder is situated squarely amongst the “mid-range” coffee grinders on the market. Now it does have its minor quirks (which you can find out about in this Baratza Virtuoso review) but overall, it is a solidly built machine that provides uniformly ground coffee. If your purpose is to achieve excellent filter coffee and great espresso, than the Baratza Virtuoso will more than fulfill your needs.
Right now Amazon is offering this machine for $199.
The Rancilio Rocky is easily one of the best home coffee grinders you can invest in. It is highly adjustable, solidly built and is fantastic for producing espresso. Furthermore, it has an extremely long life span. I know people that have owned this coffee grinder for 10 – 15 years, and are still able to generate great tasting coffee and espresso. So when you factor in this machines lifespan and capabilities, you will realize that its price tag of $375 is really not too much.
Before buying it, however, I would recommend you check out this Rancilio Rocky Coffee Grinder review. It will discuss all the intimate features of this coffee grinder, as well explain why it is important to get the doserless version.
To get this machine for a sizeable discount (including free shipping), I recommend you check out Amazon. They have it on sale for $339.
If you’re looking for the best home coffee grinder, without a doubt I would recommend the Baratza Vario. This coffee grinder has won numerous awards, and has even beat out some $1500-2000 grinder in blind-taste tests!
For a closer look at this premium coffee grinder, check out this Baratza Vario review.
You can also choose to purchase this coffee grinder from Amazon for $449.