# The daily grind?



## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Hi all,

I'm interested in seeing more about peoples relative grind sizes for different applications. I try, at the moment, a lot of different brewing methods and feel like I'm just scratching the surface of them. I'm sure I could get more out of them by honing my grinding eye and obviously monitoring the results.

I'm heading into the office for the first time in a while today, so I've ground a load of coffee to take in. We have an aeropress and french press in the office, so I was aiming for something that might work with them both, I think for me this is closer to the grind I'd do for an aeropress...









I'd appreciate your thoughts and if you'd care to share any photos, I'd certainly appreciate it.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Couple of caveats here.

A pic of the size of the grind only wont reflect to the dose , brew ratio , pours of water, steep time; temp or the grinder used for the brew .....

I tend to have a set recipe for a brew method ( like v60 ) I them adjust my grind around taste produced for example.

Others will change other variables

Plus bear in mind a porlex grind will look different consistency wise to a hausgrind for instance. ...


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

What Boots says, don't assess grind by eye (maybe useful at extremes), go by the effect it has on taste, or tangible effects it has on brew time for pourover. Different burr sets will make very different looking gounds at a comparable brew/similar looking grounds at very different brew results.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

You can have 3 different grind sizes which all look identical in a photo but produce pour overs of 3, 5, and 8 minutes.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

I guess I was thinking, a photo reference, would get me in the right ballpark more quickly than a relatively blind guess from me.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

jlarkin said:


> I guess I was thinking, a photo reference, would get me in the right ballpark more quickly than a relatively blind guess from me.


What grinder are you using.....

What brewing methods?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Between espresso & medium fine drip.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Mrboots2u said:


> What grinder are you using.....
> 
> What brewing methods?


I'm using a Sage Pro Grinder and primarily using an aeropress and V60. For aeropress I use the "traditional" non inverted method and usually steep for about 2m30s before a slow-ish press of 20secs or so.

Sort of related I just noticed that signatures don't show on tapatalk.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Also just to add, I think you've all made very interesting points. Although on some levels I'm aware of things like "You can have 3 different grind sizes which all look identical in a photo but produce pour overs of 3, 5, and 8 minutes." I'm also somewhat not, when it comes down to it.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Is the sage stepped?


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

froggystyle said:


> Is the sage stepped?


Yes it's got a dial selection for the grind.

Today was 36 out of 60. With 0 being the finest, they do have guides for the ranges but to me it seemed too coarse on much higher than 40.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

So for brewed maybe take it back to 10 - 20 and see how fast it pours, then dial in from there?


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

froggystyle said:


> So for brewed maybe take it back to 10 - 20 and see how fast it pours, then dial in from there?


I think that's probably a good idea. I should learn to enjoy the journey and work it out a bit for myself  - (based on beans, my equipment and personal tastes, as people have alluded to)


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

OK I still have a lot to learn. I tried going much coarser than I have done, just to see how it matched up and did a v60 with it. It was really good, better than I've managed for a while!


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

The thing that really blew my mind when I first got a grinder was how course french press is supposed to be. Certainly compared to ground coffee you buy in a supermarket which they say is designed for a french press. No wonder it usually tastes so bad.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

French press can be all sorts of grinds(depending on steep time, coarser = longer), very coarse will usually result in underextraction no matter how long you leave it. The idea of grinding coarse is to stop sludge getting through the mesh, but it doesn't work very well, usually stuff still does get through & the coffee is weak & sour.

Medium to fine drip works well, just don't kick up the bed with the plunger.


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

Mine has somewhat been consigned to the sidelines since I got a Chemex anyway. Far more controllable brewing.


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