Hearth & Bean

Cheat sheet

Coffee Grind Size Guide for Every Brewer

Which grind to use for French press, pour-over, AeroPress, moka pot and cold brew, and how to adjust it when your cup tastes off.

Three small glass bowls of ground coffee in a row on a wooden board, from coarse on the left to fine on the right, with a small spoon and a few beans.

Grind size controls how fast water pulls flavor out of the coffee. Finer coffee has more surface area, so it extracts faster. Coarser coffee extracts more slowly. The right grind depends on how long the water stays in contact with the coffee.

Grind size by brewer, from coarse to fineFive brewers in order from coarse to fine grind: cold brew and French press are coarse, pour-over is medium, AeroPress and moka pot are medium-fine. Longer brews use coarser grinds. Coarse, long brewFine, short brew Cold brewcoarse French presscoarse Pour-overmedium AeroPressmedium-fine Moka potmedium-fine Grain sizes are illustrative, not to scale.
The longer the water touches the coffee, the coarser the grind should be.

The rule of thumb

The shorter the brew, the finer the grind. The longer the brew, the coarser the grind.

Brewer Grind Roughly like
Cold brew Coarse Coarse sea salt
French press Coarse Coarse sea salt
Pour-over Medium Table salt or coarse sand
AeroPress Medium-fine Between table salt and fine sand
Moka pot Medium-fine Fine sand, a bit coarser than espresso

These comparisons are starting points. Grinders differ, so use your first cup as a test.

Adjust by taste

  • Sour or thin? Grind a little finer.
  • Bitter or harsh? Grind a little coarser.
  • Muddy, or the plunger is hard to press? Your grind is too fine for that brewer.

Move one step at a time and change nothing else. The bitter and sour guide walks through this in detail.

Why a burr grinder helps

A burr grinder crushes beans between two surfaces, which gives a more even grind than a blade grinder that chops them. Even pieces extract evenly, so the cup tastes cleaner. A hand grinder is a good choice if you have little counter space.

Pre-ground coffee

If you buy ground coffee, choose a grind that matches your brewer, usually labeled "coarse" for French press or "medium" for drip. It goes stale faster than whole beans, so buy smaller bags. See how to store coffee beans.

Try it at home

French Press Basics Pour-Over Basics Coffee to Water Ratio for Every Brewer Why Is My Coffee Bitter? (And Sour?)

Gear that fits

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