Coffee grinding is a custom that has been lost over time, despite the fact that it was regularly practised in every household until not so many years ago. We, who know a thing or two about coffee, believe that this good habit definitely deserves to be revived, precisely because of the benefits it can bring to your favourite beverage.
In this article we will therefore explain how to grind coffee and why to do it at home, thus allowing you to rediscover a unique aroma that only the revival of this noble technique can ensure.
Why grind coffee
Let’s face it. When you drink your coffee you are basically looking for relaxation, which is why you expect this ‘sacred’ moment to provide you with the utmost comfort, which certainly does not include grinding your coffee by hand.
What if we told you that coffee drunk immediately after grinding tastes like you have never experienced in your life? Believe it or not, the truth is coffee beans lose a good 65-70% of their aroma after only 15 minutes of being ground. This means, simply put, that the coffee you usually drink actually tastes significantly worse than if it had been ground immediately.
The question is: is laziness really a valid reason to deprive yourself of the true coffee flavour? In our opinion, no. Especially since, if you follow our advice, you will find that grinding coffee is a really simple operation, although there are some slight differences depending on how you intend to prepare it.
Grinding coffee at home
Having established that grinding coffee at home is the best way to preserve the aroma of this beverage, let’s see how you should do it, depending on whether you prefer to prepare it with the moka pot or with your irreplaceable coffee machine.
For the moka
If you fall into the category of those who like to brew coffee with a Moka, then you will necessarily need a manual grinder, priced between 130 and 140 euros. Keep in mind that the electric ones cost much more, as they are professional machines.
Manual grinders, on the other hand, are also perfect for beginners and will provide you with a long-term investment as well as the possibility to grind coffee quickly and easily. All you have to do is fill the basket of the machine with coffee beans and turn the crank that will start the internal blades.
To get an idea of the consistency to be achieved, think of fine salt: rubbing the coffee powder between your fingers, you should feel a grainy part. If the coffee is too fine, in fact, you run the risk of it spilling out of the holes in the moka pot. And if you are wondering what is the correct amount of beans to grind, the answer is: it depends!
Two tablespoons of beans will, in principle, be more than enough. However, this amount also varies depending on how you like your coffee: if you want normal coffee, then it will be enough for 240 ml of drink; if you prefer it strong, then you will have to dilute it to 180 ml.
And as far as the waiting time between the grinding of the coffee and its actual consumption is concerned, again it all depends on the previous roasting of the beans: ideally, roasted beans should be ground no more than two to three days in advance, and then consumed immediately.
For the espresso coffee
If you are more of a coffee machine type, you will also be able to treat yourself to some excellent ground coffee, as the procedure does not differ much from the previous one. What changes, in this case, is in fact the tool with which you prepare the coffee, which will inevitably be more or less good depending on the machine used.
After all, it is no secret that if you want to drink good coffee, you should do it with the right machine. And the best one of all is undoubtedly the lever machine: the only one that can guarantee you a coffee with a strong and complete aroma.
By using it to drink fresh, ground coffee at home, therefore, you will get a doubly good drink. And, if you don’t have a lever machine, all you have to do is browse through our catalogue and discover the right coffee machine for you, which will become your best ally in the preparation of ground coffee.
But how should ground coffee for espresso be? To begin with, it should have a particularly fine and irregular consistency, which could easily be affected by the humidity of the environment. In the case of a particularly humid atmosphere, the grind should be enlarged; in dry air, on the other hand, it should be narrower. What remains unchanged is the timing, for which the same advice we have already given applies.
How to grind coffee without a grinder
In case you are not sure whether you want to drink ground coffee at home for the rest of your life, you might rightly consider the purchase of a coffee grinder unnecessary. If this is the case, however, know that there are other ways to grind coffee using tools you already own.
The simplest way is to use a blender, but this will give you a rather coarse grind that is only suitable for the French coffee maker. If you are aiming for a more precise job, in fact, the ideal is to crush the coffee beans in a mortar: undoubtedly a longer and more laborious job, but with excellent results. Dulcis in fundo, a slightly more ‘barbaric’ system involves pulverising the beans with a hammer, after wrapping them in a sheet of paper.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to grind coffee and why to do it at home, all that remains is to determine how to do it: that is, whether to equip yourself with the appropriate grinder, or simply take advantage of the means you already have.
The final decision is yours alone, but as we have already explained, the quality of coffee is also influenced by the tool with which you prepare it.
That is why we invite you once again to take advantage of one of our lever machines. They are the only ones that can guarantee you a nutrient-rich coffee with an intense and delicious aroma, all the more so if you plan to grind it yourself.