As a coffee enthusiast, it is easy to tell which coffee grind sizes is best for the brewing method you use to make your coffee. Different brewing methods will give you different results depending on the type of coffee you use, including its grind. The most important question is, does the ground size matter?Yes, when it comes to coffee ground the size does matters. This is because it affects the outcome of the coffee rest. While anyone might be able to get away with substituting the grind sizes like replacing the course with a slightly finer grind but it won’t work the same at all. The resulting coffee might not taste as great as it would if you have used the correct grind.
When to use coarse grind
Are you a fan of slow extraction brewing techniques? If yes, then this would be the perfect grind of coffee for you. Here are some methos you can use for brewing using coarse coffee grinds.
French press
The French press is simple brewing process that produces a dense and elegant coffee. It involves brewing the coffee in a French press machine strictly using coarse-ground coffee granules, leaving it to brew then steeping the coffee. Once that’s done, the coffee is plunged to the bottom of the brewer and the coffee is ready to go.
Why is it important to use course ground in French press? The first reason is the slow extraction and steeping process. The low surface area allows the water to extract the needed flavor from the granules in just a few minutes.
Cowboy coffee
Cowboy coffee is made by adding water to pot, bringing it to boil, adding your coffee, stirring and letting it brew. After that, you let it sit for a couple of minutes before serving it. Instead 0f filtering out the coffee, you have to serve it while seeping it slowly. While it gets a bad rep, cowboy coffee can be full of flavor.
Why use coarse grind coffee for your cowboy coffee? Brewing coarse ground coffee will get you an extra strong flavor and won’t leave you with some grits.
Cold brew
On a hot day, there is nothing more satisfying than a cool, caffeinated sip of iced coffee. Cold brew coffee is made by Adding cold or room temperature water to coarsely ground coffee and letting it steep for long periods of time mostly 24 hours then serving it cold.
Cold brew coffee pairs well with the best creamer for coffee. Using fine coffee grounds will cause over extraction and this will leave sediment or grit in your coffee. And nothing tastes worse than coffee with a creamer that has sediments. Another reason is that the coffee grinds will be steeping for a long time so you’ll need them coarse for optimum extraction.
Course vs fine coffee grind – what is the difference
You can obviously tell the difference between coarse ground coffee and fin grind coffee by the sizes. So with coarse ground coffee, you will see the chunky bits of the coffee and more color variation. Finer ground coffee has smooth texture and close to uniform color.
How can you tell what coarse ground coffee looks like?
When it comes to grind range, its all about the size range of the coffee. With modern coffee grinders, you can achieve up to 16 different ranges. But this section focuses on six basic coffee grind rages and how you can tell them apart.
A comparison table between different coffee grounds
| GRIND | Texture can be compared to |
| Extra fine | Feels like Powdered sugar or flour |
| Fine | Granules feel like common salt |
| Medium Fine | Slightly rougher than common salt |
| Medium | Feels like common sand |
| Medium coarse | Feels like rough sand |
| Course | Feels like sea salt |
| Extra course | Chunky like rock salt |
Final word
At the end of the day, the grind size of your coffee is very important. The surface area of your coffee granules will determine the level of coffee extraction you can get. For example, using finer coffee grinds on a machine meant for coarser ones will give you bitter coffee. This is because the machine extracts your brew too fast due to an increased surface area in your coffee. It might also lead to worse things like a clogged brewer. To turn things around, brewing your coarse coffee in a machine meant for finer granules will give you a weak, flavorless coffee.
