One of the most overlooked and important aspects about getting the best tasting coffee possible, besides the freshest high quality beans, is getting the proper grind.
How many of you use one of those little spice grinders to grind your whole bean coffee? I used one of those for many years and didn’t think much of it.
The problem with those is two-fold. One is the way they grind the beans, with blades that kind of hack away at the beans at a very fast speed. The other problem is inconsistency in grind. If you look closely you can see that some of the coffee is ground fine and some is left coarse. It is understandable why so many people use them, as they are pretty cheap. If on a budget, this might be the only option.
However, if you are investing in high end, quality coffee beans, then I highly suggest a burr grinder. Burr grinders work like pepper mills. The beans pass through two metal objects and are ground into uniform pieces. Grind size can be precisely controlled and this leads directly to better tasting coffee.
This type of grinder is more expensive but well worth the initial investment. For drip coffee, pour over, and cold brew I recommend something like the Baratza Encore. I was able to get this on sale for $99 at some point a few years back and it has served me very well. They go up in price from there for sure.
Save the spice grinder for your freshly ground spicing needs, and give your high end coffee beans the proper grind they deserve.