Grinder recommendations

As with all espresso machines, the 9Barista requires a good quality grinder designed for espresso to produce delicious shots. Neither blade grinders nor those designed for filter coffee are likely to provide good results.

We’ve used all of these grinders with the 9Barista and they are all great options. Manual hand grinders are small, portable and reliable, but grinding can get a bit tiring if you’re doing more than two shots in a row. Electric grinders are more convenient but take up additional space and are not portable. 

Best overall hand grinder

Comandante C40 with Red Clix: available here

Best value hand grinder (cheaper ones tend not to be good enough for espresso)

Knock Aegrind: available here

Entry level electric grinder

Rancilio Rocky: £280

High-end electric grinder

Niche Zero: £500

Reviews

Here are some reviews that might help you out too:

• James Hoffmann – hand grinder review
• Wilfa Svart vs. Baratza Encore
• Niche Zero grinder

Suggested settings

We’re lucky enough to have some fantastic customers who have given us feedback on their grinders, recommending what works well for them. Combined with our own experience we can recommend the following settings as good starting points when first brewing with your 9Barista. 

Remember, if in doubt start with a coarser setting and gradually go finer until you hit a 25 – 30 second extraction time. The ideal grind setting will depend on the coffee you’re using, so you may need to make a few of your own adjustments. Broadly speaking, go finer if the coffee tastes too acidic. It's also important to remember that the beans being used, and the freshness of those beans, also have a big effect on the grind size required. As such, these settings are purely intended as a rough guide.

• Comandante C40: 7 clicks
• Comandante C40 with Red Clix: 20 clicks
• Niche Zero: 15
• Kinu M47: 1.1 to 1.2 clicks
• Kinu Simplicity: 12 to 14
• Barazta Encore: 7
• Knock Aergrind: 1.1 to 1.3