We’ve used all of these grinders with the 9Barista and they can all produce good, creamy shots. 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. A good quality grinder suitable for grinding for espresso is likely to start at around £100. Cheaper options such as blade grinders are unlikely to be able to go fine enough to give you good control over your extraction time.
Best overall hand grinder
Comandante C40 (~£250)
Best value hand grinder (cheaper ones tend not to be good enough for espresso)
Knock Aegrind (~£155)
Entry level electric grinder
Baratza Encore (~£140)
Rancilio Rocky – doserless (~£260)
High-end electric grinder
Niche Zero (~£500)
Reviews
Here are some reviews that might help you out too:
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.
Please 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