How To Grind Coffee Beans Like a True Barista

Making barista-quality coffee at home begins with achieving the correct grind density with your coffee grinder. Nail the perfect cup each time by matching your grounds with your brewing method, understanding what coffee grounds your machine uses, and mastering your machinery’s settings for optimal results. Although learning how to grind coffee comes with practice, you can also make the experience easier by using one of De'Longhi's machines with integrated coffee grinders.

How To Grind Coffee Beans Like A True Barista

The definition of a "Barista" has certainly transformed in recent decades. Since entering coffee's Third Wave, coffee drinkers have stopped viewing their local baristas as servers but rather connoisseurs of all things coffee. These experts possess first-hand experience working with various bean roasts, milk types, and equipment that individually influence your cup's taste. And like other important factors in the brewing process, coffee bean grinding is a step that baristas have mastered through their training. Here is how to grind coffee beans like a true barista at home.

Where do I start?

To be a home barista, you need to approach your morning coffee with the same attention to detail. But don't worry, making delicious coffee doesn't necessarily require a high level of expertise, just patience and care. With the right tricks and basic knowledge of standard machinery, you too can brew the perfect coffee at home, starting with your grind. Here are some important tips:

- Choosing the right coffee beans is a matter of taste. But regardless of your favorite roast, beans should always be freshly ground since coffee quickly loses its aroma after grinding.
- Ideally, you have your own coffee grinder at home or a coffee machine with an integrated grinder that can determine the perfect density of grind. If you buy the coffee already ground, it is important to know what grind size your machine calls for or read the grind density on the packaging.
- When it comes to grinding your coffee at home, these are the standard rules: Use a finer grind for espresso and stovetop Mokas. Use coarse grounds for filtered coffee and French press. The size of your grind correlates with surface area in the brewing process, which is why it’s essential to match correctly. Fine-tuning your coffee grinder to get the correct granulometry is a matter of practice, but doing so sets you up for the perfect coffee.

Here are a few extra barista insider tips that you can use to optimize your preparation process:
- Warm the coffee cups before preparation.
- Before brewing coffee, run hot water through the brew head to flush out leftover coffee grounds.
- Use different towels to clean both wet and solid debris.
- If you have a coffee grinder with a bean container, always keep the container as full as possible to ensure the grinder is constantly subjected to the same pressure.
- When adjusting your burr grinder settings, it is recommended to do so while your grinder is operating to maintain a more uniform grind size.

If you want to skip a few steps, you can use De'Longhi's manual machines with an integrated grinder, such as the La Specialista line-up, or De’Longhi’s Automatic Machines such as the Eletta Explore and the Dinamica models.