Coffee Grind Size Chart

A coffee grind size chart matches each brewing method to the size of the coffee particles it needs, from the flour-fine powder of Turkish coffee to the cracked-pepper chunks of cold brew. Get the grind right and almost every other part of a recipe falls into place. This page gives you the chart, what the sizes mean in microns, and how to fine-tune by taste.

The short version

• Short brew, fine grind; long brew, coarse grind. Contact time sets the size.
• Turkish: powder. Espresso and moka pot: fine. AeroPress and V60: medium-fine.
• Drip machine: medium. Chemex: medium-coarse. French press: coarse. Cold brew: extra-coarse.
• In microns: roughly 100–200 for Turkish up to 1,000–1,500 for cold brew.
• Taste to adjust: sour means grind finer, bitter means grind coarser.

What grind size does each brewing method need?

The grind for each method below comes from its guide on this site, which follows the maker’s instructions or a well-known recipe.

Method	Grind	Texture
Turkish coffee	Powder	Like flour or cocoa
Espresso	Fine	Finer than table salt
Moka pot	Fine (slightly coarser than espresso)	Fine table salt
Vietnamese phin	Fine	Finer than table salt
South Indian filter	Fine	Finer than table salt
AeroPress	Medium-fine	Table salt
V60	Medium-fine	Table salt
Kalita Wave	Medium-fine	Table salt
Siphon	Medium-fine	Table salt
Japanese iced coffee	Medium-fine	Table salt
Clever dripper	Medium	Sand
Automatic drip machine	Medium	Sand
Kyoto drip	Medium	Sand
Chemex	Medium-coarse	Rough sand, kosher salt
French press	Coarse	Sea salt
Stovetop percolator	Coarse	Sea salt
Cowboy coffee	Coarse	Sea salt
Cold brew	Extra-coarse	Cracked pepper

Texture comparisons are only a rough guide: one person’s fine is another’s medium, and sugar or sand vary in size too.

How big is each grind size in microns?

Microns (thousandths of a millimetre) are the only precise way to describe a grind, but the published charts don’t agree. Here are two:

Method	The Coffee Locator	Honest Coffee Guide
Turkish	100–200 µm	40–220 µm
Espresso	200–300 µm	180–380 µm
Moka pot	300–400 µm	360–660 µm
AeroPress	300–600 µm	320–960 µm
V60	500–700 µm	400–700 µm
Pour-over in general	500–700 µm (V60 and Kalita)	410–930 µm
Drip (filter) machine	500–800 µm	300–900 µm
Chemex	600–800 µm	Not given separately
Siphon	Not given	375–800 µm
French press	800–1,100 µm	690–1,300 µm
Cold brew	1,000–1,500 µm	800–1,400 µm

Sources: The Coffee Locator; Honest Coffee Guide.

The ranges overlap a lot because recipes vary: an AeroPress can brew anything from an espresso-style shot to a long filter cup. Honest Coffee Guide also puts names to sizes, in 200-micron steps: extra-fine up to 200 µm, fine 200–400, medium-fine 400–600, medium 600–800, medium-coarse 800–1,000, coarse 1,000–1,200 and extra-coarse 1,200–1,400. Other sources draw the lines elsewhere, so treat every name as approximate.

Why does grind size matter so much?

Water dissolves flavour from the surface of each particle. Finer grounds have more surface area, so they extract faster, and they also slow the water down; coarser grounds extract slowly and let water run through quickly, The Coffee Locator explains. That’s why each method needs its own size: espresso is short and pressurised, so it needs fine; a French press steeps for minutes, so it needs coarse.

Flavours also dissolve in a rough order: acids first (bright and fruity), then sugars (sweet and round), then bitter compounds last. Grind too coarse for your brew time and you stop at the sour stage; grind too fine and you reach the bitter end.

Even particles matter as much as size. A grind with lots of dust and boulders extracts unevenly, so you can get sour and bitter in the same cup. Honest Coffee Guide leaves blade grinders out of its chart altogether, because they don’t grind to a consistent size.

How do you dial in your grind?

Brew by weight with a set recipe, taste, then change the grind in small steps, one change at a time.

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Sour, thin or weak	Grind too coarse: under-extracted	Grind a step finer
Bitter, harsh or drying	Grind too fine: over-extracted	Grind a step coarser
Pour-over drains very slowly or stalls	Grind too fine, or too many fines	Grind coarser
Pour-over runs through too fast	Grind too coarse	Grind finer
Espresso shot runs much faster than 25–32 seconds	Grind too coarse	Grind finer
Sludge at the bottom of a French press cup	Grind too fine for the mesh filter	Grind coarser and pour gently
Sour and bitter at once	Uneven grind (often a blade grinder)	Use a burr grinder, or sieve out the dust

The Coffee Locator gives espresso a target time of 25–32 seconds and a French press 4 minutes; your method’s guide on this site has the full recipe.

Do roast and freshness change the grind?

Yes. Light roasts are denser and extract more slowly, so they usually need a finer setting than a dark roast in the same brewer, The Coffee Locator says. Very fresh beans give off carbon dioxide that can push water away from the grounds and leave the cup sour until they’ve rested a few days. And grind just before you brew: ground coffee loses its aromatics quickly, which is why cupping guides tell you to grind immediately before tasting.

Do grinder settings mean the same on every grinder?

No. Setting 2 on one grinder is not setting 2 on another, and some grinders count clicks or rotations rather than numbers, Honest Coffee Guide notes. Use the chart for a starting point, then write down the setting that works for each method on your own grinder.

If you don’t have a grinder, buy coffee ground for your method and keep it airtight.

What grind size is used for cupping?

The Specialty Coffee Association’s cupping standard asks for a grind where 70–75% of the particles pass through a US No. 20 sieve, Royal Coffee’s summary of the SCA standards says. A No. 20 sieve has openings of about 850 microns, and the grind is slightly coarser than a typical paper-filter drip grind, Honest Coffee Guide notes. The dose is 8.25 g per 150 ml of water.

Grind size and other guides

• Brew ratio calculator: work out the coffee and water for any ratio.
• Method finder: find a brewing method that suits you.
• All brewing methods: every method, with its grind, ratio and steps.