Best Coffee Grinder For French Press

When you’re feeling that caffeine withdrawal first thing on a Monday morning, and you really need a nice coffee to get you going, you don’t want it to be gritty or too bitter. Or worse yet, not be able to use your coffee beans because you haven’t got a grinder for them.

Getting the perfect coffee every time requires the right equipment, and if you have chosen to go for a French press rather than some obnoxiously noisy coffee machine, we commend you on your decision. But now you also have to buy a grinder, so you can grind your favorite coffee beans and use them exactly as intended.

Lucky for you, we’ve been checking out some of the best coffee grinders on the market and have put together a shortlist of our top few favorites to review for you today.

But we get that choosing one can be tricky, so we’ve also put together a brief but handy little buying guide that will cover all the key things to think about before you buy.

And without further ado…

1. Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill

No products found.

Talk about flying off the shelves!

There have been well over 24,500 sales of this coffee bean grinder on Amazon alone, and that’s just from the customers who left a rating. Better yet, the average customer still comes out at a very impressive 4 and a half stars out of 5.

It comes from a brand you know you can trust, a brand that’s been around since 1973 and goes from strength to strength.

It’s a disc burr / blade hybrid, not really a true burr grinder and not exactly a blade grinder either. And because of this it offers the best of both worlds, the fine crushing of the beans, but without too loud a noise and set at what we would argue is a very reasonable price.

It offers 18 different levels of grinding from extra-coarse to ultra-fine, so it’s sure to grind the beans coarsely enough for your French Press. And it couldn’t be easier to use, you simply add the coffee beans, screw on the lid, turn the dial to your preferred setting, and press the power button.

The removable hopper can hold enough coffee beans to make anywhere between 4 and 18 cups per sitting, while the removable grind chamber can hold enough ground coffee for up to 32 cups.

Despite its generous capacity, however, it won’t take up too much space on your kitchen counter, thanks to its compact dimensions at 10.75 x 7.13 x 6 inches.

It comes complete with a handy scoop, which is perfect for placing a measured amount into your French Press, and with a cleaning brush. And there’s convenient cord storage at the back of the machine.

There’s an automatic timer set up so that the machine shuts off automatically when the grind cycle is complete, and this helps to reduce the machine’s wear.

It’s available in two different colour options, a vintage-like cream, or a smart stainless steel. But just so you know, the cream version is about £20 more expensive than the stainless steel one.

Pros:

Simply flying off the shelves
Comes from a reliable brand
It’s a disc burr / blade hybrid

18 different levels of grinding
Generous capacity, modest size

Cons:

There are very mixed reviews about the noise level

No products found.

2. Breville BCG820BSS Smart Grinder

No products found.

This grinder is amazing – if it wasn’t for the hefty price tag, we would have made it our number one pick.

But despite its high price, people have been buying it in the thousands. There are well over 3,000 individual customer ratings on Amazon alone. But better yet, the average customer rating still comes out at an impressive 4 and a half stars out of 5.

It comes from a top, well-established brand, Breville, and it features dosing iQ, whereby you can select ‘cups’ for French Press or ‘shots’ for Espresso to get the perfect dose for the coffee you’re brewing.

And as for the number of grinding settings, there’s a staggering 60 different options to choose from. We would suggest trying the coarsest setting for your French Press at first, and if you’re not happy with that, try one setting down from that until you find your perfect match.

It has an 18 ounce coffee bean capacity in the hopper, which is quite generous, yet it has rather compact dimensions and won’t take up too much kitchen countertop space.

It’s pretty straightforward to use. Once the coffee beans are enclosed in the hopper, you simply turn dials for your grind amount and program along a spectrum of coarseness, and number of shots or cups, and the total grind time will be automatically worked out by the machine. Then you can tweak it further in 0.2 second increments to give you even more control, and consistent results every time.

When you’re ready to take it apart for cleaning, this is easy and straightforward, and there’s a little brush included in the box when it arrives.

It’s an electrical grinder rather than a manual one, and a burr grinder rather than a blade one, and is conical rather than flat (more on all this in our buying guide later).

It’s available in a choice of three different colours, namely brushed stainless steel, cranberry red, or sesame black.

Amazon occasionally has significant deals on this particular coffee bean grinder – simply click on “Check price” to see if there’s a deal on now.

Pros:

A bestseller with impressive feedback

Comes from a top well established brand
A whopping 60 different grind settings
Features intelligent automated functioning

Comes apart for easy cleaning, brush included

Cons:

Premium product at a premium price

No products found.

3. Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

No products found.

Now, if you’re looking for a commercial grade coffee grinder at a price for use at home, then this machine could be the one for you!

It’s also a bestseller with the leading online retailers and comes with excellent customer ratings and reviews. Moreover, it also won an award from the Specialty Coffee Association.

It has a whopping 40 different grind settings – way more than you’d get in a standard grinder. So you get to really experiment and try different levels of coffee coarseness in your French Press.

And if you ever fancied a change from French Press coffee, it can also be used for espresso, aeropress, and many more besides.

But just because its commercial grade doesn’t mean it’s hard to use. You simply add the coffee beans, screw on the lid, turn the dial to your preferred setting, and turn the power dial. So user-friendly, it can be considered entry-level.

It’s a grinder that’s really built to last, engineered in Europe with a powerful motor and 40 mm hardened alloy steel.

Not surprisingly, then, it comes backed by a 1-year warranty and world-class customer after-sales support.

It’s available in two different colour options, namely black or white. The white option is about £30 cheaper than the black one.

There have been more than 9,800 individual customer ratings on Amazon, and more than three quarters of customers rated it at a full 5 stars out of 5, giving particular praise to how easy it is to use.

Pros:

Award-winning machine
Commercial grade grinder
40 different grind settings

Durable & really built to last
Backed by a 1-year warranty

Cons:

There are very mixed reviews about the noise level

Premium product at a premium price

No products found.

4. Shardor Coffee Grinder Electric

No products found.

Now, this particular brand is dominating the bestseller charts with the leading online retailers, and looking into it, we can certainly see why…

Although Shardor makes a variety of kitchen appliances, their specialty is in all things coffee related.

This grinder is an electric one with a uniform grind, meaning it is efficient and quick.

The grinder is large too, meaning you have plenty of choice in how much you want to grind at once. You can grind up to 70g of coffee beans quickly for maximum output, or you can opt to grind smaller amounts for maximum flavour and freshness.

And perhaps our favourite part about this grinder is just how easy it is to use. With the push of one button, you can create the perfect consistency, using the clear lid to decide the thickness of your grind.

A brand that’s dominating the charts
Uniform grind

Easy-to-use one button system
Excellent customer ratings and reviews

Cons:

It can be noisy

No products found.

5. Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Electric Coffee Grinder with Multi Settings

No products found.

If you’re particularly budget conscious, this could be the coffee bean grinder for you. It’s available at what we would argue is a bargain price.

It comes from one of the biggest brands in coffee machines, established since 1970. It’s also currently one of the more prominent bestselling burr grinders with the leading online retailers. And comes with excellent customer ratings and reviews.

Despite its modest dimensions, it can make enough ground coffee for 4 to 12 cups of coffee at a time. Once the coffee beans are in place, you simply select how many cups you want and at what setting, and the machine will take care of the rest.

The lid features a very wide opening, so you won’t get much mess. And talking of mess, there’s also an integrated chamber maid cleaning system that will sweep the chamber’s walls to get rid of any excess waste. Then you can remove the chamber completely and put it straight in the dishwasher.

The only real drawback, if you can call it that, is that it only offers 3 settings, including a coarse grind, a medium grind, and a medium/fine grind…

But if you already know you only want to use it for your French Press, this is fine – you just need to set it for a coarse grind, and you’ll get the perfect coffee for your French Press every time.

The other two settings are great for those automatic drip coffee makers, but you don’t have to worry about getting the Mr Coffee brand ones, it will suit any brand.

It also features cord storage, so you can keep your kitchen worktop looking really neat when it’s not in use.

It comes backed by a limited 1-year manufacturer warranty, which is always good to know.

Pros:

Bargain, affordable price point
A prominent bestseller with retailers

Comes from a well-established brand
Only three settings to be concerned about
Integrated chamber maid cleaning system

Backed by a 1-year manufacturer warranty

Cons:

It’s a blade grinder rather than a burr one (more on that in our buying guide later)

No products found.

Buyer’s Guide

As promised, here’s your buying guide. It will walk you through everything you might want to think about before you buy.

Blade Grinder Vs Burr Grinders

Your first decision will be whether to go for a blade or a burr coffee bean grinder…

Blade grinders work kinda like a food blender with blades at the bottom that offers fast grinding but results in uneven coffee grounds. As well as being faster, they are also generally more affordable.

Burr grinders come in two different types, flat or conical. They feature a burr mill, made up of two revolving burrs, and the coffee beans get crushed between the moving grinder wheel and a non-moving surface.

Burr grinders are generally more expensive than their blade grinder counterparts, but they are favored by connoisseurs for their consistency and quality. If you have the budget to do so, we would recommend going with a burr grinder.

Conical Vs Flat Burr Grinder

Conical burr grinders feature a cone-shaped center burr combined with an outer serrated burr. They are the industry standard, and they consistently produce well-ground coffee.

But, unfortunately, they don’t produce as evenly ground coffee as a flat burr grinder. These grinders feature two doughnut shaped burrs that face each other, and the beans are ground between them. They produce a much more one-note flavour.

But then flat burrs are not without their faults, they are louder than their conical counterparts, and use up more energy and heat. So there is no clear winner here.

Electric Vs Manual Grinders

Hand grinders are very simple to use, can produce a consistent grind size (you’ll want coarse grain for your French Press), and they’re typically more affordable than their electric counterparts.

Electric burr grinders on the other hand are more convenient, and can handle a much larger volume of coffee beans. If you have the budget, why not go for an electrical one?

Capacity

If you have several coffee lovers in your household, you would be better off having an electric grinder than a manual one, since electric grinders will have a larger capacity.

Number of Grind Settings

To be honest, you don’t really need a lot of different settings on your grinder if you are only using it in conjunction with your French Press. So long as there’s a coarse grind option, that’s all you need. Though, it is nice to have other options if you ever fancy a change.

Brand

There’s a lot to be said for buying from a household name. You can depend on such appliances to be reliable, and do what they’re supposed to do.

Value for Money

Now, if there’s anything that varies in price, it’s coffee grinders. You can get some that cost as little as £14 or so, while others at the premium end can cost circa £250. That’s quite a difference. So our advice to you is to make a point of checking the prices as you go along.

When you learn what your money can buy you, you can make a well-informed decision about how much your budget should be.

For anyone looking for the most affordable good quality coffee grinder around, we can recommend our number 5 pick, the Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Electric Coffee Grinder.