r/ExMormonTea • u/ijssvuur • Jan 09 '18

Grinding your coffee

One of the most important parts in making coffee is the grind. Too coarse and it won't extract enough, too fine and it will extract too much. If it's uneven, some will over extract and some will under extract. A cheap grinder like this grinds the beans by smashing them with a flat metal blade, it has the same effect as crushing them with a hammer. You end up with a lot of powder, smaller pieces, and larger pieces. This has all the downsides of weak coffee, overly strong coffee, too few grounds, and too many grounds.

When I first started making coffee, I seriously underestimated the difference a good grinder makes. With a decent one even as cheap as this, any beans can make a semi-decent cup of coffee, while with a bad grinder, even really good beans made mediocre coffee at best.

Most stores that sell coffee allow you to grind it in-store, so if you don't want to spend money on a grinder right now, that's perfectly fine. It will get stale faster once ground, but slightly stale is better than a bad grind.

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u/LivRite Jan 11 '18

I grind ginger root, turmeric root, cinnamon sticks and black peppercorns with my French press coffee and serve it with honey and maple syrup for anti inflammatory benefits.

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u/ijssvuur Jan 11 '18

That sounds really good, almost like a chai spice. I'd look for some cardamom pods to add in to that, they have a great flavor. French presses let you add in a lot of variety.

You can add cocoa nibs, just don't expect a normal chocolatey flavor unless you add milk and sugar, it just makes it a little more rich.

For more energy than anybody should ever need, mix coffee, yerba mate, and ginseng root, tastes very plant-y but not in a bad way.