QUESTION: Does finer grind make stronger coffee? I like my coffee very strong. — Vivian A
ANSWER: Do more finely ground coffee beans will make you a stronger cup of coffee? Not exactly, although your brewed coffee will taste stronger when you grind the coffee more finely. This may seem to be a bit of a contradictory statement, so let us explain what we mean a bit.
How the Grind Sets Coffee’s Steep Time and Flavor Extraction
When you grind your coffee, the coarseness or fineness of the grind determines the extraction. More coarsely ground beans are in larger pieces, while finer ground beans are better blended, smoother, and may even seem powdery. The more finely you grind your coffee, the more surface area the water you use has to work on the beans. A finer grind equals a higher level of flavor extraction, requiring less time for the coffee to steep, but it also slows down how quickly the water passes through the beans, actually increasing how long the water is in contact with your coffee.
A more coarsely ground bean will make for under-extracted coffee because the grind actually determines how long your coffee will steep. Grinding coffee more finely means your coffee will end up steeping longer to extract the coffee oils into the water. So the level of grind you use should actually be determined by your coffee setup and how long it should take for the water to move through the brewing process.
But if you grind your coffee more finely than is appropriate for your preparation method, therefore steeping your beans longer than is necessary, the flavors in your cup will change, too. Your over-extracted, more finely ground coffee will not only taste stronger—it could be bitter-tasting or gritty as well. The more bitter flavors in your coffee especially will turn out more pronounced if the grind on your beans is too fine and the coffee gets over-extracted.
How Grind and Extraction Change Your Coffee’s Taste
Coffee that’s ground too finely will steep for longer than it needs to, and in addition to those bitter or gritty flavors, it may develop an aftertaste that seems burnt, or a too-dark flavor. On the other hand, grinding the same bean too coarsely causes too quick a steeping time and will result in watery, weak coffee that’s imbalanced in a whole other way. It may even taste sour.
How Coffee Strength or Weakness Is Determined
The strength of your coffee, when the brew is steeped correctly and the flavors are properly balanced, is determined by the beans themselves: their acidity, the type of bean and region it came from, and the level of roast on the bean. Within the recommended grind level for your brewing setup, you can adjust the grind finer to make those flavors stronger, but going too far out of that range will ruin the taste of your brew.
The exception is when it comes to extracting caffeine from your coffee beans. In that case, the more finely ground your beans are, the more caffeine they will release to the water. In the sense of caffeination, a finer grind does result in stronger coffee, while a coarser grind will brew a weaker cup.
How to Grind Coffee Beans Using Various Preparation Methods
Here’s the recommended level of grind for several different ways of preparing coffee.
Drip Coffee Maker: Coarse grind
Espresso Machine: Fine grind
French Press: Coarse grind to medium grind (but err on the side of coarser)
Pour-Over Coffee: Medium-coarse grind
Siphon Coffee Maker: Medium grind
Stovetop Espresso: Fine grind
Turkish Coffee: Extra fine grind
We hope that’s clarified the matter of whether a finer grind makes for stronger coffee. In short, yes, there will be more caffeine in coffee that’s more finely ground. And while a finer grind will result in coffee that does have a stronger taste, it isn’t simply a matter of dialing up the flavors that would normally be present in your cup. Over-extracting your coffee by using a grind that’s finer than recommended for your preparation method can result in undesirable bitter or burnt flavors in your brew. True flavor strength is determined by the flavor of the beans and the level of roast on them. However, you are free to adjust the strength or weakness of your coffee’s flavor by adjusting the grind within the specifications recommended for your brewing setup, which we’ve listed above.
Learn More About the Intricacies of Coffee Grind Options
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/coffee-grind-size-why-it-matters-and-what-you-should-be-using/
https://grosche.ca/coffee-grind-chart/
https://www.javapresse.com/blogs/grinding-coffee/brew-better-coffee-adjusting-coffee-grind-size