Coffee Grinders
every burr grinder we track, electric and hand-cranked, one row each. sort by burr size to see who brings the big cutting surface, or filter down to the stepless single-dosers if you dial in espresso every morning. the espresso column is the maker's own claim, so check the notes before you trust it with a real basket.
the write-up: Best Coffee Grinders 2026, Compared: 20 Burr Grinders for Espresso and Filter →
 1Zpresso JX-Pro | 8.0 The all-rounder hand grinder: fast, consistent and easy to dial for espresso via its external 12.5-micron clicks, just heavy and bulky to travel with. | Conical | 48 mm | External dial, 40 clicks per turn at 12.5 microns per click. | Hand grinder: you load one dose at a time (30-35 g). | Manual | |
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 Baratza Encore | 7.5 The long-running, repairable starter burr grinder that nails drip and French press; slow and no timer, and not for espresso. | Conical | 40 mm | Baratza rates it 2 of 5 for espresso and recommends it for filter. | Electric | ||
 Baratza Encore ESP | 8.3 Cheap entry to real espresso with a sensible fine range and Baratza's parts-and-repair support, though output clumps and the body is all plastic. | Conical | 40 mm | 40 steps: 1-20 are fine micro steps for espresso, 21-40 macro steps for filter. | Electric | ||
 Baratza Sette 270 | 7.0 Very fast, near-zero-retention espresso grinding into the portafilter, offset by loud operation and a history of gearbox wear. | Conical | 40 mm | Built for espresso through fine pour-over; not for French press or cold brew coarseness. | Hybrid: 30 stepped macro settings plus a stepless micro ring. | Electric | |
 Baratza Vario+ | 7.8 Flat-burr espresso texture and very fine stepped control in a compact body, but timed dosing, static and some setting-drift reports cost it. | Flat Ceramic flat burrs stock per the manual; steel burrs are an upgrade. | 54 mm | Macro and micro levers, about 230 stepped positions in total. | Electric | ||
 Baratza Virtuoso+ | 6.9 A nicer-finished Encore with a digital timer, dependable for drip and pour-over, but you pay a lot extra for the same 40 coarse steps. | Conical | 40 mm | 40 steps covering 250-1200 microns, so espresso dialing is coarse. | Electric | ||
 Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Coffee Grinder | 6.0 Decent consistency for the price and a static-cutting glass catcher, but it's loud, messy and has a limited adjustment range. | Conical | 35 mm 35 mm per Whole Latte Love's spec table; Bodum doesn't publish it. | Bodum says espresso to French press; TechGearLab suggests pressurized baskets. | Electric | ||
 Breville Dose Control Pro | 6.3 Smart Grinder Pro burrs in a cheaper, plainer body, but 2-3 g retention, a 1-second timer and no grounds bin make the step up worth it. | Conical | 40 mm Not published by Breville; CoffeeGeek says it shares the Smart Grinder Pro's burrs (40 mm per Coffee Review). | Electric | |||
 Breville Smart Grinder Pro | 8.4 The value benchmark for real espresso: most consistent in Coffee Review's mid-range test at a budget price, with a fussy dosing menu as the main gripe. | Conical | 40 mm Breville doesn't publish it; 40 mm per Coffee Review's lab review. | 60 steps, plus an internal adjustment on the upper burr. | Electric | ||
 Capresso Infinity Conical Burr Grinder | 5.2 A quiet, slow budget burr grinder that's fine for drip, but TechGearLab found poor consistency and its chute holds onto grounds. | Conical | – Capresso doesn't publish a burr diameter. | 16 steps in four groups of four. | Electric | ||
 Comandante C40 MK4 | 8.6 The reference hand grinder: German build, superb consistency and decades of service, held back only by its price and coarse-ish clicks for espresso. | Conical | 39 mm 39 mm per retailers; Comandante's own pages don't state the diameter. | Stepped clicks, about 30 microns each; the Red Clix add-on halves that. | Hand grinder: you load one dose at a time. | Manual | |
 Cuisinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill | 4.8 A cheap, hugely popular step up from a blade grinder for drip, but loud, messy with static, and not fine enough for real espresso. | Flat | – Cuisinart doesn't publish a burr diameter. | Cuisinart says ultra-fine for espresso; TechGearLab couldn't get a decent shot from it. | Electric | ||
 De'Longhi Dedica Conical Burr Grinder | 5.4 Low retention and convenient dosing, but only 18 steps and not fine enough for real espresso baskets without a warranty-risking shim. | Conical | – De'Longhi doesn't publish a burr diameter. | Kaffeemacher found it too coarse for unpressurized baskets as shipped; fine with pressurized ones. | Electric | ||
 Eureka Mignon Specialita | 8.7 A quiet, consistent Italian workhorse with fine stepless control, the hopper grinder to buy if you pull espresso every morning and rarely switch. | Flat | 55 mm | Hopper grinder (300 g); a single-dose hopper is sold separately. | Electric | ||
 Fellow Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2 | 7.6 A quiet, low-static single-dose grinder with great pour-over clarity, but it is filter-only and expensive for that, with some jam reports. | Flat | 64 mm | Fellow says Ode is not intended for espresso. | 11 settings with 31 total steps. | Electric | |
 KitchenAid Burr Coffee Grinder | 5.8 Quiet, tidy and easy to use, but pricey for a grinder with unpublished burrs and no independent proof it handles unpressurized espresso. | Conical | – KitchenAid doesn't publish a burr diameter. | 70 steps; the manual maps 55-70 to espresso. | Electric | ||
 Niche Zero | 9.2 The single-dose benchmark: near-zero retention, one dial from espresso to filter, and a reputation for simply working for years. Sold direct only. | Conical | 63 mm | Stepless dial, numbered 0-50 for reference. | Kaffeemacher measured about 0.2 g retention per single dose. | Electric | |
 OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder | 6.6 Easy, cheap and fine at medium and coarse grinds, but inconsistent at the extremes, and CoffeeGeek dropped it from its 2026 budget list. | Conical | 40 mm | OXO says 'fine for espresso'; CoffeeGeek and Homes & Gardens say it isn't a real espresso grinder. | 15 settings plus micro settings. | Electric | |
 Timemore Chestnut C3 | 7.2 Excellent value for filter and French press with fast, consistent coarse grinds, but small capacity and marginal espresso range. | Conical | 38 mm | Timemore claims espresso; Home Coffee Expert found few usable fine settings. The C3 ESP variant is the espresso model. | Hand grinder: you load one dose at a time (up to about 30 g). | Manual | |
 Turin DF64 Gen 2 | 8.2 Big flat burrs and excellent cups for the money now that Gen 2 fixed the mess and static, but it's loud and long-term durability is unproven. | Flat | 64 mm Standard 64 mm flat burrs, swappable for aftermarket sets. | Bellows top, about 50 g capacity. Current production is labeled Gen 2.7. | Electric |
How the AI score works, and who wrote it
A language model rated these, not a test lab. Every score from 1 to 10 is an AI assessment of how good the product is against the other 20 in this comparison, formed from the specifications we verified plus the published lab reviews and owner reception found while researching each one. Nobody at Slopsheets listened to, wore or plugged in any of it.
It weighs the things a spec table cannot show: how a product is actually reviewed, how well the software works, build quality, and what you get for the money. That is deliberate. An earlier version of this column was pure arithmetic on the table and it ranked a bundle of cheap boxes above a class-leading single unit, because counting hardware is not the same as judging it.
Treat it as an informed starting point and read the sourced comparison, not as a verdict. The score is relative to this comparison only, so it means nothing across categories, and it carries no price, star rating or review count. Every specification behind it is sourced and checked; the score on top of them is opinion.
Frequently asked questions
what does burr size actually change?
bigger burrs grind a dose faster and usually run cooler, and they tend to ship with stronger motors and better alignment. size alone doesn't guarantee an even grind: the 39 mm comandante hand grinder beats several larger electric burrs on this sheet.
conical or flat burrs: which should i pick?
between two good grinders, conical burrs lean toward a heavier, textured espresso and flat burrs toward clarity in pour-over. on a budget grinder the label barely matters, since build quality and alignment decide the grind.
what does 'built for single dosing' mean on this sheet?
the grinder is designed for you to weigh one dose, grind all of it and leave nothing behind, instead of keeping a hopper full of beans. hand grinders count, because you load them one dose at a time.
why do some burr sizes say 'not published'?
kitchenaid, de'longhi, capresso and cuisinart don't publish a burr diameter, and we won't guess one. those rows sort to the bottom of the burr size column. where a figure comes from a lab or retailer instead of the maker, the cell note says so.
is a stepless grinder always better?
no. stepless dials help most with espresso, where tiny changes matter. for drip and french press, a stepped grinder with sensible spacing is easier to repeat day to day.
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