Grind Size Guide
Pick your brew method to see how fine or coarse to grind, what it should feel like, and which way to move the grinder when your brew runs too fast or too slow.
Your brew
All methods on one scale
V60 / pour-over · Medium-fine to medium
500–800 µm
Approximate. Feels like sea salt or coarse sand.
On target
Keep your grind
Your timing is where you want it. If the taste is off, change another variable first, such as temperature, ratio, or pouring.
Treat drawdown time as feedback, not a pass mark. Pour technique and filter also change the flow, so fix those first if the timing swings.
Sizes are approximate and are BeanHub's guidance, not a standard. The same dial number gives different results on different grinders, and even two units of the same model can differ. Use this as a starting point, then adjust by taste and timing.
Finer slows, coarser speeds up
Finer grounds resist water more and expose more surface, so the brew runs slower and extracts more. Coarser does the opposite.
Time is feedback
Use the time in your recipe as a clue, not a pass mark. If the cup tastes good, the grind is right, whatever the clock says.
Change one thing at a time
Move the grinder one small step, brew again, and taste. Changing grind, dose and temperature together hides what worked.
How to read these ranges
The micron ranges below are BeanHub's approximate guidance. They are not lab measurements of a particular grinder or an industry standard, and published ranges for the same method vary between sources. Ground coffee is always a mix of sizes, so each range describes the typical bulk of the grounds, not a single particle. The order of methods and the category names match the starting points in our Recipe Builder and our Indonesian article on grind size.
| Method | Category | Size (approx.) | Feels like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso | Fine | 200–400 µm | Between table salt and fine sand, slightly gritty but not powder |
| Moka pot | Medium-fine to fine | 300–500 µm | Like fine sand, a little coarser than espresso |
| AeroPress | Medium-fine | 400–700 µm | Like table salt to fine sand |
| V60 / pour-over | Medium-fine to medium | 500–800 µm | Like sea salt or coarse sand |
| Kalita Wave | Medium-fine to medium | 550–850 µm | Like sea salt, slightly coarser than a V60 grind |
| Chemex | Medium to medium-coarse | 700–1000 µm | Like kosher salt or raw sugar |
| French press | Medium-coarse to coarse | 900–1300 µm | Like coarse sea salt or breadcrumbs |
| Cold brew | Medium-coarse to coarse | 1000–1400 µm | Like coarse sea salt to cracked pepper |
| Tubruk / Turkish | Fine to medium | 150–500 µm | From powdery flour to fine sand, depending on how you like the body |
- Grinder settings are not converted here, because the same number means different things on different grinders.
- Roast level, freshness, water temperature and brewer shape all change how fast a given grind drains.
- All drawings on this page are original vector graphics made for BeanHub. No photographs are used, so there are no third-party image rights to clear.
Still not tasting right?
The Brew Troubleshooter maps sour, bitter and weak cups to the likely fix, grind included.