The 5 Best Coffee Grinders For Pour Over

There’s nothing quite like that morning cup of coffee, and it’s worth taking the time to figure out how to make it as tasty as your coffee shop’s brews. The best coffee grinder for pour over is a burr grinder capable of a consistent medium-fine to medium-coarse grind; it’s a must-have for freshly and properly ground coffee.

Conical Vs. Flat Burr Grinders

The best coffee grinder is a burr-style one. Unlike blade grinders, a burr grinder crushes beans to a uniform size. Choose a conical burr for a quieter machine that allows for more precision and control over your grind; a flat burr grinder is easier for beginners to get a consistent grind from the start, but they do retain more heat.

Blade Material & Grind Size

The burr grinder’s material isn’t as important as these other factors but you may consider the benefits of a ceramic burr grinder versus a stainless steel one: stainless steel blades are sharper and more affordable initially while ceramic blades stay sharper longer and produce the most full-body taste and mouthfeel, but they can prove to be brittle if something other than coffee beans ends up in the machine.

You'll also want to make sure the grinder you're eyeing can achieve the appropriate grind size for your pour over setup, since a consistent grind size is key to a better cup of coffee at home. Your preferred coffee drink and brewing method will dictate what kind of grind you need so the beans aren’t overextracted or underextracted; a Chemex coffee maker calls for a medium-coarse brew, while cone-shaped pour-over brewers do best with a medium or medium-fine grind.

Electric Vs. Manual

Electric grinders are more convenient and more expensive, while manual hand-crank grinders are portable, compact, and affordable but require some elbow grease that’s best suited to smaller quantities of coffee.

Investing in one of the best coffee grinders is one of those things you'll wish you'd done sooner once you try it. Each of my five picks below offers the right grind for your pour-over, and my top pick comes highly rated one on Amazon with thousands of reviews.

1. The Overall Best Electric Coffee Grinder

Here's the best electric coffee grinder to start with for a better cup of pour-over coffee. This model features a conical steel burr grinder with 40 grind settings from very fine to coarse. The consistent grind results can be used for the pour-over method, as well as Aeropress, automatic brewers, and French press.

This highly rated pick, with over 5,000 reviews on Amazon, is a favorite in part for its ease of use and slim design. I use this Baratza grinder every morning, and my coffee has been better ever since I got it. I love that it reliably grinds coffee beans to a uniform size and there was basically no learning curve to using it.

A helpful review: “After 5 years of using a $40 burr grinder, it broke down and we replaced it with a Baratza upgrade. I had trouble justifying the expense, but having tasted the results, the purchase was more than vindicated. The grinder is quieter and produces a more uniform grind. [...] The consistency in flavor between cups is much closer than before. Most strikingly, the flavor profile of the same coffee we were drinking before went through the roof. Suddenly, our simple morning pour-over is on par with my favorite coffee shops in town. Possibly better. It's made me extremely excited about experimenting with different coffee sources in the future. It was the fastest, easiest way to make an extreme improvement to your morning cup. I wish that I had done this years ago.”

2. The Runner Up

OXO's electric coffee grinder uses a stainless steel conical burr to produce fine to coarsely ground coffee with 15 settings (plus micro settings). The polished finish on the base of this pick also looks good enough to leave out on the counter.

With nearly 4,000 reviews, one reviewer commented, "the consistency of the grind for my pour-over was perfect...My morning cup of Joe is better than ever!"

A helpful review: “It's a great coffee grinder if you want freshly ground coffee for your pour over or french press! [...] It is easy to clean. The time setting can easily [be] dialed in so you grind just the perfect amount of coffee with a single push of a button. It's relatively quiet (for a coffee grinder), I grind coffee before my family gets up and it does not wake anybody up. It holds a good amount of beans. No real cons. For the price it's a great value.”

3. The Best On A Budget

The best budget coffee grinder offers a flat burr at a price point more in line with blade grinders. This pick features 12 grind settings from fine to coarse, so it'll cover pour-overs and other brewing methods, too. Keep in mind this electric pick uses a grinder made of metal, but not steel, so it isn't as high-quality as some others on this list yet it's one worth considering for less than half the price of the next most affordable grinder of my picks.

With a simple on-and-off button, this machine automatically stops when the grinding cycle is finished.

A helpful review: “So far I'm very pleased with this little machine. I wanted a small grind & brew for days when I don't have time to use my big grinder and pour-over pot, and this is perfect for that. I also wanted a burr grinder, so this ticks that box for me. I'm still figuring out the proportions that work best for me, but a couple of tries should accomplish that. This is not programmable, but it's not a big deal because this brews VERY quickly and the coffee is ready in no time. I read reviews about this being difficult to clean, but I find it very EASY to take apart and clean, so I'm happy with that. All in all, I think it's a very nice little grind & brew. It's also compact and very attractive, so it doesn't take up much space. I can definitely recommend it.”

4. Worth The Splurge: The Best Pro-Level Coffee Grinder At Home

Now if you're ready to go all in with your home coffee setup, consider adding this pro-level coffee grinder to your kitchen. This electric grinder comes with a ceramic flat burr you can set to a whopping 230 grind settings. This pick is powerful enough for even light commercial use, and with the widest range of grind settings on this list you can use it for any brewing method, including pour-over. The grinder comes with a heavy-duty metal portaholder you can use to grind directly into a portafilter for espresso.

Brewing your coffee will be more convenient thanks to three programmable preset options, and this machine has a built-in timer on a digital control panel with an easy-to-read LED display. This level of grinder is an investment designed to last for many years.

A helpful review: “[...] A little over a year has passed since my purchase, and I am immensely satisfied. It is quiet, consistent, compact, durable, and versatile--all of the qualities you're looking for in a grinder. I use it at least twice a day for french press, pour-over, or espresso. In comparative tests with my friend's burr grinders, there is unquestionably more flavor. Even my Dad's novice taste buds notice the difference. A great product for people who care about their coffee.”

5. The Best Portable Coffee Grinder

Whether you love the artisanal element or you're short on space (or travel frequently), you may prefer to have a quality portable coffee grinder on hand. This pick is backed by over 6,000 reviews and features a conical ceramic burr powered manually with a hand crank.

The grinder offers a full range of grind sizes, from fine to coarse, and this model results in a more uniform grind thanks to a reinforced grind shaft and burr stabilization plate. A non-slip rubber base keeps it steady during grinding, and the ergonomic crank handle detaches for storage. It's worth mentioning you're not sacrificing uniformity or power by going low-tech, and as Blue Bottle Coffee reported on this model, "the quality of the grind is unsurpassed by electric grinders that cost ten times as much."

A helpful review: “This grinder performs on par with electronic grinders of the $100-$200 range. It has blissfully few parts, and many fewer ways to break than it's electronic cousins. You adjust the grind with a simple screw so you can get exactly the grind you're looking for— a "coarse" for every man, no one for all. Does equally well with coarse grind for french press, finer for pour-over, and very fine for espresso. The effort? Quite simple to use, and grind a lot of beans — I use less than 30 seconds for my french press, and probably under 1 minute for my pour-over/drip - less time than my water takes to boil. Very akin to a mechanical pencil sharpener or manual charge flashlight. [...]”