Find your starting point.

What the grind changes

Grinding exposes more of the bean to water. Finer grounds usually extract faster and create more resistance to flow. Coarser grounds usually extract more slowly and allow water through more easily. Brew time, temperature, water, and roast also affect the result.

A conical burr grinder crushes beans between two burr surfaces. Adjusting the gap changes particle size. A numbered dial helps you return to your own reference; it does not make a setting transferable to every grinder.

Start with your brew method

Espresso generally needs a fine grind. Pour-over often starts around medium to medium-fine, depending on the brewer, filter, dose, and recipe. Immersion brewing often starts medium-coarse, but longer contact time allows a wider range.

These are relative starting points, not a click chart. Dial numbers help you record and revisit your own settings; they do not translate directly between grinders, beans, or recipes. Follow your brewer’s recipe first, then adjust by taste.

Keep the recipe steady. Change one thing. Taste again.

Let taste guide the next adjustment

If the cup tastes sharp and thin, try a small step finer while keeping dose, water, and technique steady. If it tastes harsh or drying, a small step coarser may help. These are useful clues, not diagnoses: channeling, roast level, and water chemistry can produce similar flavors.

Note the bean, dose, setting, brew time, and what you tasted. A simple record makes your next brew easier to adjust.

Use the dial gently

Follow the grinder manual for adjustment direction and reference position. Never force the dial past its stop or crank the handle with the burrs locked together. Empty the grinder before large adjustments and make small changes between brews.

For the different demands of brewing under gravity and pressure, read Pour-over vs espresso.