One grinder step, two cups

Set up a fair comparison

What you need

One coffee bag, the same grinder and brewer, matching filters, a scale, kettle, timer and two identical tasting cups. Allow at least 40 g coffee plus any grinder purge you normally need.

The factor you change

Grinder setting. A: Your usual working grind. B: One small step finer.

What to keep consistent

Use the same coffee, water source, 20 g dose, 320 g input water, 93°C kettle setting, filter preparation, bloom and pouring pattern. Hold the timing convention fixed; do not force the same final drawdown time.

These are planned settings. Template durations are editable placeholders, not targets to force or measured results. For espresso the water/yield field means collected espresso; otherwise it means input water.

Setup saves two recipes only, without changing existing recipes, creating brew records or deducting stock. Choose a bean bag and confirm usage separately when recording each brew. Local storage details.

Run the comparison

1. Write the grinder model and baseline setting before grinding. Replace the placeholder setting in each journal recipe with your actual dial position; no universal grinder number is assumed.
2. Brew A with 20 g coffee and 320 g input water. Use your usual repeatable pour, and record time from first wetting to your chosen end-of-drainage point.
3. Move only one small grinder step finer for B. Purge consistently if needed and note the extra beans separately. Repeat the same water targets and pouring pattern.
4. Let both samples approach a similar drinking temperature. Record sweetness, acidity, bitterness, dryness and body before choosing a preference.
5. Repeat the pair on another occasion, reversing brew order. If the difference disappears, report that rather than selecting a winner from one pair.

Record what actually happened

Actual dial positions, pour timestamps, final collected mass, drawdown duration, cup temperature or cooling interval and descriptive taste notes.

Use the unfilled table below as a prompt. To retain your own observations, download the blank CSV sheet or save A and B as separate brew records in My brews. Text typed into a downloaded file stays in that file; it is not synchronized to the journal.

This download contains labels and blank observation cells, not fabricated sample outcomes.

Interpret without overclaiming

Longer drawdown can accompany a finer setting, but it does not establish greater or more even extraction. Compare taste and flow together. If the bed stalls or the cup becomes both sour and dry, examine preparation rather than continuing to grind finer.

What this cannot establish

A small dial change is grinder-specific and may not change particle size uniformly. Retention, fines, pouring variation and brewing order can obscure an effect. Two cups cannot establish a universal best setting.

Choose the next test

If you prefer one cup in repeated pairs, use that setting as the next baseline. Keep dose and water fixed for the next trial.

In the journal, select the actual A and B records and check dates before drawing a conclusion. The paired comparison link uses the latest saved record for each experiment recipe; it is not a statistical test and may select different sessions. A repeated pair with reversed preparation order is more informative than a single cup, but it still describes your coffee and conditions.