Grind Glossary and Terminology
Blade Grinder: Device that uses a blade to grind coffee.
Burr Grinder: Coffee grinder with two shredding discs or burrs that can be adjusted for maximum effectiveness. The recommended type of grinder for proper espresso making. A burr grinder features two disks, one stationary, one rotating, which slice away portions of a coffee bean into very fine particles.
Coffee Grinder: A device that is used to grind whole coffee beans into a suitable size for brewing. Manually operated coffee grinders require that a hand crank be turned in order to move blades that grind the coffee beans. Electric models are available that do the job more quickly and may be more convenient to use.
Doser: A spring-loaded device on specialized espresso grinders that dispenses single servings of ground coffee.
Grind: The process of breaking solid food items into smaller particles. Special equipment is available to grind different types of food such as a meat grinder for meat, a coffee grinder for coffee beans, a pepper mill for grinding peppercorns, and a food processor, which is used to grind many different types of food.
Hopper: refers to the part of a coffee grinder that holds coffee beans.
Tamper: In espresso brewing, the small, pestle-like device with a round, flat end used to distribute and compress the ground coffee inside the filter basket.
