Part 1: The Grind is Real: Unlock Your Coffee’s Flavor

Unlock the secret to café-quality coffee at home. In this episode of La Taza Habla, host Don Cox sits down with his high school friend and grinding expert Gary Horn, founder of GH Grinding and Brewing Solutions, to demystify one of the most overlooked steps in coffee brewing: the grind. For anyone frustrated by the difference between their home brew and a barista-made cup, this episode is a game-changer. Don and Gary break down complex coffee science and bean to cup theory into simple, actionable steps. They reveal why a uniform grind is essential for proper flavor extraction and introduce a simple visual check—the "bed of coffee"—that can tell you everything you need to know about your grind without any fancy gear. Learn how the right coffee grinding technique can enhance flavors like chocolate and florals, proving that it's not about the hype, but what's in your cup. Whether you're a seasoned home brewer or just starting your journey, this episode will fundamentally change the way you think about and prepare your daily specialty coffee.

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5 Takeaways

• The Grinder is a Game-Changer: Grinding is one of the most critical and misunderstood parts of brewing. It directly impacts how flavors are extracted and can make or break a cup of coffee, even with excellent beans.

• Uniformity is Everything: The key to a great grind isn't just the size, but the consistency. A quality grinder uses "burrs" to slice beans into uniform pieces, unlike a blade grinder that shatters them unevenly.

• Learn to See Your Grind: You don't need a microscope to know if your grind is correct. For drip coffee, the grounds should look like coarse sand, not baking powder or large pebbles.

• The "Bed of Coffee" is Your Visual Guide: After brewing, look at the layer of grounds left in your filter. If the "bed" is flat and even, you're on the right track. If it’s concave or lopsided, you’re likely experiencing "channeling," where water flows unevenly and ruins the flavor.

• It's Not About the Hype: You don't need expensive equipment or rare, top-shelf beans to brew an excellent cup. Focusing on fundamentals like grinding, good water, and proper temperature will get you 90% of the way there.

3 Questions

1. What's one thing you're going to change about your grinding routine after listening to this episode?

2. Have you ever checked the "bed of coffee" in your filter? What did it look like?

3. What's one flavor note you always try to find in your coffee (e.g., chocolate, fruit, floral)?

Glossary

Grind Size (Microns)

A precise way of measuring how fine or coarse coffee grounds are. Think of it this way: espresso grounds are very fine (150–250 microns), similar to powdered sugar, while drip coffee grounds are much coarser (600–800 microns), like coarse sand.

Burrs 

The essential cutting surfaces inside a grinder. Burrs (not blades!) are designed to slice coffee beans into consistently sized pieces, which is crucial for even extraction. They can be either flat or conical.

Extraction 

This is the magical process where hot water pulls out the flavors, oils, and aromas from the ground coffee. The goal is a balanced extraction—if your grind is too fine, the coffee can be over-extracted and taste bitter. If it's too coarse, it can be under-extracted and taste sour.

Bed of Coffee 

The flat, level layer of used coffee grounds that remains in your filter after brewing is complete. It acts as a visual guide to your grind. A level bed suggests that the water flowed evenly through the grounds.

Channeling 

When water flows unevenly through the coffee grounds, it creates "channels" or paths. This leads to some parts of the coffee bed being over-extracted and others being under-extracted, resulting in a weak, imbalanced flavor. An uneven or concave "bed of coffee" is a tell-tale sign of channeling.

Surface Area 

The total exposed area of the coffee grounds. When you grind coffee, you exponentially increase its surface area, which allows the water to extract flavors more quickly. A finer grind has more surface area, leading to faster extraction.