Grind Size for Pour Over
So where exactly should you set the grinder? Pour over lives in a medium grind window — coarser than espresso, finer than French press — but the precise target shifts with your dripper, your roast, and your taste. There is no universal number; there is a starting zone and a method for moving within it.
#The Target Window 🪟
A useful mental reference is table salt to coarse sand — distinctly granular, not powdery, not chunky. In practical terms most pour over sits in the medium to medium-fine range, roughly 600–900 microns, though brewers describe it relative to their own grinder rather than in microns. The goal is a grind that lets a full brew run in a sensible total time (commonly 2:30–3:30 for a single cup) without stalling or gushing.
| Reference point | Relative grind |
|---|---|
| French Press | Coarse |
| Chemex | Medium-coarse |
| Kalita Wave | Medium |
| Hario V60 | Medium / medium-fine |
| Espresso | Very fine |
#How It Shifts by Brewer
The brewer's geometry and filter change how fast water drains, so the grind must compensate to keep contact time in range.
- Hario V60 — a fast, open cone with a big single hole. Water races through, so it wants a finer grind (medium / medium-fine) to slow it and reach full extraction.
- Kalita Wave — a flat bed with three small holes that restricts flow. A medium grind suits it; go too fine and it clogs.
- Chemex — uses a thick, restrictive paper filter. A medium-coarse grind keeps the bed from choking against that dense paper.
#How It Shifts by Roast 🔥
Roast level changes both bean structure and how readily it gives up flavor. Lighter roasts are dense and harder to extract, so they generally want a finer grind (and hotter water) to coax out enough. Darker roasts are brittle and extract easily — and shatter into more fines — so they want a coarser grind to avoid bitterness and clogging.
Grinder "click" and micron numbers from a recipe rarely transfer between machines. Burr design, alignment, and wear mean the same setting grinds differently on different grinders. Use any published number as a rough start, then dial in by taste.
#The Real Answer: Dial It In
The window above gets you in the neighborhood; your tongue finds the address. Brew, taste, and adjust grind toward the cup you want — sour pushes finer, bitter pushes coarser. That iterative loop is the whole craft.
#Continue Reading
- Dialing In Grind Size — the taste-and-adjust loop
- Why Grind Size Matters — why this window controls the cup
- Brew Time and Total Contact Time — the timing the grind targets
- Roast Levels for Pour Over — matching grind to roast
- Conical vs Flat Bottom Drippers — how dripper shape drives flow