Breville · Dial-in chart
Breville Barista Express (built-in) grind settings
Where to set the Breville Barista Express (built-in) for every common brew method — worked out from this grinder’s own dial curve rather than a one-size-fits-all chart.
The shape of this dial
The top line is the universal grind index every BrewMark recipe uses. The bottom line is the Barista Express (built-in)’s own dial. The connectors show how one maps onto the other.
Settings by brew method
Start at the recommended setting, brew, then move within the range by taste. Sour or weak means go finer; bitter or harsh means go coarser.
| Method | Setting | Range |
|---|---|---|
| EspressoFine. Aim for a 25–30s shot and adjust from there. | 3.7 | 2.8 – 4.9 |
| Moka potFiner than filter, coarser than espresso. No tamping. | 5.4 | 4.9 – 6.2 |
| AeroPress (short steep)For 1–2 minute recipes. Go coarser for longer steeps. | 6.9 | 6.2 – 7.9 |
| Pour over — V60 / coneThe reference point for most published pour-over recipes. | 8.7 | 8 – 9.4 |
| Pour over — flat bottomKalita, Orea and similar. Slightly coarser than a cone. | 9.4 | 8.9 – 10.1 |
| Drip / batch brewAutomatic brewers. Coarser to suit the longer contact time. | 9.9 | 9.4 – 10.6 |
| ChemexThe thick filter needs a coarser grind to avoid stalling. | 10.6 | 10.1 – 11.3 |
| French pressCoarse. Too fine here is the usual cause of a muddy cup. | 11.8 | 11.2 – 12.5 |
| Cold brewCoarsest setting you have. 12–18 hours of contact. | 13.2 | 12.5 – 14.2 |
How much room you have to adjust
That is the resolution you actually have to work with on the Barista Express (built-in). Where the number is small, a single step moves the cup more than you would expect — so change one at a time and taste before moving again.
Dialing in the Barista Express (built-in)
The grinder built into the Barista Express, tuned around that machine's basket rather than as a general-purpose grinder. It has a narrower usable range than a standalone unit, and the internal burr adjustment matters as much as the outer dial for reaching a proper espresso grind.
Coming from another grinder?
Convert a grind setting to the Barista Express (built-in)
If a recipe quotes a setting for a different grinder, this maps it onto the Barista Express (built-in)’s dial using the same curve the chart above is built from.
Converting between two grinders that are not this one? Open the full converter.
How these numbers were worked out
Every grinder gets mapped onto a shared 0–100 grind index, where 0 is espresso-fine and 100 is the coarsest useful setting. Five reference points on the Barista Express (built-in) are placed on that scale — espresso, moka, filter, French press and coarse — and the settings in between are interpolated.
Being straight about where the Barista Express (built-in)’s numbers come from: they were entered from published charts and community reports when the catalog was built, but no per-model source was recorded at the time, so we cannot show you the working the way we can for the 1Zpresso models. They are consistent with every comparable grinder we do have a source for, and they are a starting point rather than a specification.
Because the Barista Express (built-in) uses conical burrs, the curve between those points is fitted with a monotone cubic spline rather than straight lines. Conical burr dials are rarely linear, and the spline guarantees the curve never doubles back — a coarser index always produces a coarser setting.
The result is that “medium-fine” resolves to a real number on this grinder rather than a vague instruction. It is a starting point, not a guarantee — burr wear, bean density and roast level all move the target, which is why every row above gives a range as well as a number.
Free wall chart
Put the Barista Express (built-in) numbers next to the grinder
Every method on one sheet, laid out on the Barista Express (built-in)’s own dial so you can see where the settings bunch up. Print it, pin it, stop reaching for your phone with wet hands.
Or have the Barista Express (built-in) chart emailed
The same settings, sent once, for when you are standing at the grinder and nowhere near a printer.
One email with the chart. Nothing else unless you ask.
Make these numbers yours
This chart is the same for every Barista Express (built-in) in the world. Log what you actually brewed and it stops being — the app remembers the setting that worked for your beans and shifts the starting point toward it. Free on iOS.
Get the iOS appCompare the Barista Express (built-in)
Side-by-side dial charts and a conversion table, so a recipe written for one grinder becomes a real number on the other.
Grinders that dial in like this one
Similar burrs, scale or dial range — which means settings translate between them more predictably than across the whole catalog.