How to dial in a new grinder

1. Pick one recipe and fix it

Choose a brew method you make often and a recipe you can repeat exactly. Weigh the coffee and water, and use the same water temperature and pour each time. Baratza's V60 guide, for example, uses 20 g of coffee to 320 g of water at 98°C. If more than one thing changes between cups, you won't know which one made the difference. The brew calculator can set the ratio.

2. Start at the manufacturer's suggested setting

Look up the maker's starting point for your brew method. The Baratza Encore manual suggests 15 for a Hario V60, 20 for a Chemex and 28 for French press. Comandante's FAQ gives 18 to 35 clicks for pour-over on the C40. Click-counted hand grinders measure from the zero point, so find that first: on a Comandante, it's the first click where the handle no longer falls when the grinder is held level.

If you already know the setting you liked on your old grinder, the grind converter will translate it to the new one. That gives you a starting point closer to your taste than the manual's.

3. Brew, time it, and taste it

Make the recipe and note how long it took and how it tasted. For a V60, Baratza's guide aims for a total brew time under 3 minutes. For espresso, Baratza starts from 18 g of ground coffee, 36 g of liquid espresso and 25 to 32 seconds.

Taste matters more than the clock. A cup that drains fast and tastes sharp or thin usually needs a finer grind. One that drains slowly and tastes bitter, heavy or hollow usually needs a coarser one.

4. Change only the grind, one step at a time

Adjust the grind and nothing else, then brew again. Perfect Daily Grind's advice is to "adjust the grind one setting at a time, keeping everything else the same." Baratza's V60 guide suggests one or two settings at a time on its stepped grinders. On a grinder with very fine clicks, such as the 1Zpresso J-Max, a single click moves the burr only 8.8 microns, so you may need several clicks to taste a difference.

On an electric grinder, change the setting while it is running or completely empty. The Encore manual warns that adjusting with beans between the burrs can damage it.

5. Purge after big changes

Grind and discard a little coffee after a large move on the dial. Baratza recommends purging a small amount after major grind-size changes, so the first grounds in your next brew come from the new setting rather than the old one. That matters most when you jump between espresso and filter.

6. Give it a few brews before you judge

Don't chase every cup in the first week. Baratza's advice for a new grinder is to "avoid overcorrecting. Make small adjustments and give the grinder a few doses to even out." Use fresh coffee during this stretch, so you can tell a settling grinder from a stale bag.

7. Write down where you land

Record the setting, the coffee and the recipe once a cup tastes right. Baratza suggests tracking settings while a new grinder settles, so you can see the drift. Next time you open a new bag, you'll start from your own number rather than the manual's. See how to adjust grind for a new bag of coffee for that step.

Do you need to season new burrs?

Baratza says no for its grinders. It calls the first stretch of use "breaking in," describes it as 10 to 20 grinding cycles for typical home use, and says there is "no special routine required," including no burr seasoning. Advice from other burr makers and home baristas varies, so check your own grinder's manual. Either way, the practical effect is the same: the setting you settle on in week one may need to move slightly finer by week three.

Why don't the manual and the brew guide agree?

Because both are starting points. Baratza's Encore manual suggests 15 for a V60, while its own V60 brew guide suggests 23 and says its settings "lean slightly coarser." Recipe, dose, pour and taste all move the answer. That's why dialing in is done by taste, and why your notes end up being the most useful chart you have.