The coffee business is thriving, and every morning, hundreds of people flood cafes and coffee shops to get their morning dose of fresh java.
In order to consistently produce high-quality coffee and deliver exceptional flavor in every cup, your business needs a premium grinder. If you want coffee connoisseurs to keep coming back for more, you’ve come to the right place!
In this article, we’ll share with you the best commercial coffee grinder you can buy for your business. We’ll also share with you an in-depth buyer’s guide to help you choose the ideal coffee grinder for your needs.
Let’s get started!
In a Hurry? Here’s Our Top Picks…
Best Commercial Coffee Grinders
We chose six commercial coffee grinders that vary in size, features, and performance. All of our choices serve as all-purpose coffee grinders, but each one is tailored for specific needs.
Make sure you read our buyer’s guide to determine the perfect grinder for your business.
Baratza Forte AP All-Purpose Coffee Grinder
Our first pick is the Baratza Forte AP. It’s an all-purpose grinder with 54mm flat burrs made from ceramic. It’s 14.2 inches tall and comes with a full suite of features.
The most prominent feature of the Forte AP is the 260 grinder settings. There are 10 macro settings and 26 micro settings, making it one of the few grinders that can effectively brew a cup of espresso.
The unit has a hopper that can hold up to 10 oz of coffee, which is about average. There are definitely more commodious options out there.
It has a big LCD display packed with useful presets and settings. There’s an option to grind by weight or time. There are also three presets for more convenience during repeated orders, and it has a grinding capacity of about five pounds per day.
Unfortunately, all these features come at a price. It’s one of the most expensive models on our list, priced just under $1,000.
Overall, the Baratza Forte AP accommodates all brewing styles and produces some of the best-tasting coffee in the market.
What We Liked
- Truly all-purpose
- 260 grind settings
- Stylish and compact footprint
- One year world-class warranty
What We Disliked
- Expensive
- Small hopper size
Eureka Zenith 65E Commercial Espresso Grinder
The Zenith 65E is another industry-leading grinder packed with features. It’s the powerhouse of grinders, only exceeded by Eureka’s Olympus 75E, which we’ll be reviewing shortly.
It has massive 65mm flat steel burrs. This means that it’ll grind quickly and without heating up. Steel burrs are also much more durable than ceramic burrs, so you’ll be getting richer flavors and perfectly uniform ground coffee.
The Zenith 65E is perfect for larger coffee shops. It has a huge hopper that can hold up to three pounds of coffee. It boasts an impressive stepless configuration, which means you can have total control over the size of the grind. It’s truly the ideal machine for espressos.
The LCD screen comes with the same array of features you’d expect from a professional grinder. There are programmable dosing settings and a continuous mode. You also get a total overview of the grinding process in the large display.
The Zenith 65E is similarly priced to the Baratza Forte AP, but it’s much more powerful. It has bigger burrs, a bigger hopper, and insane mechanical strength. We recommend this grinder if you make over 80 cups a day.
What We Liked
- Powerful 65mm burrs
- Incredible grind size control
- Huge hopper
What We Disliked
- Bulky
- Needs frequent cleaning and maintenance
Homend Burr Coffee Grinder
The Homend coffee grinder combines affordability with performance. It has a simple design that mimics last century’s grinders. You don’t get an LCD display or stepless grind configurations. However, the conical burrs are sharp and accurate, and it doesn’t overheat even with heavy use.
This model comes with eight grind size adjustments. Although you’ll have some control over the grind size, it’s certainly not as consistent as what stepless grinders are able to produce.
Still, for the incredibly affordable price tag, you’re getting an amazing deal. There’s no debating that this grinder produces great-tasting coffee, but we wouldn’t recommend it for espressos.
What We Liked
- Incredible value for money
- Quiet for the motor size
- Powerful conical burrs
What We Disliked
- Limited grind size adjustment
- Not the best for espressos or Turkish coffee
Huanyu Flat Burr Coffee Grinder
Huanyu looks and feels like the above-reviewed Homend grinder, but it’s a lot more powerful! It’s also more expensive, but still nowhere as expensive as the Eureka or Baratza models.
Right off the bat, the Huanyu comes with 19 grind size settings. Even though it’s not the ideal grinder for espresso, it’ll still produce finely ground coffee that can be deemed ‘acceptable’ by espresso aficionados.
It has powerful 60mm flat burrs that run fairly quietly. Huanyu recommends that it doesn’t run for more than 15 minutes to ensure quality grinding. The hopper can also hold up to two pounds of coffee, although Huanyu recommends you don’t exceed 1.5 pounds to ensure uniformity.
For the price, we have to recommend the Huanyu grinder as the ultimate budget pick for your coffee shop. It’s powerful, enjoys a strong one-year warranty service, and comes with a huge hopper to accommodate long lines of customers.
What We Liked
- Best bang for the buck
- Powerful 60mm flat burrs
- Large hopper
- Extra fuse included
What We Disliked
- Plastic design
- Issues with faulty fuses
Eureka Olympus 75E Commercial Espresso Grinder
If you weren’t mind-blown by the Eureka Zenith, then make room for the Olympus 75E. This model brings it all to the table, boasting 75mm steel burrs that will absolutely crush anything you throw at them. This model is every barista’s dream grinder, and for quite a few good reasons.
You won’t find many aesthetic differences between the Zenith and the Olympus. The only differences are the burr diameter and the bigger hopper capacity.
The sturdy steel and aluminum build make this machine one of the best grinders for any coffee shop. It’s capable of making a double shot espresso in just 2.4 seconds!
Of course, the reason we aren’t recommending this to everyone is the price. It’s quite a hefty investment, even for bigger businesses. However, if you’re making over 100 cups of coffee a day, the Olympus might just be the perfect machine for you!
What We Liked
- Produces incredible blends
- Includes Eureka’s acclaimed stepless grind settings
- Huge hopper capacity
What We Disliked
- Expensive
- Overkill for most businesses
OXO Brew Coffee Grinder
The OXO Brew grinder enjoys a sleek design and a small form factor, but don’t let its looks deceive you.
The powerful steel conical burrs in this grinder are some of the best 40mm burrs we’ve ever reviewed. During our tests, the unit consistently produced uniform grounds with incredible flavor. It’s also quite affordable!
The OXO grinder has a hopper that can hold up to 0.75 pounds of coffee, which is around 12 cups. This makes it the ideal grinder for a small business. Not suitable for larger coffee shops, though.
We didn’t like the stepped grind size on this grinder. We only had 15 settings to play with, and espressos didn’t taste as strong as on bigger, stepless grinders.
If you’re making 50-60 cups of coffee a day, this little grinder will do wonders. Otherwise, either consider investing in a bigger model or buy two grinders for different uses.
What We Liked
- Small but powerful
- Very affordable
- Decent hopper size
What We Disliked
- Limited grind size settings
- Not the best for bigger coffeeshops
- Not the best for espresso
Choosing a Commercial Coffee Grinder
Buying the perfect coffee grinder for your business can be tricky. It all comes down to four things.
- Volume of Clientele
It’s essential to have an accurate estimate of the number of customers you get daily. We recommend you measure it with cups made per day. If you make 30-50 cups a day, then a compact coffee grinder like the OXO Coffee Grinder can be more than enough.
If you make 50-70 cups a day, you should start looking for bigger grinders with a storage compartment. As you go over 70 cups a day, you must shift your attention to huge grinders like the Eureka Zenith or the Eureka Olympus.
- Type of Coffee
Another important factor to consider is the type of coffee you serve. Espresso can be ground on any machine, but only high-end grinders will bring out the intricate notes of espresso.
If you’re an all-purpose coffee shop, with customers mainly focused on drip coffee, french presses, or pour-overs, any grinder from our picks will do the job, and even produce an acceptable cup of espresso.
Author Note: If you’re looking to make the best espresso in town, again, we can’t help but recommend the Eureka Olympus for the job.
- Burr Diameter
The burrs in your grinder are the disks that ground your coffee. The thicker the burr is, the more efficiently the beans will be ground. Thicker burrs will also work for longer times, enduring the heavy service during rush hour.
We recommend a minimum of 40mm burrs for commercial use. You can choose a smaller grinder if you don’t serve that much coffee. Popular coffee shops can sometimes have two or more 75mm burr grinders!
- Hopper Size
Hopper size isn’t as crucial as the others, but it can be an important element according to your business needs. Grinders with big hoppers can store more coffee beans, which is essential in busy coffee shops.
The Baratza Forte AP can hold up to 10 oz of coffee, while the Eureka Olympus can hold a whopping 3.5 Ibs of coffee.
Types of Grinders
Coffee grinders come in all shapes and sizes, but there are three fundamental components that determine the type of your grinder.
A grinder that’s stepless, doserless, and with conical burrs will be remarkably different from a stepped, doser grinder with flat burrs.
Don’t worry if it’s a lot to take in; we’ll explain every element in detail.
- Flat vs. Conical Burrs
Burrs are a set of rings that rotate in your grinder to crush the coffee beans. You’ll find that cheaper grinders come with ceramic burrs. They aren’t as sharp and durable as the metal burrs found in more premium grinders, but they get the job done.
Burrs provide more flexibility with grind sizes compared to conventional blade grinders. They’re also able to produce enhanced flavors. This is mainly attributed to the oscillation of the two serrated disks against each other, which yields more coffee bean oil.
Flat Burrs
Flat burrs are composed of two horizontal disks; one faces upwards, and the other faces downwards. They’re generally louder and have higher RPMs than conical burrs. This can be an issue during a busy hour since flat-burr grinders are susceptible to overheating if not insulated properly.
Flat burrs are known for their consistent grinding. They produce beans that are uniform in size, which enables baristas to have a more balanced extraction. This is called unimodal distribution, and baristas love this method for French presses, drip coffee, and pour-overs.
Conical Burrs
Conical burrs are the more popular option with baristas. They don’t tend to overheat like flat burrs, and they generally have a stronger flavor.
The term ‘conical’ perfectly describes what they are; two, cone-shaped, serrated disks that rotate around each other. They produce what is known as bimodal distribution, which means that one grain will be slightly larger than the other.
Author Note: Conical burrs are used for all types of coffee, but the more robust flavor makes it ideal for a strong cup of espresso.
- Doser vs. Doserless Grinders
Next, we have doser and doserless grinders. Doser grinders are the ones with a storage compartment for storing ground coffee. Doserless grinders deliver the ground coffee straight to the portafilter.
Doser
Doser grinders feel like the more convenient option. After all, why wouldn’t you want a reservoir of ground coffee? One word: freshness!
If you’re a proud owner of a coffee shop, one thing that you’ll value the most is the quality of your cup of coffee. Having ground coffee stored for a long time subjects it to oxidation and other chemical reactions, which will ultimately lead to rancid coffee.
This doesn’t mean you should avoid doser grinders. If you own a busy shop that serves large amounts of coffee drinkers, a doser grinder will be quite handy. You’ll just need to keep an eye on the freshness of your ground coffee.
Doserless
Doserless grinders are the ideal option for low-volume coffee shops. They ensure that the coffee is always fresh since they’re ground to order. On-demand grinds also mean that baristas have to deal with lower waste by controlling exactly how much coffee they want to be dispensed.
However, doserless grinders need experienced baristas, for two reasons. First, this type of grinder requires the barista to eyeball the number of coffee beans. Doserless grinders aren’t usually programmed to dispense precise doses.
Second, if your shop suddenly gets crowded, and the inexperienced barista will struggle to accommodate their needs, and grounds that miss the portafilter could quickly cause a mess.
- Stepped vs. Stepless Grinders
Finally, there are stepped and stepless grinders, both with their own pros and cons. These grinders have certain grind sizes for you to choose from, whereas stepless grinders allow for more maneuverability and control over the grind size.
Stepped
Stepped grinders are the more user-friendly option. They have preset settings that determine the grind size. Beginner baristas can quickly dial in their grind size without having to fuss with a sliding scale.
Author Note: They are popular in multipurpose coffee shops, they aren’t a nuisance to new baristas and can easily accommodate big lines of customers.
Unfortunately, the limited grind options aren’t a favorite with skilled baristas. You can only adjust the grind size in increments, and the gap between the sizes can leave little room for flexibility.
Stepless
This is where stepless grinders come in; a grinder for professional baristas and people with a refined taste in their morning cup of coffee.
Stepless grinders come with a sliding scale that allows for better control over the grind size. Baristas love stepless grinders for espresso and praise them for the perfect extraction in every cup of coffee.
There’s a little bit of a learning curve for novice baristas, and the ideal grind size setting may be difficult to imitate later on.
Still, the amount of customization freedom offers infinite possibilities for coffee enthusiasts. Espresso coffee shops must have a stepless grinder to satisfy the coffee aficionados.
Verdict
All in all, we can’t help but recommend the OXO Brew Coffee Grinder as the best all-rounder grinder. It’s affordable, makes incredible brews, and has a small form factor. If you own a larger coffee shop or need a dedicated espresso grinder, then go for the Eureka 65E or 75E.
Once you’ve decided on the volume of clientele and the kind of coffee you’ll be serving, you simply can’t go wrong with any of our top picks.
Happy brewing!