Commercial coffee grinders are necessary for coffee outlets using a commercial espresso machine. They turn your fresh roasted coffee beans into a fine powder ready to be brewed by your espresso machine into delicious shots of espresso, milk drinks and filter coffees.
The quality of your coffee grinder is paramount to not only the flavour of your coffee, but also the speed and efficiency of your baristas. Making sure to invest in a great coffee grinder that is suited to your needs is paramount to your success.
Luckily, there are a huge number of options on the market for businesses looking at commercial grinders, and technology has come a long way in recent years. But the number of options and technical jargon surrounding grinders, like flat vs conical burrs or stepped vs stepless adjustment dials, can make your decision a little confusing.
This article cuts through the noise to give you our top choices for the best commercial coffee grinders in 2024. We’ve been helping businesses buy great coffee grinders since we first started in 1985 and have helped over 500 businesses to date make this decision, so we know what you need to look out for.
First, let’s talk about the important things to keep in mind when looking to buy a commercial coffee grinder.
Main things to look for in a commercial coffee grinder
There’s a large number of technical specifications and industry terms that you could learn about, but there’s just a few main things that actually matter for your commercial coffee grinder. These are:
Grinding Speed
How fast will your barista be able to produce a dose of coffee with the grinder? All grinders on this list are pretty fast, but will a 3 second grind time make a meaningful difference to your baristas vs 6 seconds? That’s where technical aspects like burr size, motor RPM, feeding mechanism and the dosing system start to make a difference.
Grind Quality
What level of quality do you need from your grinder? Grind quality and consistency has a large impact on the flavour of your coffee, but there is a balance to strike between budget and quality. Thankfully, most modern commercial coffee grinders have a pretty good grind consistency to start off with. The grinders we have selected in this list below all have incredible levels of grind quality at different budgets.
Grinding Capacity and Lifespan
This is probably the most important factor. You need to make sure any grinder you invest in will be able to cope with your order volumes. Typically the grinder’s burrs will need replacing every 6 months depending on your usage, but the motor can also be prone to wearing out if you’re consistently grinding more coffee than the grinder is rated for.
Dosing System
How does the grinder contribute to your barista’s workflow? Ensuring that they get consistent doses of coffee is paramount to the flavour of your coffee, and there are a number of different dosing systems available to help achieve this. Grind by time grinders require your baristas to weigh the doses out using a scale to ensure consistency, whereas grinders with Grind-by-weight (or Gravimetric) dosing systems eliminate this step in the process.
So, now you know what to look for when choosing a commercial coffee grinder for your business, let’s get into our top picks for this year.
Our Top Picks for the 6 Best Commercial Coffee Grinders
- Mahlkonig E80S GBW
- Anfim Alba
- Mythos MY75 / MYG75
- Mahlkonig EK43
- Mahlkonig E65S GBW
- Anfim Luna
Mahlkonig E80S GBW
This is coffee grinding on easy mode. The E8OS by Mahlkonig is a workhorse of a grinder, chewing through a standard 18 gram dose of coffee in as fast as 3 seconds. Featuring large 80mm burrs, the grinder produces an incredible level of coffee quality in the cup thanks to its uniform grind profile.
A stepless adjustment dial makes dialling in your coffee a seamless process, though a small amount of coffee will need to be purged through between each change in grind size.
The Grind-by-Weight system ensures that your baristas are consistently dosing the correct weight of coffee into the portafilter every time, improving consistency and reducing one of the most difficult and time-consuming steps in the coffee making process.
The E80S is certainly a premium level grinder with the price tag to match, but for high volume coffee outlets looking for the ultimate grinding solution, look no further.
Why the E80S won grinder of the year
- Industry leading grind quality
- Impressive burr lifespan and grind capacity at up to 700 drinks per day
- Incredible speed, 18 grams of coffee in 3 seconds
- Intuitive dosing with grind-by-weight technology
- Fantastic build quality, all-metal design available in black and white
Anfim Alba
If you liked the sound of the E80S on paper but you weren’t exactly a fan of the price tag, you’re in luck.
The Anfim Alba represents the perfect alternative to the E80s promising identical specs at a reduced price point.
Anfim and Mahlkonig share the same parent company as part of the Hemro group, and these two grinders share a lot of inner workings. In fact – the Alba is quite literally the same grinder as the E80S just in a more affordable shell and with a different adjustment mechanism.
The Anfim Alba cuts the cost down from the E80S with its plastic body, worm-drive style adjustment mechanism, not including the grind-by-weight system and by including slightly lower quality burrs out of the box. However, by sharing the same internals, you can easily upgrade the Alba with stock E80S burrs to drastically improve grind quality, speed, and burr lifespan.
Why we recommend the Alba
- Grinds for a double shot of espresso in just 3 seconds (5.6 grams /second)
- 1,500kg burr lifespan out of the box with ability to upgrade
- Fantastic price tag for the level of coffee quality
- Intuitive user interface with 3.5” touch screen display and worm-drive grind dial
Mythos MYG75
Directly competing against the E80S and Alba grinders is the Mythos MY75 by espresso machine manufacturer Victoria Arduino – with its 75mm flat burrs, sleek modern design, consistent grind quality at high speeds and optional Gravimetric dosing technology.
Available in both white and black, the MY75 has a recognisable footprint that indicates to any knowledgeable customer that they are about to receive a great tasting cup of coffee.
The Mythos grinders feature an innovative burr temperature control system that can either cool or heat up the burrs depending on usage, to ensure the beans are ground to the exact same profile every time and ensuring consistency.
Consistent grind-by-time dosing or the upgraded Gravimetric system enables accurate repeatability for your baristas at rapid speeds from 2.5 to 3 grams per second.
Why we like it
- High quality grinding profile and drink quality
- Temperature stability to reduce dialling in requirements
- Sleek design profile and fantastic build quality
- Fast grinding speeds and intuitive workflow
Mahlkonig EK43
This grinder is unlike the rest in this list, which are all built to be on-demand, espresso focused grinders. The Mahlkonig EK43 is different, built to serve the other needs of your cafe that an espresso grinder may not allow.
The EK43 is designed to grind through large volumes of coffee at a time, specifically for grinding full bags of coffee in mere seconds. If a customer wants to buy a bag of coffee off your shelves but they don’t have a grinder at home, the EK43 is the perfect tool for quickly grinding for their chosen brew method.
If you have a filter coffee machine, you may want to grind your coffee fresh to get the best flavour out of the grounds – the EK43 makes this a breeze with its fast speeds, wide range of grind size adjustments and large hopper. It’s designed for quality-focused coffee outlets grinding from everything from espresso to cold brew, making it the jack-of-all-trades when it comes to commercial grinding – we just might not recommend using it as your main espresso grinder.
Why we like the EK43
- Incredible grind quality
- Wide range of grind sizes from espresso, pourover, batch filter coffee and cold brew
- High capacity capable of grinding kilos at a time
- The perfect back bar grinder for filter coffee, retail bags, cold brew and guest espressos
Mahlkonig E65S GBW
This is the little brother to E80S grinder, and is a fantastic option for your espresso-based drinks at a more attractive price.
With a smaller body and 65mm burr set, the Mahlkonig E65S GBW boasts the same incredible workflow and equally delicious coffee as the more expensive E80S at a reduced price point. It’s actually the grinder that we keep on the bar in our showroom for staff coffees, events and hosting customers thanks to its speed, ease of use and intuitive dialling system.
The full-metal body and easy dialling system make this grinder a pleasure to use, and will support your baristas in making fantastic coffees in as little as 3-4 seconds.
Just like the E80S, the E65S also includes the optional upgrade to the GBW (grind by weight) dosing system, removing the need to use a scale and ensuring perfect consistent in coffee doses.
Why we like it
- Premium build quality
- Intuitive barista workflow and accurate dosing system
- Premium 65mm burrs producing great tasting cups
- Fantastic value for money
Anfim Luna
Just as the Anfim Alba is, on paper, a more affordable E80S, the Anfim Luna has the same inner workings as the E65S. With a more affordable price tag thanks to the plastic outer shell, the Luna is fantastic value for money considering the quality of coffee and grind capacity it produces.
Out of the box, the burrs on the Luna have a slightly reduced lifespan compared to the E65s. This means it’s slightly slower to grind coffee along with picking up wear and tear quicker. For this reason, our engineers recommend swapping the stock burrs for the upgraded burrs found in the E65S – meaning you get the same great tasting coffee, capacity and burr longevity as the E65S at a much reduced price.
The Luna is a fantastic option for medium volume cafes that want an easy to use, intuitive grinder that produces fantastic coffee at a great price point.
Why we recommend the Anfim Luna
- Great coffee at a fantastic price point
- Accurate on-demand dosing
- 4-5 second grind time
- Intuitive touch screen display and worm-drive style adjustment system
Need help choosing the best commercial coffee grinder?
Now that you know the best options for commercial coffee grinders in 2024, it’s time to do some research into the grinders taking your specific needs into account.
Remember that the most important factors in selecting the right coffee grinder for your business involves taking into account the grinding speed, grind quality, grinding capacity and lifespan, and the dosing system.
It’s also important to consider the workflow of the grinder and whether the design aesthetic is something that will fit in seamlessly with your coffee outlet. If you would like to test these grinders in person or get some expert advice on your coffee grinding needs, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at Bridge Coffee Roasters.