Coffee Alphabet: B Is For Burrs

Welcome to the coffee alphabet, the quickest way to easily learn everything you need to know about speciality coffee, and the art of enjoying it! Today we're on 'B' which is for 'Burrs'...

We wanted to share even more speciality coffee knowledge with our customers and coffee lovers. But even if you do really love coffee, you don’t necessarily always want to read through an array of blog articles or descriptions when trying to understand it. That’s why we’ve gone back to our early school days to relive our learning experiences, and deliver a simple glossary of coffee’s most important terms and concepts. Welcome to Modern Standard’s ‘Coffee Alphabet’!

You may have seen our coffee alphabet posts begin to surface on our Instagram account, if you haven’t visited us on the gram, then check out our page. We’re now bringing those posts to our blog where we can explain them in a little more detail for those who do want to dig a little deeper.

Today we're bringing you an infographic about a very important subject that can be often overlooked by coffee-lovers. But believe it or not, burrs play a crucial role in determining the difference between a bad, good or great brew.

The following infographic (which you're welcome to download), tells us why...

Burrs and grinding coffee

Top baristas become obsessed with 'the grind', and that's not a reference to the notion of getting up and going to work every day! When it comes to brewing, the grind is up there with roasting in terms of impacting the flavour of your coffee. But why do we even grind coffee, why can't we just boil hot water and beans? The answer is, extraction.

Extraction basically refers to the process of pulling flavour out of the coffee and into the hot water. If we tried to extract flavour from whole beans, we may get some hints of flavour, maybe after about a week of brewing. But in reality, it will be too hard for the water to soak into the coffee bean, disrupt the compound aromas and extract flavours. Grinding the beans into soluble granules, makes this job easier and much, much quicker.

So, now we know why we grind coffee (we'll definitely talk more about this later too), let's talk about the important role that burrs play to this process.

You can download the 'B' is for Burrs infographic right here for free!

Choosing a grinder? Our guide to the best coffee grinder for home espresso explains flat and conical burrs in more detail.

More from the Coffee Alphabet

A is for Acidity · C is for Cupping · D is for Decaf · E is for Espresso · F is for French Press · G is for Green Coffee · H is for High Grown