Medium Coarse Grind: When to Use It and How to Nail It Every Time
A medium coarse grind sits right between a standard drip grind and a full coarse grind. Think rough sea salt or raw sugar crystals. If you've been eyeballing your grind size and wondering whether you're in the right ballpark for your brew method, you're not alone. Getting the grind wrong by even one notch on your grinder can turn a great cup into a flat, bitter, or sour mess.
Here's the thing: medium coarse is one of the most useful grind sizes for home brewing, and a surprising number of popular methods call for it. I'll show you exactly what it looks like, which brew methods need it, how to achieve it on different grinders, and what happens when you go too fine or too coarse.
What Does Medium Coarse Actually Look Like?
Grind size descriptions are notoriously vague. "Coarse like sea salt" means different things to different people. So let me get specific.
A medium coarse grind should have particles that are roughly 0.75-1mm in diameter. That's bigger than table salt (fine grind) and smaller than peppercorn chunks (extra coarse). If you scoop up a handful, it should feel gritty but not powdery. Individual particles should be visible and distinct.
The Finger Test
Drop a small pile of grounds on a white plate. Press your finger into them and lift it up. With a medium coarse grind, some particles will stick to your finger but most will fall off. If your finger comes up coated in fine powder, you're too fine. If almost nothing sticks, you're too coarse.
Comparison Chart
Here's how medium coarse fits into the full grind spectrum:
- Extra fine (Turkish): Powdered sugar
- Fine (Espresso): Table salt
- Medium fine (Moka pot, AeroPress): Sand
- Medium (Drip): Kosher salt
- Medium coarse (Chemex, Clever Dripper): Rough sea salt
- Coarse (French press): Coarse sea salt / raw sugar
- Extra coarse (Cold brew): Peppercorn chunks
Which Brew Methods Use Medium Coarse?
Medium coarse is the go-to grind for several popular methods that fall between the precision of pour over and the forgiveness of French press.
Chemex
The Chemex is the poster child for medium coarse grinding. Its thick paper filters slow down the draw time compared to thinner V60 filters, so you need a coarser grind to compensate. Too fine and the water sits on top of the bed for 5-6 minutes, over-extracting and producing a bitter, harsh cup. Too coarse and the water rushes through in 2 minutes, giving you a weak, sour brew.
I target a total brew time of 3:30-4:30 for 30 grams of coffee in my Chemex. If the brew finishes faster than 3:30, I go one click finer. Slower than 4:30, one click coarser. The grind size is the main variable controlling this.
Clever Dripper
The Clever Dripper is an immersion brewer that also filters through a paper cone. Because the coffee steeps before filtering, you want a grind that extracts well during the immersion phase without clogging the filter during the drain phase. Medium coarse nails this balance. I steep for 2-3 minutes and drain in about 1-1:30 minutes with a medium coarse grind.
Cafe Solo / Large Batch Pour Over
When brewing large quantities (40+ grams of coffee) in any pour over system, going slightly coarser than your standard setting prevents over-extraction from the longer pour times. Medium coarse works well for these larger batches where you're pouring for 4-5 minutes.
Cupping
Professional coffee cupping uses a coarse grind, but many home cuppers use medium coarse with good results. The steeping time in cupping (4 minutes) is short enough that medium coarse extracts fully without going overboard.
For grinders that handle this size range well, our best coarse coffee grinder roundup has solid options, and the best coffee grinder for coarse grind guide goes deeper on this topic.
How to Dial In Medium Coarse on Your Grinder
Every grinder labels its settings differently, so I can't give you a universal number. But here are reference points for popular models.
Baratza Encore
Settings 18-22 give you medium coarse on the Encore. I use 20 for my Chemex and 22 for my Clever Dripper. The Encore's 40-setting range gives you good resolution in this zone.
Timemore C2
About 18-22 clicks from the finest setting (burrs touching). The C2's stepped adjustments make it easy to count and repeat your setting.
Comandante C40
22-26 clicks from zero. The Comandante has one of the widest adjustment ranges of any hand grinder, which gives you lots of room to fine-tune in the medium coarse zone.
Blade Grinder
If you're using a blade grinder, pulse for about 10-12 seconds total with shaking between pulses. Check the consistency and stop when most particles look like rough sea salt. You'll have more variation than a burr grinder, but you can get in the right neighborhood with careful pulsing.
Baratza Virtuoso+
Settings 18-24. The Virtuoso's M2 burr set produces tighter particle distribution than the Encore at this range, which makes a noticeable difference in cup clarity.
What Happens When You Miss
Understanding what goes wrong when your grind is off helps you troubleshoot quickly.
Too Fine (Moving Toward Medium)
- Brew time increases noticeably (5+ minutes for a Chemex)
- Coffee tastes bitter, dry, or astringent
- The cup feels heavy and muted, without bright or fruity notes
- Physical sign: water pools on top of the coffee bed and drains very slowly
Too Coarse (Moving Toward Coarse)
- Brew time drops under 3 minutes
- Coffee tastes sour, thin, or tea-like
- The cup feels watery with little body
- Physical sign: water rushes through the coffee bed with minimal resistance
The Sweet Spot
When you hit the right medium coarse grind for your method:
- Brew time falls in your target range
- The cup has balanced acidity and sweetness
- Body is medium, not thin or syrupy
- You can taste distinct flavor notes from the beans
The fix is always the same: adjust one click at a time and rebrew. Don't change multiple variables (grind size, dose, water temperature) at once, or you won't know what fixed the problem.
Water Temperature and Medium Coarse Grinding
Grind size and water temperature work together. For medium coarse grinds, I use water between 200-205°F (just off the boil). Going cooler than 195°F with a medium coarse grind will under-extract, giving you a sour and thin cup. Going above 210°F will over-extract, pulling out bitter compounds.
If you don't have a temperature-controlled kettle, bring water to a boil and let it sit for 30-45 seconds. That gets you into the 200-205°F range reliably.
Some people compensate for a slightly too-coarse grind by using hotter water. This works in a pinch, but it's better to fix the grind itself. Temperature adjustments are a bandage, not a solution.
FAQ
How do I know if my grind is medium coarse or just coarse?
Look at the individual particles. Medium coarse particles are about the size of rough sea salt, maybe 0.75-1mm. Coarse particles are larger, closer to raw sugar crystals at 1.5mm+. If you can easily distinguish individual granules and they're roughly uniform, you're in the medium coarse zone. If the particles look like small gravel, you've gone too coarse.
Can I use medium coarse for French press?
You can, but French press traditionally uses a full coarse grind. Using medium coarse in a French press will produce a stronger, more extracted cup, which some people prefer. If you go this route, reduce your steep time from the typical 4 minutes to about 3 minutes to compensate. Otherwise the finer particles will over-extract during the longer steep.
Does the type of coffee bean affect what grind size I should use?
Yes. Light roast beans are denser and harder, so they extract more slowly. You might want to go one click finer than your usual medium coarse setting for light roasts. Dark roast beans are more porous and extract faster, so going one click coarser can prevent over-extraction and bitterness.
Is medium coarse the same as "auto drip" on my grinder?
Not quite. Most grinders label "auto drip" at a medium setting, which is slightly finer than medium coarse. If your grinder has a drip setting, go 2-3 clicks coarser from there to reach medium coarse. Always verify by looking at the actual particle size rather than trusting the label.
Put It Into Practice
Medium coarse is your target grind for Chemex, Clever Dripper, large-batch pour overs, and cupping. Get familiar with what it looks like on your specific grinder by starting at the recommended settings above and adjusting one click at a time based on brew time and taste. Once you lock in your number, write it down. You'll thank yourself tomorrow morning when you're half awake and reaching for the grinder.