Medium Coarse Grind Coffee: When to Use It and How to Get It Right

Medium coarse grind is the setting that doesn't get talked about as much as fine or coarse, but it fills a specific and useful role in brewing. It sits between medium (which works for drip) and coarse (which works for French press and cold brew), and it's the right grind size for a handful of popular brew methods that need something in between.

In this guide, I'll explain exactly what medium coarse grind looks like, which brew methods it works for, how to get it right on different types of grinders, and what happens when your grind size is off. Whether you're troubleshooting a flat-tasting cup or trying to nail a new brewing method, the grind size is almost always the place to start.

What Medium Coarse Grind Actually Looks Like

Coffee grind size is typically described on a spectrum from extra fine (espresso, Turkish) to extra coarse (cold brew steep). Medium coarse falls roughly in the middle of that upper half.

A good visual reference is coarse sea salt or rough sand. The particles should be clearly visible and separate, larger than table salt but not as chunky as peppercorns. If you pinch the grounds between your fingers, they should feel gritty but not powdery.

On a burr grinder with numbered settings from 1 (fine) to 10 (coarse), medium coarse is typically around 6 to 7. On the Baratza Encore (40 numbered settings), medium coarse lands around setting 22 to 28 depending on the specific method. Every grinder is different, so these are starting points, not exact targets.

Why Particle Size Matters

When water meets coffee grounds, it extracts compounds in a specific sequence. The first compounds to dissolve are acids and bright fruity notes, followed by sweetness, and then bitter and astringent compounds come out last. Grind size controls how fast this extraction happens.

Finer grinds have more surface area, so extraction is faster. Coarser grinds have less surface area, so extraction is slower. Medium coarse grind gives you a moderate extraction rate, which is useful for methods where water contact time is longer than drip but shorter than cold brew.

Which Brew Methods Use Medium Coarse Grind

Chemex

The Chemex brewer uses a thick paper filter that already slows flow rate significantly. Because the filter creates resistance, using a standard medium grind can lead to over-extraction. Medium coarse helps the water move through at a pace that extracts flavor without pulling too many bitter compounds.

A typical Chemex grind is slightly coarser than what you'd use for a V60 or Hario pour-over. If your Chemex coffee tastes bitter and the brew takes more than 5 minutes, your grind is too fine.

Clever Dripper and Café Solo

These immersion-style drippers let the coffee steep in water and then drain through a filter. Because the coffee sits in contact with water for 2 to 4 minutes, a coarser-than-medium grind keeps extraction balanced. Medium coarse hits the right spot here.

Percolator Coffee

Percolators cycle hot water repeatedly through the grounds, which means they can over-extract quickly if the grind is too fine. Medium coarse gives the water enough resistance to brew without pulling bitter compounds on the recycling passes.

Cold Brew Concentrate (Short Steep)

Standard cold brew uses extra coarse grind and 12 to 24 hours. But if you're doing a shorter steep cold brew (4 to 6 hours), medium coarse compensates for the reduced contact time by providing more surface area. This lets you get a usable concentrate without an overnight wait.

What Happens When You Use the Wrong Grind Size

Getting grind size wrong is the most common reason coffee tastes bad, and most people blame the beans or the water when the grind is actually the problem.

Too fine: You'll get over-extraction. The coffee tastes bitter, harsh, or astringent. The brew may also run slow or clog the filter.

Too coarse: You'll get under-extraction. The coffee tastes weak, sour, watery, or flat. The brew runs fast and there's a sour or sharp quality in the finish.

If your Chemex cup tastes bitter and took 6 minutes to drip, go coarser. If it tastes flat and thin and drained in under 3 minutes, go finer. The adjustment usually only needs to be small, one or two settings at a time.

How to Grind Medium Coarse at Home

Burr Grinders

Burr grinders are the right tool for any serious brewing, including medium coarse. They crush beans between two abrasive discs, producing more uniform particle sizes than blade grinders. Uniform particles extract at the same rate, which is how you get even flavor.

To find your medium coarse setting, start in the middle of your grinder's range and work toward coarser until the grind looks like coarse sea salt. Brew a test cup, taste it, and adjust. Most grinders need only minor tweaks from the initial starting point.

For grinders worth buying for this and other brew methods, our Best Coffee Grinder for Coarse Grind guide covers options at every price point.

Blade Grinders

Blade grinders work by chopping rather than crushing, which produces an inconsistent mix of particle sizes in every batch. You'll end up with powder and chunks in the same grind, which leads to uneven extraction no matter what brew method you use.

If you're working with a blade grinder and want something closer to medium coarse, use shorter pulse bursts and check the consistency often. It's not ideal, but short pulses produce slightly less fine powder compared to a continuous grind.

The honest advice is that if you're serious enough about a specific brew method to care about grind size, a $40 to $60 entry-level burr grinder will dramatically improve your results. The difference is not subtle.

Pre-Ground Coffee

Pre-ground coffee labeled as "medium coarse" or "coarse" exists, and it does work for the brew methods described here. The downside is that ground coffee starts losing its most volatile aromatic compounds within minutes of grinding. Pre-ground coffee that's been sitting in a bag for weeks has already lost a significant portion of what makes freshly ground coffee taste better.

If fresh grinding isn't possible, buy smaller quantities of pre-ground coffee and keep it in an airtight container. Don't keep it in the refrigerator or freezer once it's been opened.

Adjusting Medium Coarse for Different Coffee Types

The same grind setting doesn't always work equally well across all coffees.

Light roasts are denser and harder. They often benefit from a slightly finer grind than dark roasts to extract the same amount of flavor in the same brew time.

Dark roasts are more porous and extract faster. At a medium coarse setting, dark roasts may over-extract more easily. Going slightly coarser than you would with a light roast helps balance this.

Older beans that are past their peak freshness also extract differently. Stale beans often taste better with a slightly finer grind, because the volatile compounds have already off-gassed and the remaining flavor needs more extraction to come through.

If you're using a coarse-friendly grinder and want to explore what's available, the Best Coarse Coffee Grinder roundup is a good place to start.

FAQ

Is medium coarse the same as medium grind? No. Medium grind targets drip coffee machines with standard contact times. Medium coarse is slightly larger and works for methods with longer contact time or thicker filters, like Chemex or percolators. Using medium grind in a Chemex often leads to over-extraction and a slow, bitter brew.

Can I use medium coarse grind in a French press? You can, but standard French press typically uses a coarser grind. Medium coarse in a French press may produce some sediment in the cup and a slightly more extracted flavor. If your French press tastes bitter with standard coarse grounds, trying medium coarse can add body without significant bitterness.

How do I know if my grind is too coarse? The most reliable indicator is taste. Under-extracted coffee from too coarse a grind tastes sour, sharp, or flat and lacks sweetness. The brew also runs faster than expected. If your Chemex drains in under 3 minutes and the coffee tastes thin, you need a finer grind.

Does grind size affect caffeine content? Grind size affects how much of the coffee is extracted, including caffeine. Finer grinds extract more caffeine per gram of coffee. However, the difference between medium and medium coarse is small. Brew time and coffee-to-water ratio have a much larger practical effect on caffeine levels than grind size.

The Bottom Line

Medium coarse grind is the right setting for Chemex, immersion drippers, percolators, and shorter cold brew steeps. It gives you an extraction rate suited to brew methods where water contact time runs longer than standard drip but shorter than full cold brew.

The practical takeaway: if your Chemex is bitter, go coarser by two settings. If it's flat and sour, go finer by two settings. Make one adjustment at a time, brew, and taste. Within three adjustments, you'll find where the cup clicks into place.