How home coffee grinders are leading the prosumer market - Perfect Daily Grind

The growth of the specialty coffee market has given way to the rise of the “prosumer”. Sitting between an industry professional and a consumer, prosumers are best described as individuals dedicated to replicating a café-style experience at home.

They often invest in semi-professional and complex brewing equipment and accessories, which often include features intended for commercial use. To capitalise on this burgeoning market, more manufacturers have launched new products intended to capture the attention of educated and skilled consumers.

Grinders in particular have been leading the charge in home coffee equipment innovation. With an ever-growing range of grind sizes, better consistency, and intuitive design, grinders have made their mark on the prosumer market.

To understand more about how home grinders are evolving, I spoke to Yu Yue (Fish), the co-founder and the Head of Product Design at Timemore.

You may also like our article on how the coffee prosumer market is evolving.

Although out-of-home coffee consumption has reached pre-pandemic levels in many countries, the home still remains the most popular place for enjoying coffee. According to the latest National Coffee Data Trends report, 81% of past-day drinkers in the US had prepared coffee at home, compared to 36% of past-day drinkers having coffee outside it.

While the pandemic certainly drove up at-home coffee consumption, growing consumer interest in education has played a key role. As coffee drinkers develop their skills and knowledge, they can make more informed choices based on a number of factors.

Yu Yue (Fish) is the co-founder and the Head of Product Design at premium coffee equipment manufacturer Timemore.

“Prosumer and coffee enthusiasts have developed clear preferences regarding origin and roast profile. They familiarise themselves with the beans, equipment, and necessary skills to prepare excellent coffee at home,” he says. “This growing community is gradually influencing the mainstream market.”

To coincide with the high-quality beans they buy, prosumers want to prepare café-style beverages at home. Many invest in premium equipment – including home espresso machines and high-price point grinders – and dedicate time to understanding how to use them correctly.

“Coffee aficionados, starting from a niche circle of geek hobbyists, gradually influence those around them, slowly expanding the concept of specialty coffee further and wider, thereby fuelling the growth of the market,” Fish adds.

Many believe that the grinder is the most important piece of equipment in a coffee shop. Even when paired with the most advanced espresso machine, a poor-performing grinder will massively impede extraction and flavour.

To meet the needs of cafés and roasteries, equipment manufacturers have heavily invested in commercial grinders – meaning they’re more intuitive and consistent than ever before.

Traditional home grinders, meanwhile, tend to have basic settings and are designed to accommodate many different brewing methods. This can make it difficult to achieve great results for most grind sizes, especially finer settings.

Conversely, the features and technology of modern home grinders optimise uniformity, particle size distribution, and even temperature during grinding. Additionally, as the prosumer market grows, an increasing number of modern grinders are now geared towards specific brewing methods, such as pour over or espresso.

More people – especially prosumers who are willing to invest in premium equipment and high-quality beans – now want to prepare espresso at home. According to the National Coffee Association, the US’ past-week consumption of specialty espresso-based beverages was up by 10% in June 2024 on the same period in the previous year. Given the country’s proclivity for filter coffee, this signals a shift in consumer preferences both out of and at home.

To produce grind sizes fine enough for espresso, equipment manufacturers have driven innovation with their home grinders – including different burr types and sizes.

The new Timemore Sculptor series features two sets of patented burrs that allow prosumers and coffee consumers to achieve a wide range of grind sizes. Fish explains that the Sculptor grinders are available as four different models. The 078 and 064 variants are suitable for pour over, French press, and syphon brewing, while the 078S and 064S also allow users to grind fine enough for espresso, too.

“The 064S and 078S models have their own distinctive style and function,” he says. “The 078S grinds for a more modern-style espresso that offers greater clarity and clean flavours, better highlighting the characteristics of the coffee. It performs especially well with light to medium roasted beans for espresso.

“On the other hand, the 064S is for more traditional-style espresso to provide more pronounced body and texture, also making it ideal for milk-based drinks,” he adds.

Most home grinders include conical burrs. One cone-shaped burr sits inside the other, which is ring-shaped. Commercial grinders, however, tend to feature flat burrs. Two larger ring-shaped burrs sit on top of each other, and the distance between the burrs is what determines the grind size.

The shape of burrs has significant influence over grind size, as well as particle size distribution. Conical burrs result in bimodal particle size distribution, which essentially means that they produce more of both smaller and larger-sized particles.

Conversely, flat burrs result in unimodal particle size distribution and thereby produce more evenly sized ground coffee particles. Ultimately, this makes for a more even extraction and can also result in more experimentation with grind size and its effect on flavour.

This, however, is not absolute. Many grinder manufacturers are blurring the lines between burr sets. Conical burrs can produce flavours in the cup that are similar to those of flat burrs and vice versa.Fish explains that Timemore’s Sculptor grinders come with two unique patented sets of burrs. The 078 and 064 grinders have uniquely-designed turbo burrs, while the 078S and 064S have flat burrs – meaning users can grind fine enough for espresso.

To further drive home grinder innovation, manufacturers have started to integrate flat burrs into their premium models. This allows them to produce a much wider range of grind sizes and opens up new possibilities for experimenting with different brewing methods.

Particle size distribution plays a key role in this. This is a measurement of the composition of ground coffee and how many small and large particles are present in a sample or dose.

Fish explains how Timemore developed its flat burrs to produce a more consistent range of particle sizes between 400 to 1000 μm.

“When developing the Sculptor series, we explored more possibilities with flat burrs. For example, the 078S features an inward arc that reduces squeezing between the ground coffee particles, commonly called the ‘popcorn effect’,” he says. “This disperses heat more evenly, which is crucial for espresso grinding.”

While grind size uniformity is essential for extracting clean, bright espresso, sufficient fines are also needed to maintain pressure in the grouphead. This requires a finer grind size while still maintaining more uniform particle size distribution.

“Modern flat burrs allow for more uniform and efficient extraction,” Fish says.

Timemore’s turbo burrs, meanwhile, include a three-layer design with flat burrs on the inside and serrated edges on the outside. This helps to reduce the number of fines – making them more suitable for filter brewing.

In addition to burr innovation, equipment manufacturers are integrating more intuitive and smart features into their prosumer grinders.

Cleaning and maintaining grinders is an important task that should be carried out regularly, but it can be difficult to remove fines easily from the grinding chamber and spout. A build-up of stale fines and ground coffee, however, will impede extraction and flavour, so manufacturers are devising efficient ways to assist with grinder maintenance.

“The Timemore Sculptor series includes a patented rotary knocker, which vibrates the chute and separates fines from larger-sized particles,” Fish explains. “Many 078 users use the knocker as a collector to clean out the fines and chaff to extract a cleaner cup.”

By turning the rotary knocker, Fish says that fines are quickly removed from the spout – making grinder cleaning and maintenance easier.

Burr speed is also a key factor in prosumer grinder performance. The number of rotations per minute (or RPM) inevitably effects grind size and particle size distribution. To better control the impact on extraction and flavour, more premium home grinders now allow users to adjust RPM.

Fish tells me that the Sculptor 078 and 078S range between 800 and 1,400 RPM, while the 064 and 064S models vary from 800 to 1,200 RPM.

“For the 078, lower RPM results in cleaner cup profiles, while higher speeds can yield greater complexity,” he explains. “Due to the different burr geometries, the 078S has a faster flow rate at high speeds and a slower one at low speeds when extracting espresso.

“Additionally, the Sculptor’s brushless motor results in quieter grinding,” he adds.

As consumers have become more skilled and educated, significant investment has been made in the prosumer market. Among the ever-growing range of premium home coffee equipment, grinders stand out as leaders in the market.

“Home grinder innovation fosters a deeper connection between the art and science of making coffee,” Fish says.

Ultimately, higher-quality home grinders mean prosumers and consumers can prepare café-style beverages themselves – pushing the industry forward even further.

Enjoyed this? Then read our guide to buying home espresso machines.

Photo credits: Timemore, @yongyong_leo

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Please note: Timemore is a sponsor of Perfect Daily Grind.

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Bhavi is a brand-building specialist, a dairy technologist, and a storyteller with a keen interest in coffee.