Grinding Specialty Indian Coffee at Home

Many questions people usually have about brewing coffee at home can actually be traced back to coffee grinding.

“Why is the brew so diluted?”, “Why does it take so long for the decoction to settle in the jar?”

Especially with specialty filter kaapi, it’s all about how you grind and brew the coffee in a way that’s meant to be.

Here are some ways to ensure that you grind the coffee beans correctly so that your filter kaapi tastes the best.

Identify Brewing Method

Our Malgudi Days kaapis can be brewed with a couple of different equipment. So when you buy whole beans, you have some room to decide what type of brewing method you want to follow.

Whether you’re using a traditional Indian coffee filter, a stovetop espresso pot, a French press, or a home coffee machine, identify one type of brewing to start with. 

The reason why we say so is that when you focus on one brewing method, you can focus on what grind size works best for it.

Get a Suitable Grinder

Don’t worry too much about getting a fancy grinder. You just need one that is efficient. There are a lot of types of grinders in terms of how they function, such as burr grinders, automatic grinders, etc. 

If you’re going to be preparing kaapi only for yourself, you won’t need one with a bigger capacity as you’ll be grinding small batches of fresh coffee regularly. So, you can use a portable hand grinder like the Hario Coffee Mill Slim. 

Measure Coffee Beans

Now, this might seem like a no-brainer but getting your measurements right is equally important when brewing kaapi.

1 cup of whole beans will get you 1 cup of ground coffee. 

Ideally, 3 tbsps of ground coffee in a traditional Indian filter makes enough decoction for about 3-4 servings of strong coffee. You can, of course, tweak that depending on how strong you want your coffee to be.

The problem with not being specific about measurements initially is that you may sometimes grind too little or too much. 

Coffee Grinding Tips

Depending on the type of grinder you use, there may be 1-2 things you can keep in mind to make the most of grinding coffee at home. 

Take, for instance, the Hario grinder. It is a burr grinder. So you don’t need to worry about your coffee being unevenly ground. But what you need to pay attention to here is that it’s a manual grinder.

The grind setting has to be manually tweaked based on how fine or coarse you want the coffee grounds to be. And, understandably, you are more involved in grinding the coffee. You’ll be a lot more in control of the output this way.

Grind the coffee as and when needed. And make sure that it’s thoroughly cleaned from the previous use. 

Keeping all your coffee equipment in good condition is crucial to a good brew.

It’s not difficult to brew a heavenly cup of filter kaapi at home. Initially, all you have to do is pay attention to how you grind the coffee, and soon you’ll have got the hang of it.

We have a range of coffee brewing equipment including the portable Hario coffee grinder that you can use to get started.