If you're new to freshly ground coffee, you'll need the Barista & Co Core All Grind Plus Grinder

Everyone knows that freshly ground coffee tastes better, but not everybody is confident enough to take the plunge and start grinding their own beans. If that sounds like you, I've got the grinder to help.

The Barista & Co Core All Grind Plus is easily one of the best coffee grinders I've tested. It's beginner-friendly, with helpful dose controlling, but offers the precision and versatility of some of the best models on the market.

The Core All Grind Plus claims to grind two cups worth of coffee grounds in less than 15 seconds. Paired with the slim design, reasonable price tag, and premium build quality, it might sound too good to be true. I took it to our test kitchen to find out whether it is really as good as it looks on paper.

Specifications

Unboxing

The Core All Grind Plus is easy to unbox. I’ll have to let you behind the scenes here because I tested a press sample. That means that other people had used this before me, so I’m not sure if the minimalistic packaging is a deliberate choice for sustainability or a bit of a coincidence. Either way, it suits me perfectly. There's a small amount of soft plastic, but, for the most part, it was recyclable cardboard.

The Core All Grind Plus comes with a useful brush, helping you to keep the machine clean. You’ll also get 53 and 58 mm portafilter holders if you want to grind directly into your portafilter. If you'd rather grind into a container, you're in luck too. The Core All Grind Plus has a neat, airtight grounds container. It’s opaque, which is great for storing your coffee beans in (they won’t get damaged by UV rays). However, the stainless steel container makes it hard for you to check how much coffee you've ground or how many grounds you have left without stopping the grinder or lifting off the lid of your container.

Who would it suit?

It’s clear that Barista & Co have put a lot of thought into their grinder because it has a close to universal appeal. The different grind settings are labeled on the ideal with recommendations for which brewing style to use with them. If you're new to coffee or not confident with the kind of grind setting that you need, this is really useful.

Barista & Co has also taken all of the guesswork out of grinding, offering auto-dosing for up to 12 cups of coffee. You won’t need to measure out your beans and use scales. Rest assured, the machine is doing it all for you. If you want to get techy, grinding your own doses, and selecting specific settings, you can too. If you consider the compact design alongside all of these features, the Core All Grind Plus has something for everyone. 

What is it like to use?

There’s very little that needs prepping before you can get grinding. This plugs in, the screen lights up, and you’re good to go. I started on the coarsest setting, recommended for cold brew. I set the auto-dosing to just one cup, pushed the button in, and let the machine do the rest. 

It was speedy, working through a cup’s worth of grounds in a few seconds. The machine didn’t make much noise (for a grinder). I recorded just 73 dB. This was the same for my three-cup test, which was over in eleven seconds. All of the coffee came out directly into the pot, without any static, so there was minimal mess and maximal grind collection.

I happened to be testing a cold brew coffee maker at the same time, so popped the grounds in and let the machine do its work. This test was on a speedy cold brew maker, so I could do a taste test in just 20 minutes. The coarseness of the grounds combined with the coffee maker brewed a really delicious cup of coffee. It was smooth, sweet, and nicely balanced in terms of flavors. I know this is mostly owed to the ground consistency since you can't get that kind of clarity without well-ground beans. 

The medium grind setting is perfect for pour-over and drip coffee, according to the directions, so that’s exactly what I tested. Using both a single setting and a three-cup dose, I ground up some great coffee. You can hear when the machine is finished, not only because the grinding noise stops, but also because it gives you a clear beep. This is great if you want to prep other coffee or do some jobs around the kitchen, since the beep is distinctive enough to notice, without being piercing.

I kept a close eye on the grounds retention, static, and popcorning here, since it’s easy for finger grinds to demand a bit more from a grinder. However, you’ll be pleased to hear that this was faultlessly consistent with almost no retention and no popcorning.

The consistency looked great too, not too powdery or too coarse. It was about the texture of sand, which is perfect. I brewed some pour-over coffee and kept my fingers crossed that this would translate into a delicious brew. It did. The flavors were delicate, nicely balanced, and really delicious. It was another success.

My final test was on the finest setting, which is labelled as better suited towards espresso machines, moka pots and Aeropreses. I started off asking for just one cup’s worth of ground coffee, moving on to three. 

I didn’t expect this to deliver perfect results because normally coffee makers are either great on coarse grounds or fine grounds, not both. However, the Core All Grind Plus delivered across the board. My coffee grounds were powdery and ultra-fine, perfect for a moka pot.  

I had my AeroPress to hand, so got to work brewing with my perfect-looking grounds. I only planned on making one espresso-style shot with my Aeroccino, but I ended up grinding more coffee and making five. Once everyone in the kitchen had a sip of mine, they all demanded their own.

Toward the end of my tests, I ran the grinder through, back on the coarse setting. Here, I could see that there was overlap in my grounds: some of the fine grounds had mixed in with my coarse grounds, so there’s obviously some retention higher up in the grinder. You’ll need to do a mini grind between changing settings if you want absolute consistency, but this didn't mess with my tests too much. The problem is only if you go from ultra-fine to ultra-coarse with nothing in between.

Cleaning, storage, and maintenance

Barista & Co usefully supplies you with a small brush for little clean-ups around the grinder. Compared to other models that I’ve tested, this was a tidy grinder. There will always be a few stray grounds that escape from the pot, but the grounds container is tall enough to keep most of these inside the container and away from your countertops. The fact that there was no static also makes a massive difference. It's rare that grinders don't have any static, so I was really impressed.

There’s very little in the way of maintenance. I would make sure to regularly clean your burrs and the bean hopper, so that no stray, old coffee grounds end up spoiling the taste of your coffee, but that’s general advice that I would issue for any coffee grinder.

How does it compare?

As I was using this, the coffee grinders that sprung to my mind were the Fellow and the OXO. The dial and boxy design are very reminiscent of Fellow’s iconic grinder. I actually think Barista & Co's was a serious rival across all the settings. In fact, the Core All Grind Plus has twenty more settings and an auto-dosing function. The fact that the two grinders are still a similar price speaks volumes for the sheer value of the Core All Grind Plus. 

The only places where the Fellow is better are aesthetically (the Fellow is pretty impossible to beat); dimension-wise (the Fellow is really compact); and noise-wise (the Fellow is even quieter than the Core All Grind Plus, which I thought was quiet anyway). If you’re a competent grinder and you care about aesthetics, I’d go for the Fellow. If you want some more guidance, the Barista & Co is a great option. 

Should you buy it?

If you’re new to grinding your own coffee and have a well-cushioned budget, you’re in safe hands with the Core All Grind Plus. The auto-dosing and range of settings are brilliant for holding your hand through the process. If you’ve got a tighter budget and some more expertise up your sleeve, I’d recommend taking a look at our buying guide for the best grinders. 

How we test

Before we review or recommend any product to you, we’ve tested it in person as if it’s an everyday product. We have a specialized process for how we test every appliance. I’m trained as a barista. This means that I’ve been through a number of processes to become an expert on all things coffee.

Before testing, we carefully research the claims that a brand makes about their product, so we know what we are looking for. We will also look at and test competitors, so we can place every product that we test on the market.

I took the Core All Grind Plus grinder and tested it alongside other market-leading grinders. I used it in an everyday kitchen and made sure to test every function. At every stage of the process, from unboxing to cleaning up, I made thorough notes and observations and taste-tested all of the grounds.