Getting the right grind size is the biggest challenge to making the perfect cuppa with reusable pods. But once you’ve got the right one, your coffees will taste amazing and your love of reusable pods will be confirmed. If the grind is too fine, water will not flow through the pod, and if the grind is too coarse, the water will flow too quickly and you will be left with weak, tasteless coffee. The ‘sweet spot’ will make you the most delicious coffee – perhaps the best you’ve ever drunk!

So, where to start?

Grind sizes for coffee from the finest to the coarsest: 

1 Turkish, a very fine powder-like consistency
2 - 3.7 Espresso. A find grind like caster-sugar
4 - 4.5 Reusable Pod Coffee –A medium fine grind
3.3 - 4.6 Stove Top/ Aeropress/ Pour over – A medium grind
5 Filter / Chemex A medium course grind
6 Plunger/ French Press / Percolator – A course grind
7 Cold Brew A very coarse grind. 

The perfect coffee grind needed for a coffee pod machine to work is between the Espresso grind and the Stove Top grind. So if you are getting a barista to grind coffee for reusable coffee pods, make sure they know you don’t want an expresso grind, which most will automatically do, but a very slightly coarser grind – a Stove Top grind. Even better if they can give you a grind between the two!

Star Eco Coffee sold by Pod Star is ground to exactly 4.2

And if you have a grinder at home, make sure it’s a burr coffee grinder (not a blade that will unevenly cut up your coffee beans). This will give you the most freedom of coffee choice and you can grind any roasted beans.

We have some excellent choices of coffee brands for you to choose from: 

FIRST CHOICE

Coffee Grind Specifically for Reusable Coffee Pods:

Star Eco Coffee
Little Italy Coffee
Espresso 79 
Skybury Coffee
Cool Hand Coffee

(Star Eco Coffee only grinds to a Capsule Grind - the others grind to a stove top grind. Just be sure to mention you're using the coffee in reusable coffee pods)

Check out their ranges.  

SECOND CHOICE

Grind to a Stove Top grind, which is the closest grind to a Pod Star grind, but will need to be pressed harder in the pod to slow the extraction. Choose the Stove Top grind option for these brands.

Campos
Merlo (ask them to grind to 4.2 specifically)
Five Senses
The Little Marrionette
Coffee Alchemy
Proud Mary
Blackstar Coffee

There are so many more roasters to add to this list. If you have a favourite coffee brand, check their website and see if they grind to a Stove Top grind. 

THIRD CHOICE

There are some brands pre-grinding coffee and selling in supermarkets that work in reusable coffee capsules:

Macro Organic Fairtrade coffee