Helping Home Baristas Stop Wasting Beans
GrindDial was built out of frustration. Every new bag meant the same dance: pull a shot, taste sour, grind finer, taste bitter, go back... repeat until you've wasted half a dozen shots and still aren't sure if you're dialed in.
The Problem We Solve
There's plenty of espresso advice online. YouTube videos explain extraction theory. Reddit threads debate the merits of different grinders. Coffee forums share "dial-in tips."
But none of them answer the most basic question: What number should I set my grinder to?
"Grind finer" doesn't help when you don't know if that means 0.1 or 2.0 on your specific grinder. "Somewhere in the espresso range" doesn't help when that range spans 30 different settings.
We built GrindDial to bridge this gap — to translate abstract espresso knowledge into concrete, equipment-specific instructions.
How GrindDial Works
At the core of GrindDial is a grinder behavior engine — a curated database of grinder profiles containing:
- Espresso zones: The range of settings where espresso works, broken down by roast level
- Sensitivity curves: How much a single click or number change affects shot time
- Calibration variance: How much individual units of the same model differ
When you calibrate your grinder with one shot, we learn your unit's unique offset. Combined with roast and freshness data, we can give you THE number — not a range.
When your shot is off, we don't just say "grind finer." We calculate exactly how many clicks based on your grinder's sensitivity at that point in its range.
Open Source Grinder Research
Our grinder profiles are built from rigorous research: manufacturer specs, professional reviews, user reports from forums and Reddit, and our own testing.
Every data point is cited. Every source is documented. We've compiled 122 sources across our 10 supported grinders.
Our goal is to make this the most comprehensive, accurate grinder database for home espresso. If you have data or insights about your grinder, we'd love to hear from you.