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Grind size can be the difference in a delicious or an unpleasant, bitter cup of coffee. Learn why grind size matters and which setting you should be using for your coffee at home.

Taylor Martin has covered technology online for over six years. He has reviewed smartphones for Pocketnow and Android Authority and loves building stuff on his YouTube channel, MOD. He has a dangerous obsession with coffee and is afraid of free time.

Making better coffee at home is spending a little extra time on a few, simple steps, such as using the correct temperature water, weighing coffee instead measuring by volume, and grinding your own beans on the spot.

Of everything you might encounter when brewing at home, grinding coffee is arguably one of the most crucial steps, as grind size alone can dramatically change the taste of your cup. Grind size and consistency can be the difference between one of the best cups you've ever had and a bitter, undrinkable mess.

Discover how grind size affects your cup and which is right for your brew method of choice.

When it comes to grind size, there are three factors which make the biggest difference: contact time, extraction rate and flow rate. To put it simply:

Knowing this, if you have a brew method with a short contact time, the grind should be finer. In an immersion brewer, which steeps coffee grounds in water for several minutes, the contact time is much higher and, thus, requires a more coarse grind than most other brew methods.

If the contact time is too high or the grind is too fine, it will result in an over-extracted brew which can be bitter. If the grind is too coarse or the contact time is too short, the coffee will turn out weak.

Finding the proper balance between the two will help in producing the best cup of coffee possible.

Different types of filters, pressure and temperature can also play a part in determining grind size, but most brewing methods operate between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit (90.6 and 96.1 degrees Celsius) with little to no added pressure.

With an array of different brewing methods, knowing which grind size to use is crucial to getting the best possible cup.

Of course, all the above recommendations are just that -- recommendations. They are subject to change based on preferences and slight differences in brewers. Getting the grind size exactly right requires some testing and tweaking.

If you feel your cup of coffee is a tad weak, try a slightly finer grind size next time. Or if the coffee tastes too strong or slightly bitter, test with a slightly larger grind size to see if it solves the problem.