The best single-dose grinders
Weigh in exactly what you brew, keep nearly nothing behind. Single-dosing is the workflow for people who rotate coffees — and the retention number decides everything. We measured it. Priced live in Canada.
91 of the 165 grinders on file qualify · In Canada today the shortlist runs about CA$235–2,398. · updated 2026
Torn between the top two? VS4 Grinder vs Lagom P80 →
What we left out, and why
Hopper grinders marketed as "single-dose friendly" are excluded — bellows taped to a hopper is a workaround, not a workflow. Everything here was designed to run empty.
If your case is the exception
A shortlist ranks the field. The finder ranks it for you.
Two minutes of questions — your cup, the machine it feeds, retention, noise — weighed against all 165 on file, honest alternates included.
Take the two-minute finder →Feed it right
Week one is dial-in — and stale beans will lose it.
Coffee more than a few weeks past roast won’t extract predictably, and a new grinder gets blamed for it. A balanced burr set: rotate origins freely — it will keep up.
Pick your coffee — any of these dials in beautifully here:
Wild Ember - Ethiopian Buno Dambi UddoSCA 92Medium roast · Odo Shakiso, Guji Zone, Oromia · NaturalBlueberry · MarmaladeSteady and repeatable — right for this setup’s lane.CA$26.83 · roasted to order
Etherea - Ethiopian YirgacheffeSCA 88Medium roast · NaturalJasmine · BergamotSteady and repeatable — right for this setup’s lane.CA$24.16 · roasted to order
Sergio - Brazillian Fazenda Joia Rara Aerobic FermentedSCA 88Medium-light · Cerrado Mineiro · Aerobic FermentedHoney · OrangeSteady and repeatable — right for this setup’s lane.CA$29.18 · roasted to orderWhole bean, dated, ready for your burrs the week it lands.
Roasted to order, daily, in Ajax, Ontario · ships Canada-wide. We’re the roastery behind this database — measuring the machines is how we make sure the coffee gets a fair shot.
Questions, answered straight
- What is the point of a single-dose grinder?
- Freedom to switch beans without purging and near-zero stale retention between sessions. If you rotate coffees, run decaf evenings, or pull a few shots a day rather than a hopper’s worth, it is the workflow that fits.
- Which single-dose grinder is best?
- VS4 Grinder leads on the blend of retention, community standing, and value. The ritual costs a few extra seconds per shot — a drop of water against static, a bellows puff out — and buys back-to-back repeatability.
More shortlists
New burrs settle over their first kilo — and stale beans make every grinder look broken. We roast to order, daily, in Ajax, Ontario.