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Set a Bodum Bistro between positions 5 and 11 for French press, per Honest Coffee Guide's compiled Bistro chart (counting the FINE icon as position 1). Bodum built its name on the French press, and the coarse half of the Bistro's collar is exactly where this grinder is happiest.
Bodum Bistro grind settings by brew method
| Brew method | Bodum Bistro setting |
|---|---|
| Espresso | the FINE stop only, with no room to dial [1] |
| Pour over | positions 2 to 7 (V60 at 2 to 4) [1] |
| AeroPress | FINE to position 7 [1] |
| Moka pot | FINE to position 4 [1] |
| French press | positions 5 to 11 [1] |
| Cold brew | MEDIUM to COARSE, the last third of the collar [1] |
Every numbered range above was checked against the source in the footnote it carries; where a manufacturer publishes nothing for a method, the row says so instead of inventing a number. Ranges are windows, not verdicts. Beans, roast age, and dose move the right setting inside each window, which is why the dial-in ladder below matters more than any single number.
How the Bodum Bistro adjustment works
The Bodum Bistro uses a stepped collar of 12 positions running from a FINE icon through MEDIUM to COARSE, with unlabeled dots between the icons; Honest Coffee Guide counts every position as a number (FINE, 2, 3, 4, 5, MEDIUM, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, COARSE) and charts the range at 365 to 1390 microns. Find your zero before trusting any chart: with the hopper empty, tighten toward fine until the burrs just touch, call that zero, and count from there. If your zero point is calibrated differently from the chart's, every range shifts by the difference, which explains most "the chart is wrong" complaints.
Dial it in from the chart in 3 steps
1. Set the middle of the french press range above and brew once, changing nothing else. 2. Taste against the two failure directions: sour, thin, or fast means grind finer; bitter, harsh, or stalled means grind coarser. The full logic lives in why espresso runs sour and why it runs bitter. 3. Move in small steps, one variable at a time, and write each attempt down; the free dial-in logbook exists for exactly this, and the printable dial-in cheat sheet keeps the correction table next to the machine.
The espresso question
One FINE stop is a single setting, not an espresso range, and the Bistro's 365 micron floor sits above true espresso fineness anyway. Buy it for press pots and drip; if shots matter, the money belongs in a grinder with a real espresso band.
Get the grinder
The Bodum Bistro is on Amazon: check the current Bodum Bistro price. Prices move often enough that we link the search rather than quote a number that will be stale by Friday.
Related reading
FAQ
What is the best Bodum Bistro setting for french press? Positions 5 to 11. Treat the range as a window, start near its middle, and adjust on taste: coarser if the cup is bitter, finer if it is sour or weak.
Can the Bodum Bistro grind for espresso? Espresso on the Bodum Bistro: the FINE stop only, with no room to dial. See the table on this page for every other method.
How do I read the Bodum Bistro adjustment? The Bodum Bistro uses a stepped collar of 12 positions running from a FINE icon through MEDIUM to COARSE, with unlabeled dots between the icons; Honest Coffee Guide counts every position as a number (FINE, 2, 3, 4, 5, MEDIUM, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, COARSE) and charts the range at 365 to 1390 microns. Zero is with the burrs fully closed, and higher numbers or more clicks mean a coarser grind.
Sources
- [1] Honest Coffee Guide's Bodum Bistro 10903 chart: https://honestcoffeeguide.com/bodum-bistro-10903-grind-settings/
Improving your brew? Browse our free coffee tools, print the brew ratio card, and try our method: the descending pour.