Grinders

Fido

Fido

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Location
New Forest, England.
Inspired by the experts here I'm minded to get a Gaggia Classic.

So let's say a budget of £200 for a grinder.

Tim has suggested something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/M-301-Ascaso-I-mini-Grinder-Black/dp/B000TCRRA0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328959512&sr=8-1

Looks good - does it have any competition in the same price bracket?
 
This is the one I use http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rancilio-Rocky-doserless/dp/B004S76LK4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328960642&sr=8-1
Reviews here Peter http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/rockydoserless
 
I don't know about Iberia (I heard new blade grinders could be good though...).

This is another good grinder, in the same price range as the one you've been looking at: http://www.italiankitchenaids.com/products.php?cat=18
 
Our blender came with a "mill" and it chops up coffee beans beautifully. IIRC the whole thing it cost about £25. I have an egg cup which I use to measure 1 mugs worth for my espresso machine and the coffee I get is fantastic. Much better than from ready ground and certainly on a par with coffee shop coffee.

I know that I may be getting an uneven grind or even heating the bean a little but TBH I can't see that a machine which is over 4 times the price will make that much difference.
 
Jeltz said:
Our blender came with a "mill" and it chops up coffee beans beautifully. IIRC the whole thing it cost about £25. I have an egg cup which I use to measure 1 mugs worth for my espresso machine and the coffee I get is fantastic. Much better than from ready ground and certainly on a par with coffee shop coffee.

I know that I may be getting an uneven grind or even heating the bean a little but TBH I can't see that a machine which is over 4 times the price will make that much difference.
Click to expand...

Well it all depends how far you want to go with it really, if you are happy using the pressurised portafilter basket that comes with most new machines you are not going to notice as much a difference with the grind quality. If you replace it with a standard basket or even a VST(guess what I just bought:icon_rolleyes:) you will have to grind more fine or even finer for the VST to stop your shot gushing out in 10 seconds. The Iberital Mc2 is a great grinder and is the one I got but if you are wanting to grind for not just espresso all the time, ie like a aeropress or cafetiere it is a real pain to change grind and dial in to the setting you want( great when you have it at the one you want and you can make tiny changes in the grind)

This is the same one as you are saying about on amazon http://www.coffeelatinoshop.co.uk/fracino-piccino-mini-demand-grinder-p-335.html Is stepless like the Iberital
 
Thank you Mikael

A very interesting website. For someone who uses packets of ground coffee in a filter coffee machine or cafetiere the whole process of selecting beans, grinding and making expresso in more sophisticated machines is a daunting prospect.

I suspect many people dive in and waste a lot of time and money before deciding either it's not for them or they settle down enjoying a huge improvement in their coffee after a lot of trial and error. I'd like to avoid the more obvious pitfalls so your link should be very useful.
 
A couple of years a go I went down the same journey as you are contemplating Peter and purchased a Gaggia Classic as I had found The Algerian Coffe shop in London I did not buy a grinder as I got them to grind it for me. After a month even though I had got my brewing skill right I found that I missed my "mug of coffee" and a shot of expresso in the mornings did not cut it for me. So I sold the Gaggia and went back to my caffetiere. Since then I have been using various blends of beans and a cheap (ish) blade ginder until I found my "perfect blend" well for me that is Monsoon Malabar and Vietnamese. A this point I was going to get an electric grinder, but as I only use my caffetiere I wondered about the sense in me spending £150.00 ish on one. So after talking to the man in the A.C.S he suggested one of these.
img0577tv.jpg


Ok you have to wind the handle yourself, but 1 hopper full grinds enough coffee for 1 pot and the difference between that and the blade grinder in unbelievable. No more over grinding, burning of the beans or sludge in the bottom of the mug. And the same coffee tastes much different. I should add it is ceramic grinder.

Don't get me wrong I am not knocking anyone who likes a good expresso in the morning and would quite happily fly over to Mikaels for a cup of his very delicious looking expresso. But I got sucked in by the thought of wanting an all singing and dancing coffee maker only to find that in the end it was not what I wanted.....(think we have all been there over something or other......:dodgy:)

For me to get my perfect coffee total cost,
£12.00 for the cafetiere (4years old)
£22.00 for the grinder
£15.00 PCM for the coffee.

Ok ramble over, I'm finished.............awaits the "Coffee Mob" to come knocking at my door.....:icon_razz::icon_razz:
 
Interesting. Like with many things, once you reach a certain level of performance or satisfaction, small improvements can cost a disproportionate amount of money. But the challenge is finding what that level is for you.
 
They're always looking for part time help at Starbucks! Free training and experience you just can't get off a web site. (you also get to drink your mistakes!!!)
 
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