Coffee grinders and related issues

I know a burr grinder is best and I have stepped up to a Barratza Preciso which I love. Even and consistent grind, fast, lots of settings for various grinds, but is a $1000 grinder or even more expensive machine worth it for home use?

I often grind the night before, get it all set in the Technivorm so I can stumble downstairs and push just one button, but I hear that I am losing something by pre grinding. I can’t tell the difference–bad palate?

I roast my own beans, use filtered water, and would never go back to store bought coffee, but is pre grinding a weak link in my quest for perfect coffee?

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for drip you have a fine grinder. for espresso, you’d need to upgrade.

but yeah, for all the work you’re going through to get great coffee, you should be grinding right before brewing ideally. but if you can’t tell the difference, then don’t do it.

But Bill, you get free shipping with those.

Agree with Yaacov on all counts here. One could do worse than listen to him in all things espresso related.

Yaacov, I have a compak f10 with your name on it buddy. You know you want it :wink:

i’m pleased with my vario for now. but baratza announced the Sette recently. it looks to be a real killer product and looks awesome.

I have two of these. Braun Kmm20 4045 Aromatic Coffee Bean Mill Grinder Germany for sale online | eBay One has been in use for over 25 years. The other was bought on Ebay as a backup for $20. It gets used almost every day.

That sette looks amazing and a great price too. My only complaint on the Vario is that it isn’t consistent when switching between different grind settings. If I do a grind for pourover then switch back to my espresso setting, always switching with the grinder on, the same setting will not result in the same grind. Not even close. It then takes a couple days to settle in. As a result, I only use it for espresso.

Just being real here, if you like the coffee that you make from grounds that are sitting in the machine overnight, you probably spent $950 too much on your grinder.
But this is America, so feel free to upgrade to a $2000 grinder :wink:

it should not do that. though i don’t know how you switch with the grinder on - if you mean actively grinding.

for example, my espresso is course 2 and fine 10 or so after calibrating. when i do pour over, i typically just drop the course to 4 and that works very well.

you should call them. great service and they get back to you pretty quickly and walk you through anything necessary.

What I mean is that I only switch to finer grinds with the motor running, IIRC according to the instructions. I’ll give them a call and see what they say.

I can tell the difference between my primitive sert up (blade grinder, mr coffee drip) but always considered myself too lazy.

I’m ready to step up. What are the thoughts on Baratza virtuoso? Don’t feel ready to pop for the vario.

unless you’re making espresso, you should not get the vario.

Thanks! Any experience with the virtuoso?

I think it’s important to note that a great espresso grinder does not make a great coffee (drip, pour over, French press,…) grinder. They are different beasts at the high end and you’ll need different grinders to get the maximum experience. Listen to Yaacov.

And, the Virtuoso is fairly consistently considered the best for coffee grinders. It’s usually what competition guys use. I love mine.

I used one of these for a couple of decades until it gave up the ghost. It took a lot less counter space than my current grinder

Not sure I totally agree with this. If you have a grinder that will do what you need for espresso, it should also do a bang-up job for your drip coffee grind. I think the point Yaacov was particularly stressing is that you don’t need the very best grinder unless you are making espresso, not that you’ll need different high-end grinders for the best drip and the best espresso. That is how I read his posts.

Use for drip or espresso?