Coffee grinders

[awkwardbydesign]

bigger burrs are better at temp control and are easier to calibrate. Retention is important, how much coffee gets left inside to go stale from one grind, and left to contaminate the next. Also plays a part if you change beans frequently like we do (every week) and we often have two or three beans on the go at a time - high retention means you will contaminate one coffee with another.

As noted above, I only load what I want, but I have found that if I slightly open the hopper lid at the front and quickly flap it down, it blows the excess ground coffee out. I also use a small paint brush up the chute to clean the burrs and a quick spin clears the rest.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

quite low? let me guess la pavoni lever (small portafilte).

scales are a must

I use a La Pavoni Europiccola, and a 7gm scoop gives me the exact amount every time. I have weighed it to check.

 

[2ManyBoxes]

I use a La Pavoni Europiccola, and a 7gm scoop gives me the exact amount every time. I have weighed it to check.

Don't think that model is available anymore. They range from the Tube Mill at €279 to the Tritassi at €671.

Don't you just love Italian? La Pavoni Europiccola sounds like a particularly difficult opera diva.

 

[Snufkin]

Thanks again for all the replies. I thought I was at the ‘Denon micro system’ level with coffee but now realise I am still at the ‘portable cassette/radio’ level. I will struggle on with my ready ground vacuum packed coffee and ponder this a bit more. It does sound like I need to investigate small coffee suppliers for fresh coffee and perhaps beans if I do invest in a grinder. I did try Pact coffee once and was underwhelmed to say the least. I thought it was nothing special despite all their Hipster jive.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

Don't think that model is available anymore. They range from the Tube Mill at €279 to the Tritassi at €671.

Don't you just love Italian? La Pavoni Europiccola sounds like a particularly difficult opera diva.

That's the lever espresso machine, not the grinder!

 

[Marchbanks]

Don't you just love Italian? La Pavoni Europiccola sounds like a particularly difficult opera diva.

When you first start to use one you feel that isn't far from the truth. Particularly if you grind too fine, give up after pushing hard enough to give yourself a hernia without getting anything out, don't think about what you are doing and take the portafilter off, releasing the pressure and sending grateful wet coffee grounds over you, the La Pav, the floor and the walls.

 

[twotone]

The grinder is more important than the coffee machine or at least as important.

OP if you want decent coffee buy a decent grinder, you can pick up very good commercial grinders for relative buttons although they are a bit on the big side.

Mine is a La Cimbali and has 73mm flat burrs and built like a tank but we go through a kg of beans a week.

I paid £175 for it second hand from an excellent coffee geek guy in the North east of England and coincidently bought my espresso machine from another coffee guy in North east of England too.

My espresso machine is an Elektra T1 HEX which is a commercial one group espresso machine, with decent beans and a decent grinder, the coffee is sensational.

I paid £550 for the Elektra which is Mk1 the Mk2 current version is about £3300 including vat and worth every penny.

 

[twotone]

That's the lever espresso machine, not the grinder!

My last espresso machine was a vintage 1976 La Pav, fantastic things, love them.

 

[twotone]

Thanks again for all the replies. I thought I was at the ‘Denon micro system’ level with coffee but now realise I am still at the ‘portable cassette/radio’ level. I will struggle on with my ready ground vacuum packed coffee and ponder this a bit more. It does sound like I need to investigate small coffee suppliers for fresh coffee and perhaps beans if I do invest in a grinder. I did try Pact coffee once and was underwhelmed to say the least. I thought it was nothing special despite all their Hipster jive.

There's loads and I mean loads of great coffee roasters in the UK.

Have a look here below there's loads of great info and there's a classifieds section too.

https://coffeeforums.co.uk

 

[Colinb]

We get our coffee from Casa Espresso in Leeds. Order by Monday, they roast and grind it for you on Tuesday and post it on Wednesday. It arrives on Thursday. You can order as little as 250 g so no need to bother grinding your own, although they do sell just beans. They have a good selection all from small producers roasting either single origin or blends. They have central/south American, African and Asian varieties and often introduce new ones. They also support the producers financially to get things going. If you want decaff they also do a couple of very nice ones too.

 

[gintonic]

La Pavoni Europiccola

err that a coffee machine, i was referring to a grinder

Order by Monday, they roast and grind it for you on Tuesday and post it on Wednesday. It arrives on Thursday.

so no degassing of the beans, a roaster that clearly doesn't know what they are doing.

 

[EPear]

Manual. Cheap as chips, keeps you fit and the noise adds to the ritual. Oh and good for the environment.

I so agree, and the quality can be actually super top notch! I use the Hario ceramic (Mini slim pro), Japanese quality, these are exceptionally good for anything down to the best espresso fine grind.
https://www.hario.co.uk/products/mini-slim-pro-coffee-grinder

 

[Colinb]

I don't know their exact timings but there is plenty of time between Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon for degassing. They clearly do know what they are doing as they win plenty of awards, run training courses and sell cofee wholesale and commercial machines and training by the likes of Sanremo

 

[awkwardbydesign]

quite low? let me guess la pavoni lever (small portafilte).

scales are a must

err that a coffee machine, i was referring to a grinder

.

Really? Didn't look like it.

 

[matthewr]

so no degassing of the beans, a roaster that clearly doesn't know what they are doing.

All the speciality roasters I know roast and ship the same day or next day, including James Hoffman's Square Mile.

 

[gintonic]

All the speciality roasters I know roast and ship the same day or next day, including James Hoffman's Square Mile.

indeed they do, but that doesn't stop the beans needing to degas to be at their best

 

[boneman]

If I were going to go electric with a grinder I would seriously consider this coffee grinder engineered here in the UK:
https://www.nichecoffee.co.uk/

Here is a link to a substantial review of it:
https://www.nichecoffee.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Niche-zero-review.pdf

Not a huge amount of money for what is said to be stellar performance and if you are anything like me I like the fact that it would not dominate my kitchen.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

Estimated shipping October 2020?

 

[matthewr]

indeed they do, but that doesn't stop the beans needing to degas to be at their best

In practical terms if you get a bag of coffee a day after it's roasted then you are going to be drinking most of those beans in peak condition even if you open the bag immediately. Also the degassing thing is more of an issue for espresso, no? where I guess a channel can just totally screw the shot up?

With immersion brews I would think it makes no difference and in a drip brew you can literally see the de-gassing stop during the bloom phase. I would also suspect that dry pockets of coffee in the bed because of poor swirling during the bloom causing bubbles would be more of an issue than C02 degassing.

 

[gintonic]

In practical terms if you get a bag of coffee a day after it's roasted then you are going to be drinking most of those beans in peak condition even if you open the bag immediately. Also the degassing thing is more of an issue for espresso, no? where I guess a channel can just totally screw the shot up?

With immersion brews I would think it makes no difference and in a drip brew you can literally see the de-gassing stop during the bloom phase. I would also suspect that dry pockets of coffee in the bed because of poor swirling during the bloom causing bubbles would be more of an issue than C02 degassing.

yes I know