headchange4u Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 69 Location: Ky Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Aeropress Grinder: Capresso Infinity 565 Roaster: West Bend Poppery II
Posted Thu May 22, 2008, 5:32am Subject: EDIT:Need Help Choosing a Grinder. Found A Capresso Infinity 565. Worth keeping?
In the past couple of months I have discovered what really good coffee is like. I have started home roasting with a Poppery II and my wife bought me an Aeropress, which I absolutely love. I also frequently use pour over brewing and a press pot to make coffee at home. I also enjoy Turkish coffee but I have never made it at home, only drinking it at restaurants and cafes, but I just bought an ibrik for home use. As you can tell, I have not moved into the high end coffee and espresso gear....yet
Due to a recent birthday I have few extra bucks and I thought I would upgrade from the blade grinder (Oh, the horror) that I am currently using. I saw a burr grinder at Bed, Bath & Beyond for like $50. I didn't notice the brand. I have also really been looking at getting a Zassenhaus Manual Mill or a Zassenhaus Turkish Mill. I like the looks of the Turkish Mill better, but I'm not sure if it's capable of grinding courser grinds, like for my press pot. I also noticed that a local restaurant carries a Turkish Mill, although it's not a Zass. They did not know the brand but you can see it here: click here
I am currently leaning more toward a hand grinder as it would allow me to use it in my camper and in situations where there is no electricity. I have no problem taking the time to grind my coffee by hand.
Any suggestions of an inexpensive grinder would be greatly welcomed. It should be able to grind coffee from a course press pot to a fine Turkish coffee. I have about $100 to spend (no more than that) but I would like to keep the price tag around $75-80. I'm not looking for the best thing going; only something that will be much better than the blade grinder I currently use.
Posted Thu May 22, 2008, 5:59am Subject: Re: Need Help Choosing a Grinder.
Hi Jason! I very much doubt that a Turkish mill will grind coarse enough for a press pot, though I'm not 100% sure. I got a new Zass (not Turkish) recently for espresso and it's pretty serviceable, though it has some quirks. Adjusting it a little has helped, but it could still use some tweaking. But for ~ $80, it's definitely an option. (I'd steer away from the grinder you linked without recommendations from others who've used it for your purposes.)
I'm quite happy with my Zass for now, especially for the price. But then I'm just using it for espresso, haven't tried it for Turkish or press. I got quite a range of grinds from it when I was first dialing it in, but didn't really examine them for consistency. I found a lot of info on hand grinders in the Home Barista forums, so you may also want to look there.
orphanespresso Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 67 Location: Troy Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Cremina Faemina Microcimbali... Grinder: Hand Grinders
Posted Fri May 23, 2008, 1:46am Subject: Re: Need Help Choosing a Grinder.
Thanks again Robert - you're a champ! LOL...we aren't REALLY following you around.
Seriously, Zassenhaus has a lot of 'rep', but there are other very good grinders as well. Many of the newer Zass grinders are fairly 'slow', to grind fine enough for Turkish (if they are capable), the burr must be set VERY tight, so it makes a ratchety, or grinding sound when empty (steel on steel), some of the older Zass grinders will grind fine without burrs touching. Deines (Pe De) is VERY good overall, they are very fast (means that it requires arm strength to turn them - fast is fewer turns to grind your dose, slow is more turns, but easier to do the turning, and often the slower ones are more capable of extremely fine grinding). Most Deines grind for espresso with no burr sounds when empty, and appear to have the ability to grind finer if you tighten the burrs down (it doesn't hurt the burrs). KyM also is a good brand, overall, for very fine grinding, many of the KyM grinders have a somewhat small hopper though, and often, with Kym, the hopper is not lined with metal.
If the chrome top of a grinder is flat, it will hold fewer beans than a domed one. If you look at various hand grinders you will notice that some have a thin chrome top, and others have a heavy steel chrome strap that goes over the top - the strap design provides a very stable top bearing to the grinder. Some of the non-strap chrome top grinders can have a bit of 'slop' in the top bearing because of the thinness of the top metal (and this can lead to wear & damage, and the inability to grind finely). If you're looking for a bargain, and don't mind taking a chance, ebay can be a good way to go - your odds of getting one that will grind fine are about 60/40. (we've only received a few that were absolutely unusable, about 40% of those we've purchased through ebay can't grind espresso, while about 60% have been fine for espresso, and a few of those could do Turkish).
headchange4u Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 69 Location: Ky Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Aeropress Grinder: Capresso Infinity 565 Roaster: West Bend Poppery II
Posted Sun May 25, 2008, 2:23pm Subject: Re: Need Help Choosing a Grinder.
Let me ask you guys this: I want to get the best grinder that I can for my budget of $80-100. I know it's not going to get me anything great, but it will be better than the blade grinder I am currently using. Including electric and manual grinder, what would be the best bang for my buck?
Posted Sun May 25, 2008, 3:22pm Subject: Re: Need Help Choosing a Grinder.
To find out if hand grinding is for you the traveler grinder from REI is a decient grinder as long as the beans are small. Click Here (www.rei.com) The price is modest. Don't get the one with ceramic burrs as it is ruputed to be a POC.
If you find that the Traveler is somthing you can live with but want to not be restricted to smaller beans get one of the machines from the site which Robert gave. If hand grinding proves to be more of a chore than you are up for The Capresso Infinity is a decient choice. I just saw them at Costco for about $87 dollars.
By all means avoid the "pseudo-burr" stuff that you are likely to find at department stores. They are little better than whirly blades.
Posted Sun May 25, 2008, 4:30pm Subject: Re: Need Help Choosing a Grinder.
headchange4u Said:
Let me ask you guys this: I want to get the best grinder that I can for my budget of $80-100. I know it's not going to get me anything great, but it will be better than the blade grinder I am currently using. Including electric and manual grinder, what would be the best bang for my buck?
Phil has a point there are decent electric grinders under $100..Solis maestro another...HOWEVER....I'd be willing to bet a good espresso ready hand grinder would do a better job of espresso grinding, and you'd have portability. I have an SJ for espresso, and maestro for everything else....neither my Anita nor Cremina pulled decently with coffee I ground in the Maestro (just an experiment). The Maestro does a fine job otherwise. You can always get much of what you paid for a hand grinder back if you decide it's not right for you. It's ALREADY used. Just my thought.
headchange4u Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 69 Location: Ky Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Aeropress Grinder: Capresso Infinity 565 Roaster: West Bend Poppery II
Posted Sun May 25, 2008, 6:07pm Subject: Re: Need Help Choosing a Grinder.
I don't do a lot of true espresso grinding . All I have is an Aeropress at the moment. I nice espresso machine is a while down the road for me. I mostly do pour over, drip, or press pot brewing, but it would still be nice to have the capability to do fine grinds. I would still like to try Turkish coffee. I have always loved coffee and the discovery of home roasting and truly fresh coffee has opened a new world to me. From what I have read, the grind can make as much difference as fresh coffee.
BTW,
I have no problem putting in the time and effort to grind the coffee by hand, if it means I'm going to be getting a better grind than the cheaper burr grinders. Having a portable grinder would also be nice.
I looked on Ebay, but in all honesty, I'm still pretty new at this and I have no idea if the "vintage" and "antique" grinders are going to be worth a crap. I will keep an eye on the FS forum and maybe something will come up. If anyone has something they would like to get rid of, please let me know. If not, I will look into getting one from one of the sites linked above.
TomP10 Senior Member Joined: 31 Dec 2005 Posts: 414 Location: New Jersey Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: LaSpaz S1 Grinder: mini E-B; Virtuoso Vac Pot: Yama; balance brewer Drip: Presto, Aeropress Roaster: SC/TO, Poppery II
Posted Sun May 25, 2008, 9:36pm Subject: Re: Need Help Choosing a Grinder.
While there is little dispute that a high quality hand grinder will produce excellent coffee I think you would be way better off spending $65 for a refurb'd Baratza (Solis) Maestro. On a day in, day out basis it will be far more convenient for your needs. It is not up to producing espresso grind, but that does not sound like an issue for you (at least at the current time).
Baratza has superior customer service. Buy from them with confidence,.
- Tom
--------------------------------------------- Three Musketeers?? Nah... Four M's.
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