Excellent grinder for anyone but an interior decorator.
Positive Product Points
Very well built; large burrs and powerful motor; easy to get to the chute that coffee grinds come through; easy to adjust grind; easy to take apart for cleaning; good support from http://www.sovranastore.com. Although it's very tall with the hopper that it comes with, the hopper for the Cunill Tranquillo fits it, is much shorter, and costs about $20.
Negative Product Points
Not stepless, and this _is_ a downside (more below); doser doesn't sweep as clean as I would like; a bit noisy.
Detailed Commentary
The Spanish company that makes these grinders must be sizeable; I think they also make the Expobar espresso machines. I see what I'm sure are re-branded versions of this machine on eBay all the time. I must also note that the machine I had was one that was bought in Europe by the seller's parents. I had to get a step up/down transformer to use with it. But for the total $150 I paid for the grinder and the transformer, I would tell anyone faced with a similar deal to do it without reservation. I have since bought a used Mazzer Major. At the moment the jury is out vis a vis grinding comparisons because I'm going to replace the burrs on the Major. The motor on the Major is clearly more powerful and quieter, but I suspect that I'm really not going to see significant differences in grind quality between the two. I once emailed a person who mentioned that he had traded up from a Cunill Tranquilo to a Mini to ask about this, and he said that although the Mini seemed to produce a slightly better grind, he thought the difference was negligible.
That said, I did find the non-stepless adjustment on the Brasil to be a minor problem. Normally, I could set the adjustment without a problem in between the notches where the grind adjustment would be held. In some instances, however, the burrs would seem to catch ever so briefly on an especially hard bean, making the setting jump to the next notched setting. Again, this is not a major problem, but something to be aware of.
The grinder does have an on-off switch, not a timer, which I liked. I also like the fact that it is very easy to get into the chute the coffee grinds come through into the hopper, so getting out the grinds remaining in the chute is not a problem. The doser on my model could be switched from right handed to left handed, which is another feature I miss on the Major.
All in all, this is I believe I an excellent grinder.
Buying Experience
I bought it from a person who had unsuccessfully listed it on ebay. I can't remember his name, but the transaction went very smoothly.
