Great build, looks and performance. Awesome sparring partner with the Unico Splendor.
Positive Product Points
Looks like it means business. Means business. For a stepped grinder, the adjustments are very fine. The doser levergives you good feedback.
Negative Product Points
Throws to the left, particularly on the final 'throw'. The switch, that damn switch. The doser 'blades' don't do a very good job sweeping out all of the ground coffee - then again, I am not sure what to expect as I have not used a doser before.
Detailed Commentary
I used to own an Isomac doserless grinder which served my purposes quite well. When I bought the Unico Splendor espresso machine (read separate review), I brought the grinder along to ensure it was suitable. Well, the Isomac wouldn’t grind fine enough, so, my fiancé said I HAD to buy a new grinder – she didn’t want me frustrated with the new toy.
The machine itself is very solid – the smoked plastic hopper and top half of the doser are not flimsy at all. The feel of the doser, being the first time I had used one, was very solid – provided good feedback, and you felt you could be rough with it.
The grinder is relatively quiet when in operation (and even quieter when not…..oh, wait…..). Unlike the Isomac, this one doesn’t scream like a banshee when it runs out of beans to grind.
I am not going to provide a long winded review – there are enough out there. However, I have read many people comment on the stepless adjustment of other grinders. To be honest, the steps on this one are very fine, it feels like a 1mm adjustment at a time.
One design issue I would like to see fixed is the switch. The sleave coated rocker switch makes it hard to turn on or off without moving the machine (I am always holding the pf with the other hand, y’see). I wouldn’t mind seeing a nice, old fashioned metal toggle switch, like on the Splendor, although I can see why this would be inappropriate – it could quite easily be flicked by an errant hand or other device.
One design feature I like (compared to the Isomac), is the hopper neck sliding cover (I am sure some designer somewhere in Italy is cringing saying ‘it’s got a name, you know’) which allows you to remove the hopper, empty the beans and swap the beans if trying different coffees.
Overall, I think I will be happy with this machine for many years and don’t see this thing breaking down at all (touching lots of wood).
Buying Experience
As with the Unico (separate review) I bought this grinder from John Doyle at www.coffeetraining.com. Fantastic service, good price, awesome bloke.
