Great value and good results but don't buy if you want espresso with crema
Positive Product Points
Good value, reasonable looking. easy to use.
Negative Product Points
Won't grind fine enough for espresso, bit noisy, lots of static, not the most elegant
Detailed Commentary
Been hunting for a burr grinder for a couple of weeks. Been using a 'cutter' from Kenwood which has been producing pretty rubbish results in our newly purchased Ascaso Uno Steel.
The Barista is far from beautiful but the design is inoffensive and it seems to perform very effectively which is the main thing.
Looked on coffee geek reviews and ruled out a few that are far too expensive. At this stage we are not willing to spend £200 on a grinder so this product from Starbuck's is good value at £59.95.
Currently in the dial in phase. Getting much better crema but the extraction is far from perfect. More experimentation needed with settings and tamp.
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Ok, 2 months have passed and after lots of attempts and getting the grinder dialed in I have come to the conclusion that this grinder just can't grind the coffee fine enough. Very frustraiting as I just couldn't get decent crema - thought it was the tamp / grinding too fine.
Yesterday, I bought some freshly ground coffee from our local market. The vendor ground it very fine and.... a result! Lots of lovely thick crema. Not sure what I will do with this grinder - suspect Starbucks won't recieve a return after this long but will try.
Buying Experience
Very helpful staff at Starbucks. Friendly manager gave me a free bag of Christmas beans to try in the grinder.
Three Month Followup
Has ended up sitting next to my old 'cutter' - no use for it now
