Grinder Advice

Mr E

Time to move up a grade or two from my whirly blade bean masher thingy. I'm heading up to Dublin (City Center) tomorrow, and would like to upgrade to a burr grinder. Being the month that it is, my budget isn't massive, but I'd spend up to 100-120.

Any recommendations on where to pick one up? I was in Kildare Outlet a couple of weeks ago looking for a grinder in the kitchen shop there, but they were out of stock.

I know Arnotts have a few, but not sure if they are any good (I think I remember reading advice to avoid anything made by Krupps).

Any alternatives?

Thanks in advance....

Mr Magnolia

I don't know of anywhere in Dublin for what you're looking for Mr E. Have you though about the Iberital MC2 from Happy Donkey, you'd tune it in for the aeropress no problem. It's £99+p&p so should come in around your budget.

Gran Hermano

I've seen Krupps referred to as Krapps on too many coffee fora to mention.


You could pick up the Bodum burr grinder (the one they had in the Kildare Outlet) from Java Republic via their web shop. Check REACTOR's website
for a review and see if it suits your brewing methods.

My first choice for bang for buck for your budget would also be the Iberital MC2 from Happydonkey.
Phone them for a price including VAT and delivery
but with the weak sterling/euro rate it's hard to beat at it's price.

RE*AC*TOR

Starbucks Barista grinder (burr not the whirly blade thing). Think it goes for about €120.



Probably in that budget it's the best value you'll get in a physical shop in Dublin.

Don't touch anything by Krups, or the Gaggia MM for that matter.

RE*AC*TOR

If you can spend a bit more, it could be worth it.

Watermark in Citywest sell the Rancilio Rocky for €265 and Coffee Angel up at the IFSC sell the Anfim Haus for €330. So they're 2 or 3 times the price of the budget, but they'll outlast the Starbucks grinder by a long way, and they'll provide a better range, and more adjustability.

Gran Hermano

Couple of links you may find useful:

http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/iberitalgrinders.html
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/mc2review/mc2review.htm
http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/iberital_grinder/DanGray

http://www.javarepublic.com/iopen24/product_info.php?products_id=1269
http://theotherblackstuff.ie/?p=86

http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/starbucks_barista_grinder

Mr E

Outstanding.... thanks for the info.

If I spot that Bodum one tomorrow, I'll probably go for it, otherwise I'll grab it from Java Republic (I've had my eye on that one for a week now).

The Starbucks Barista was €90 in the Kildare Outlet the last time I was there....

Mr E

Hmm.... just read David's review of the Antigua... hmmmm...
Maybe the MC2 is the way to go after all.

RE*AC*TOR

the bodum one isn't suitable for espresso or aeropress

IsThatSo?

I bought a grinder approx two weeks ago. I spent more on the grinder than I did on the espresso machine, which is what people advise here. I don't regret it one bit (I did get an espresso machine that was in such excellent condition that you would never know it was second hand, thanks Kev )

I bought a Gaggia MDF and am very happy with it. BUT, theres a but, next time I wouldn't bother with a doser as I only grind enough for a shot at a time. I don't grind a ton and leave it sit in the hopper, it makes a big difference to the taste. Thats another tip I picked up here.

Thats just my discovery after 2 weeks if its any use to the OP

There doesn't seem to be a big price difference between doser and doserless models though, so might be very useless info :P

Mr E

Ah well... came away empty handed today. Arnotts only had a krups, the starbucks barista struck me as being a bit flimsy and they still don't have a burr grinder in Kildare village (although they told me that they only do Krups grinders?!)

Time to go online....

Gran Hermano

Pop onto Happydonkey and get the doserless MC2.

Mr E

Hmmm... created an account on Happy Donkey, but got the following message on the checkout screen:

Sorry, there are no available shipping methods for your location.

Do I need to call them? Has anyone else ordered from them before?

Gran Hermano

Email or phone Scott, contact details on the site. He ships to Ireland but his
webshop is not geared towards international/non-UK postcode orders.

evercloserunion

Can anyone tell me what the major advantages are of a grinder? How does it add to one's coffee experience?

RE*AC*TOR

Coffee contains various gaseous and solid volatile components that make up the taste and aroma. Once ground the surface area of the coffee increases exponentially, and these volatile components start to rapidly dissipate through oxidation and other chemical degradation.

So, to cut a long story short, in order to get as many of these flavour compounds into the cup, you need to grind as near as possible to the time of brewing. Ideally a matter of seconds and minutes, as opposed to hours, days or weeks (months in the case of most preground stuff).

There are other reasons why to pick one grinder over another, but that's a different question.

evercloserunion

Thanks, I've been doing some research on Wikipedia. I know to get a burr grinder instead of a blade one, but that's about it.

IsThatSo?

+1 on what RE*AC*TOR said. I am a newbie, only pulling shots for about 5/6 weeks now but I can tell the difference between a shot with freshly ground coffee and stuff that has been sitting in the doser for even just a few hours. Not only can you taste it but you can see it in the way the shot pulls.

I love my grinder (and so has everyone who visited over the Christmas, I have produced some good coffee I am told )

Mr E

Got my MC2 from Happy Donkey today.... looking forward to giving it a spin tonight.

Gran Hermano

Congrats on the purchase, my tip would be to remove the bean hopper before
first using and adjust the burrs so they are almost touching.
Replace the hopper and start adjusting and dialling in the grinder to get
the right setting. Hold off on using your favourite/expensive beans until
you have the grinder dialled in.

Mr E

OK chaps, just opened it up and I'm not happy.

- It was packed loose in a brown box, padded with foam pellets.
- The opening at the top (where the grinder is) was uncovered, and had some foam pellets in it.
- The hopper was packed loose in smaller box with no protection (so it was rattling around in there).
- No manual, no warranty card, no documentation whatsoever.

My assumption is that its an ex-display model (maybe even a return?) and I won't be able to use it until I clean out the bloody white pellet dust.

To be honest I don't even know how to use it (I can play about with it and waste lots of beans in the process, but that seems like a waste). There is no manual that I can find on www.iberital.com or www.iberitalusa.com and the only manual I can find is an 'unofficial' one here. Not very detailed, but better than nothing.

For those who got an MC2 from Happy Donkey before, was it packed like this?

Any tips for getting started without wasting a ton of beans trying to figure it out?

Gran Hermano

Happy Donkey mainly deal with 'trade' customers and I'm pretty sure mine
was packed as you described. (It's a couple of years so trying to remember).

There are two dials on the side, one controls how long it grinds for.
The other controls how coarse or fine it grinds.

There's not a lot of setting up to do. Push in the bean hopper into the top
after adjusting the coarse/fine dial until the burrs are almost touching.


This is a stepless grinder so one full rotation of the coarse/fine dial
has a very small change on how coarse the grind is. I find it takes 3-7
complete rotations to notice any real change in grind.


Adjust the smaller timing dial to mid-way to start.

Mr E

OK, thanks Gran Hermano. That puts my mind at ease.
They gave me a bag of Happy Donkey Italian Blend with it, so I'll play about with that.

Mr Magnolia

Mine was packed in a similar fashion with no instructions, I remember thinking wtf?

How'd you get on?

ch2008

My advice would be to get a digital scales and weigh each dose as you grind.when you decrease the dosing time you get less in the basket,but you also get less in the basket when you make it finer as it takes longer for the coffee to pass through the burrs.keeping one of the variables, i.e. Weight, at a constant makes things easier.try 16g for the double basket and get used to that.once your up and running REACTOR will tempt you into updosing nearer the 40g mark

Mr Magnolia

ch2008 wrote: »

once your up and running REACTOR will tempt you into updosing nearer the 40g mark

Is that into a triple basket?

RE*AC*TOR

Lol, that's even beyond facemelter territory.

Now that you mention it though, I've never done a what's the maximum amount of coffee I can fit into a triple basket test. Something to try this evening methinks...

Mr Magnolia

It had me wondering alright. Looking forward to this weekend, I've a nice relaxing coffee filled couple of days in front of me.