New to espresso making

[nuburrgrnd]

Hello, I am new to the espresso making process. I was going to Starbucks or Lasaters every day and started watching really close how they made my drink. Till one day I realized, I think I can do this myself. Needless to say I started searching backwards, looking for an espresso machine, not a grinder. Well, I bought a Brevill 800ESXL, like it alot, just not doing real well with the taste of my espresso, so now I'm in the market for a grinder. I'm not neccessarily on a budget, but don't want to spend lots of money. But I do want a good espresso grinder that I don't have to adjust in any way. I may want to try it for drip for my husband down the road, but again, that is not that important. Can anyone advise on what I should get.

 

[AJPRATT]

For home use, some of the commerical espresso grinders can be costly. I have a Cuisinart at home. Its adjustable (drip, espresso, press) and works for most part pretty well the machine I have. I'm spoiled at the cafe, so when I get home, I rough it.

 

[nuburrgrnd]

Thanks AJPRATT, I've read reviews on the cuisinart and not too impressed. To be honest, I am looking for a really good grinder for espresso, and possibly drip, not just "works well for the most part". Please don't take me wrong I appreciate your feedback. Still looking.

 

[Christy]

I use Cuisinart too. I agree that it has some drawbacks with espresso grinding. Many times you can go into a store and grind your coffee there or local shops will do it for you. It can be an issue if you get your coffee pre-ground so make sure you keep it in the refrigerator if you decide to buy it this way to maintain freshness. Commercial grinders are definately the way to go, but they are expensive and big and bulky. Your best bet is to get a high quality been. I found some really good coffee through a link on www.coffeesage.com, which is another blog site that I also read daily along with this one. It is Honey Bean Coffee and their website is www.honeybean.com. I read a story about them and thought I would give it a try and I was impressed with it. They have high quality beans and they have so many different types. They will also grind it for you if you would like, but again, you might want to get whole bean becuase of freshness. At any rate, unless you are willing to spend a ton on a grinder, if youwant a proper esperesso grind and do not want to spend the oodles of money on a commercial grinder, which I couldn't afford, you should get it preground from someone. I hope this was helpful.

 

[AJPRATT]

Thanks AJPRATT, I've read reviews on the cuisinart and not too impressed. To be honest, I am looking for a really good grinder for espresso, and possibly drip, not just "works well for the most part". Please don't take me wrong I appreciate your feedback. Still looking.

No worries. Takes more than that to offend me. I thought you were looking for something simple. The grinder I was thinking of is the Cuisinart Supreme Grind CCM-16PC Grinder. We've actually used that grinder at home for cupping and were pretty impressed, considering its not commercial.

And, fwiw, (not to make things more difficult) you will want/need to adjust your grinder as there are many factors involved with dosing: humidity, bean, temperature, age of roast. We adjust our grind several times in a day. While you might not need to be that vigilent, since this is for home use, you will notice that something is "off" as your taste develops. In any event, imho, its not really a set it and forget it thing.

Visions Espresso has a Baratza Maestro Conical Burr Grinder for $99.00. If you are looking for commercial, new is going to run you roughly between $500-$800, unless you go high-end (Anfim, which would be too bulky). In any event, good luck!