They are extremely well machined.
Anyone Here Using this Coffee Grinder?
- Thread starter LMichaels
- Start date
GrantT
TVWBB Pro
Does anyone use a manual grinder? I have this one. The grind is fantastic and adjustable. Its not physically taxing and you can take it on the road or use it when the power is out.
I have a large flat burr grinder we use for our main espresso grinding, but I also have a 1ZPresso J-Max I use for one-off grinding of different beans and decaf as the main grinder bin is usually full and not easy to change beans.
They are empty right now, but the "test tubes" each hold roughly 18g of beans and often will have an assortment of different beans.
Elektra espresso machine is our main unit for most coffee drinks, but I also have an OXO Brew-8 that I love for drip coffee when I need a pot full and it also does single cups nicely too.
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LMichaels
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I should hope so
GrantT
TVWBB Pro
I should hope so
The burr sets in these high end manual grinders actually produce better ground coffee than virtually any "budget" electric grinder... By "budget", anything under $400 would maybe be a rough ballpark... Lower cost electric grinders have to compensate for weak electric motors by grinding faster (to prevent stalling) and they produce heat, a lot of fines etc. They are also notorious for poor burr alignment, low burr quality, short life span etc. Most of the cost you are paying for the electronics. There are some newer electric grinders which are starting to move the bar lower thankfully...been eyeing a couple of them as I really want an electric, single dose grinder.
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GrantT
TVWBB Pro
Grinding courser (larger grain size) for brews like pourover/drip put a lot less strain on a grinder as well. You just want consistency and fewer fines. When you really start to see the difference is with very light roasted bean (which are my favorite), which are much harder, as well as when you grind finer for espresso machines.
So just to be clear, are we still referring to the grinder from your original post? The OXO? Or are you now using the $59 one? I am actually trying to find a grinder for doing larger amounts needed for a full pot of drip coffee (so like 64g of coffee beans at a time). I've seen that one on sale time to time but TBH it gets some variable reviews. Might have to take a chance.
So just to be clear, are we still referring to the grinder from your original post? The OXO? Or are you now using the $59 one? I am actually trying to find a grinder for doing larger amounts needed for a full pot of drip coffee (so like 64g of coffee beans at a time). I've seen that one on sale time to time but TBH it gets some variable reviews. Might have to take a chance.
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GrantT
TVWBB Pro
Well, I'm going to take a chance as well with the Shardor. Just put an order in...the "timer" model is out of stock, but the 35 setting anti-static one with no timer was there so ordered one. This will be my "decaf" grinder. I pre-measure my beans by weight anyways so will just dump them in and grind until it's empty every time. Because it will sit empty, it will also let me easily change bean which I do regularly.
The Amazon two year protection plan was only $7. If anything happens to it in two years, Amazon gives you a gift card for the full amount....first time I've ever bought "insurance" but figure for that price hard to go wrong. If it craters, nothing lost.
The Amazon two year protection plan was only $7. If anything happens to it in two years, Amazon gives you a gift card for the full amount....first time I've ever bought "insurance" but figure for that price hard to go wrong. If it craters, nothing lost.
LMichaels
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Oddly enough I ordered the 35 one and the newer one showed up in my cart. I honestly had not even seen it on the site. So I was pleasantly surprised when the newer one showed up as my purchase. I think they have the same motor and burr set with only capacity and electronics differing. I will be very curious to see which one shows up at your door and your thoughts on it
Jay D in Jersey
TVWBB Wizard
Your method is how I grind and brew a pot every AM. I pre-measure by weight using a scoop that I have weighed so I end up with what equates to 13+ tablespoons of beans...or seven scoops. The Baratza Encore takes a few minutes to grind to a medium course grind and it's noisy but it does an excellent job of consistently grinding to that setting...about 17 on my machine. It does produce some chaff which I vacuum out every few days.
I use the Moccamaster chart that came with the coffee machines.
Steve Hoch
TVWBB Diamond Member
I admire your zeal for coffee. I drink two cups a day every day. I buy the cheapest medium roast coffee I can find and put it in my 30$ Mr.Coffee coffee maker and enjoy. I like a little creamer in mine or some sugar and milk. I didn't realize how dedicated some of you were to this drink.
Jay D in Jersey
TVWBB Wizard
I was a cop. Used to drink stuff from Greek diners and roach coaches(aka food trucks in today's vernacular)that came in blue and white cardboard cups with Hellenic designs. I drank it black back then. I used to be quite satisfied with ground coffee from any old drip machine after that.
I'm retired now. I upped my coffee game about 10 years ago. I started with machines that were all in one grind and brew machines.
Some made very good coffee. All were a pain to keep clean.
I moved to a separate grinder and decent drip machine about 5-6 years ago. I bought the Moccamasters two years ago and couldn't be more satisfied.
Good coffee is important.
You will taste a world of difference by grinding your beans just before brewing. Brewing temperature and brewing speed make huge differences in taste and are what the more expensive drip machines excel at.
Joe Anshien
TVWBB Platinum Member
I believe I am on your side of the fence on this. We make 1 pot in the AM and each have a cup of black coffee. I put the extra in a mason jar with 1 saccharine tablet (1/4 grain = 1tsp) for either regular or ice coffee depending on season, at 3:00. We use a Mr. Coffee drip and the espresso bricks from Puerto Rico. We been finding this at Dollar Tree and been using it for quite some time as my wife is from PR and we like the coffee there. It is $1.25 / 6oz brick, which comes out to $3.33 /lb. What really makes a difference is packing the grounds very tightly into the paper filter like doing when making espresso as this slows the water through the very fine grinds. This is very finely grind espresso coffee so we just have to use 4 Maxwell House scoops that I have had since childhood. I just weighed how much that is and it is 8 grams. So I only use 32 grams of coffee per pot. At $3.00
Jay D in Jersey
TVWBB Wizard
I had coffee in PR many years ago when I went on a surf trip there.
As I recall, it was very concentrated/strong coffee that they poured into hot milk. It was excellent.
GrantT
TVWBB Pro
I like to treat myself many days. My favorite decaf and a couple of my favorite coffees run about $60/kilo. These are lighter roasted by a local roster here and have incredible fruit flavor....a real treat from our main coffee which is more simple chocolate and typical "coffee" flavor - much cheaper at anywhere from $20 to $30 a kilo for good quality Arabica beans.
That said, I also love a good Vietnamese coffee too!
Joe Anshien
TVWBB Platinum Member
Yes in PR they super concentrate the coffee and add about 50% milk and 20% sugar. My mother-in-law would make the 4 cup Mr. Coffee with about twice the grinds we use to make 10 cups! We drink it black that is why we make a less dense version of it. Coffee in PR is like a desert to me. It took many years to get my wife to drink black coffee and a few of those years I have to admit I went with her way of milk and I used saccharine instead of sugar. It is nice to now like coffee the same way as it sure does simplify life.
Joe Anshien
TVWBB Platinum Member
Very timely. My wife opened a can of condensed milk the other day and I have been making Vietnamese style ice coffee at 3:00. Almost time;-)
GrantT
TVWBB Pro
So, I have to say that I was immediately impressed with this Shardor grinder from the very first grind and it only seems to get better the more I play with it. I started only grinding for drip coffee and was amazed that there was NO static at all (as advertised) and the grind was incredibly uniform. There was also little to no noticeable fines. I live in a low humidity area so static is almost always an issue. I do buy good quality, freshly (light) roasted beans (Rogue Wave Coffee in Edmonton is my go-to) and am impressed with the flavors coming through in the cup (using an OXO Brew-8 which brews at SCAA temps).
Anyways, for interest sake, today I thought I would play with the espresso settings too. Once again, I was impressed with the lack of static and the grind quality at the finer setting. I initially started with a mid-way espresso setting (their dial) and was then surprised when it stalled my Elektra A3. Had to go much more coarser than i expected and got a nice, fluffy, uniform grind with little to no fines - visually better than the Macap. And surprise...virtually ZERO retention using it as a single dose grinder (I pre-measure the beans, dump them in, and hope they all come out!)...in three different grind tests of 18 grams, the most it was off was 0.1g. 2/3 times it was 18 in and 18 out. (Scale is accurate to 1/10th).
Anyways, for interest sake, today I thought I would play with the espresso settings too. Once again, I was impressed with the lack of static and the grind quality at the finer setting. I initially started with a mid-way espresso setting (their dial) and was then surprised when it stalled my Elektra A3. Had to go much more coarser than i expected and got a nice, fluffy, uniform grind with little to no fines - visually better than the Macap. And surprise...virtually ZERO retention using it as a single dose grinder (I pre-measure the beans, dump them in, and hope they all come out!)...in three different grind tests of 18 grams, the most it was off was 0.1g. 2/3 times it was 18 in and 18 out. (Scale is accurate to 1/10th).
Jay D in Jersey
TVWBB Wizard
Great review. Thanks
