I keep the beans in air tight containers in the freezer and just take out what I need. I know that's a coffee sin also as supposedly they'll spontaneously disintegrate the second any condensation gets on them when taking them out, but I can't tell a blind bit of difference compared to when I first get them fresh.
The only real difference I notice is between a good fresh roast and supermarket packs of beans, with the latter being horrid for espresso, though tolerable for a french press.
Bought, and happy with, Eureka Mignon for same reason as above.
well i ended up going for teh hario manual grinder - the one up from teh mini
its pretty good. the kids like arguing over who grinds and the coffee is definately smoother/less bitter.
you can grind really fine (which clogs the machine) i`m one or 2 up from from the finest setting which seems to work nicely.
all really rather good.
although my caffine intake has risen sharply.
although my caffine intake has risen sharply.
Are you getting the DT’s? is that why you have trouble hitting the’H’ key? maybe try decaf?
Yeah I've done exactly this and I'm definitely happier post-modification. However I still can't get a really fine grind - if I set the burrs any closer then the machine just grinds metal-on-metal. I don't think the tolerances are there to create a truly espresso-grade grind. So I wouldn't recommend this.I've got a Dualit 75015. Off the shelf its quite good for most coffees, though its just a bit too coarse for expressos. I had to do a mod to get a finer grind. I can only compare it to my previous blade grinder and the pre-ground stuff you get in the shops, but its definitely better.
Hand grinders sounds inconvenient enough that I probably wouldn't use them every day.
Ignore anyone who suggests blade grinders. You'll get better results with months-old pre-ground stuff, especially if you buy decent beans with an appropriately fine grind.
Brewing coffee is one of those things where the naive beginner often thinks they know better than the advice being doled out. E.g. when you're buying a snowboard, you should spend the most on the boots (yeah right, I just want the cool board with the sick graphics), and with an SLR camera you should spend more on lenses than the body, or a decent hardtail is far better than a cheap Argos BSO full sus.
AND it's far more important to put money into a grinder than spending on a shiny pretty espresso machine.
