Sorry – I need a coffee grinder

baratza encore esp user here, can be had just over £100, highly recommend it.

Fitted mine with a single dose hopper and bellows, coffee is noticeably better since getting a grinder better than the built in sage one.

Re the static thing… I find this varies massively depending on the coffee. I ground up a bag of Taylors for a guy at work and the static was horrendous. I regularly use booths coffee and that does generate a little bit, but my go to is Dark Woods and I get very little static from that.

@morecashthandash I have a cuisinart grinder for sale if you’re interested?

I have a Bodum one. It cost £20. It grinds coffee.

Anyone else having problems with the Svart? I’ve had a warranty replacement twice this year as the timer went completely haywire and would only grind for a couple of seconds at a time when only a few months old?

Had zero argument replacements both times so wondered if it was a known issue?

I used to have the bodum, which was ok, not overly consistent but I was also a bit worse at making coffee then. Since moving to espresso it’s been replaced/upgraded in numerous ways but all out of the range you are looking at/need for these brew methods.

Stealth ad- I’ve got an extra bnib sage I’ve been meaning to put on eBay for 2 years, so would be willing to part with it for £100 hassle free.

I make my coffee in a Bialetti pot using a packet of  ground coffee. Is there much real world taste difference buying beans and grinding.

I would be dipping my toe in the water not splashing out £100.  One of the £20-£30 ones on Amazon.

Anyone else having problems with the Svart?

I’ve not had a problem with mine, had it a couple of years, use it several times a day.

Is there much real world taste difference buying beans and grinding

Yes, a bag of pre-ground will go “stale” one you’ve opened it. Even if you bash through it in a few days, it won’t taste as good at the end as it does at the start.

Grinding your beans as you make each brew means you get the freshest flavour each time. Plus I think it encourages trying a wider variety of coffees, there’s that much out there, you could probably try a different flavour every week and never get through it all.

Grinding your beans as you make each brew means you get the freshest flavour each time.

Indeed. But perhaps the more relevant question is whether there is much real world difference between grinding beans for your Bialetti or Aeropress in one of the £100+ fancy grinders mentioned here vs something cheaper and more cheerful.   Or is it a case of the emperor’s new speaker cables?

My first one had that issue, then after a while the replacement did too. If you’re handy with a soldering iron you can fix them very cheaply by replacing a capacitor inside.

vs something cheaper and more cheerful.

I get you… I’d say if you drink enough coffee it’s worth investing in something a bit better than a blade grinder. I used to use one of those and it soon became a pain in the arse, it’s much better being your grind from one push of a button.

Do you go £40 or £80 though… I let James Hoffman talk me into it! ?

I make my coffee in a Bialetti pot using a packet of  ground coffee.

I am the first to admit that there is a lot of snobbery and pretentiousness about coffee when you get into the realms of expensive kit and convoluted prep methods etc. But honestly, the oft repeated advice to buy your coffee fresh and grind it yourself is definitely not snobbery.  It is the single biggest thing you can do to elevate your coffee and radically improve the taste.  It’s one of those things that if you never try it, you will never know what you are missing or how good coffee can taste. It’s cheap and easy to do too.  It’s like the difference between a fortnight old white sliced bread and a loaf from the local bakery still warm from the oven.

Coffee starts to lose its aromatic properties slowly, from the moment it is roasted.  It starts to lose it much more rapidly (literally within minutes) once it has been ground.  It doesn’t become unsafe to drink, it just becomes increasingly  muted, and dull to taste as the volatile flavour compounds are lost. If you enjoy your pre-ground coffee, that’s obviously fine, but properly fresh coffee can be so, so much nicer.

Coffee beans are at their peak for flavour from about one to two weeks after roasting and ground immediately before brewing.  They will still taste good for a while longer, but not indefinitely. Good quality beans will have a “roasted on” date, commodity beans (most supermarket coffee) will have a “best before date” and has usually been roasted and ground months before you buy it.  If you buy from a local coffee roastery or online, it will probably have been roasted just a few days before you get it and will be night and day better for flavour.  A nicer grinder is a nice thing to use, but you don’t need one.  Any grinder is better than pre ground, it smells awesome  while you grind it too which just adds to the experience. You don’t have to go down any rabbit holes (unless you want to) or become a full-on coffee bore, but if you appreciate freshness and flavour – buy fresh beans and a grinder, any grinder.

The “don’t have to replace both grinder and machine” was the reason I bought my (not £100 admittedly!) Eureka Mignon Zero, as my trusty 5 year old Sage Barista Pro grinder needed servicing/fixing. Best thing I did – echo everything said up there ^^ about how much better coffee tastes freshly ground. I really struggled with my Sage to get a 30second extract (on most beans I tried) whereas now I can pretty much dial that in as the grinder is so much better.

Whether my vacuum sealed bean thing, the WRT tool or the “Gravity” tamper add much is up for more debate! However, I’ll never get tired of bellowing out the remains of a grind 🙂

buy your coffee fresh and grind it yourself

Any grinder is better than pre ground, it smells awesome  while you grind it too which just adds to the experience.

Thanks for the pragmatic advice.

My recommendation would be a Kingrinder k6. It’s well built and easy to grind with. The burrs are good, reported to be as good as the 1zepresso burrs, but it’s slightly cheaper and therefore within your budget. It doesn’t have a nice carry case, and the main downside is that it’s a bit fiddle to disasemble and clean.

Anyone else having problems with the Svart?

I managed to kill mine by never cleaning it, which was silly of me. Loved it up to that point though.

I just sent you a message about a my used Sage Smart Grinder Pro if you’re still interested.

I managed to kill mine by never cleaning it, which was silly of me.

Easily done.  We mostly expect domestic appliances to be maintenance free, but coffee grinders do need some occasional TLC.  Coffee beans are quite oily.  The oils accumulate and can gum stuff up but also, they can go a bit rancid over time. This can obviously affect the taste of your brew.  Static also means fine grinds can migrate to the deepest recesses of the machine where they accumulate and cause issues. I give my “posh” grinder which gets used every day, a really good clean every fortnight or so.

Easily done. We mostly expect domestic appliances to be maintenance free, but coffee grinders do need some occasional TLC.

I actually replaced it with a Fellow Ode which I know I can take apart to clean because I’ve done so to replace the burrs. It’s used at least once most days, so sounds like I need to add ‘clean coffee grinder’ to my list of weekend jobs.

But perhaps the more relevant question is whether there is much real world difference between grinding beans for your Bialetti or Aeropress in one of the £100+ fancy grinders mentioned here vs something cheaper and more cheerful.

I think this depends on the beans you buy. If you’re getting freshly roasted stuff then you can definitely get a noticable improvement with a decent grinder over a cheap one. There’s just more different flavours in the bean to extract so getting the process right can make a big difference. If your preference is for supermarket (or similar) beans then the difference is less noticable so probably not worth the extra from that perspective.

The other thing to take into account with a grinder is how often you use it. The more you use it the more the overall design of the grinder makes a difference. The value of having something that’s nice to use is a judgement only you can really make.

Thanks for replies.   I shall give a grinder a go.