Rants etc.....

[Mr. Friendly]

Heh.... I don't doubt it's a great grinder, but I really didn't want to spend $200. I'm also a little leery of any product that sells for the exact same amount at every possible retail outlet.

Does it ever go on sale?

not really. it's MAP and coffee is one of those industries where stuff sells for what it's priced at, it rarely goes on sale.

also, $200 is the entry point for a good entry level grinder and while there are a plethora of grinders in the price bracket, very few are actually worth buying.

 

[Prickly007]

Having a problem tracking down a reasonably priced burr coffee grinder that's reasonably well reviewed.

How do you fell about a manual grinder? As I recall, under $200 they're generally better "value"; especially the less coffee one drinks.

$200 is the entry point for a good entry level grinder and while there are a plethora of grinders in the price bracket, very few are actually worth buying.

Agree with the first part... And then you recommend the Baratza Encore. D'oh!!!

If you increase the budget, a little, sswilson, you likely won't need to buy another grinder ever again.

 

[sswilson]

I've looked at and considered grabbing a manual grinder, for the most part I'm only going to be doing 4 cups worth of beans every day, and it's going into a drip coffee maker so medium / medium-fine is probably what I should be shooting for.

The online reviews from coffee sites are horrid!!!! Not a single one of them mentions the documented mechanical/electical issues with the lower end grinders, the only cons they list are typically that it doesn't do a good job of consistency. (The retailer site reviews on the cuisinart I've got are pretty clear that there's an issue with it just giving up the ghost in many cases).

edit: It does seem however that the encore is the one grinder that's listed at (or near) the top of most curated review articles. Not sure if that's a good thing since the lack of references to known issues on other reviewed products makes me question the value of any grinder reviews

 

[Prickly007]

The online reviews from coffee sites are horrid!!!! Not a single one of them mentions the documented mechanical/electical issues with the lower end grinders, the only cons they list are typically that it doesn't do a good job of consistency. (The retailer site reviews on the cuisinart I've got are pretty clear that there's an issue with it just giving up the ghost in many cases).

What sites you're reading? If we're talking about ones, nobody would even consider crap like cuisinart. On some of the sites low end grinders start @ 300 US. My two grinders, for instance, cost over 1k US. To coffee enthusiasts, consistency is the holly grail (especially when it comes to espresso).

 

[Prickly007]

question the value of any grinder reviews

The best reviews come from places like www.home-barista.com, search the forums for individual models. Curated review articles are, I suspect, mostly marketing.

 

[sswilson]

20 Best Coffee Grinders 2022 - Top Picks and Reviews

After testing over 20 coffee grinders, we rated Rancilio Rocky Espresso Grinder as the best coffee grinder on the market. Buying your own grinder means that you can take full control of the freshness factor while also enjoying a much wider scope of grinds than buying pre-ground coffee. Read on...

www.fourthestatecoffee.com

That's the kind of sites that were coming up for single article comparison reviews, and yeah, anything where the range of review rating is 4.5 out of 5 at it's lowest is mostly marketing.

edit: but yeah, I'm not interested in a $300+ grinder.... my main interest in buying beans and grinding them is to be able to buy retail sized bags of coffee and not have them be completely stale before I'm halfway through (if I were doing pre-ground coffee) and not really about any kind of coffee nirvana....

 

[Izerous]

Was thinking worst case scenario, dump old truck box at a scrappers. Just called random place for pricing and $45 a tonne. So whole truck box to a scrapper is maybe $10

 

[Entz]

As much as I love my Encore it isn't without faults . Namely the range for "normal" coffee is way to small (3-4 out of 40) The one thing I will say is Baratza is AWESOME to deal with. Online disassembly videos, they sent me free parts etc. Its not a use it for a couple and years and trash it because some 10cent part breaks kind of company.

I do somewhat regret not moving to the Virtuoso as it is, or is reported, to be a lot more precise. I have a Kruve to help but if you were not an early backer that's the price difference right there...

 

[lowfat]

I've looked at and considered grabbing a manual grinder, for the most part I'm only going to be doing 4 cups worth of beans every day, and it's going into a drip coffee maker so medium / medium-fine is probably what I should be shooting for.

The online reviews from coffee sites are horrid!!!! Not a single one of them mentions the documented mechanical/electical issues with the lower end grinders, the only cons they list are typically that it doesn't do a good job of consistency. (The retailer site reviews on the cuisinart I've got are pretty clear that there's an issue with it just giving up the ghost in many cases).

edit: It does seem however that the encore is the one grinder that's listed at (or near) the top of most curated review articles. Not sure if that's a good thing since the lack of references to known issues on other reviewed products makes me question the value of any grinder reviews

I have no complaints about the cheap hand bur grinder I bought from Amazon. Takes a minute or two of cranking depending how course. Really didn't find it to be a big deal.

 

[Sagath]

I have no complaints about the cheap hand bur grinder I bought from Amazon. Takes a minute or two of cranking depending how course. Really didn't find it to be a big deal.

the guy who automates everything in his house, manually grinds his coffee.

I've lost all faith in humanity