Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Grinder shopping is hard. I thought I was getting an Aeropress from my girlfriend for my birthday but that never happened so I've made sure that she's getting me one for Christmas. However I haven't got a clue why some grinders are so expensive and others seem to be cheap. Can only afford £30 really, I would have thought you could get a decent one for £20-£30 but it doesn't seem possible!
 
Ahleckz said:
Grinder shopping is hard. I thought I was getting an Aeropress from my girlfriend for my birthday but that never happened so I've made sure that she's getting me one for Christmas. However I haven't got a clue why some grinders are so expensive and others seem to be cheap. Can only afford £30 really, I would have thought you could get a decent one for £20-£30 but it doesn't seem possible!
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Consistency is the main reason why the prices vary so much.
Although stylish design and trends is a lesser impact.

£30 - hand grinder.

I went with the Hario Skerton for travelling, but there's also the porlex and the Hario Slim that are highly regarded.
 
I know I have said this before but you can't really go wrong with the porlex. Not the prettiest grinder in the world but is very consistent once dialled in. I think if I had gone with my first idea of getting a cheap electric blade grinder I would have given up with his coffee business but researching and reading all the interesting facts about this beverage has kept my passion truely alive.
It always amazes and amuses me when people at work askme what I'm doing when they see me with the grinder. Although I think I am slowly convincing them the virtues of this lovely coffee when I give them samples from the chemex.
 
davetherave2 said:
It always amazes and amuses me when people at work askme what I'm doing when they see me with the grinder. Although I think I am slowly convincing them the virtues of this lovely coffee when I give them samples from the chemex.
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I know what you mean, I used to live in a ground floor flat with a big bay window overlooking a park. When I sat on my sofa in the morning to grind out some beans on my Zassenhaus, I'd only be visible from the waist up to anyone walking past my window in the park. So they'd see my elbow vigorously going back and forth, and my sleepy expression. I got some weird looks :)
 
manveruppd said:
They're way bigger than I expected, I think 3 of them in a mug would severely reduce my coffee intake! :)

...
But anyway they do seem to be doing the job, one day when i'm not feeling lazy I'll use my thermometer and do some proper experiments, see how long a mug of water will stay warm with 0, 1 and 2 Joulies in it.

I'm a little apprehensive about having something metallic in an acidic drink though. Especially if the stuff inside somehow leaks out.
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the stuff inside is supposed to be safe & I'm pretty sure you'd notice the weird taste before drinking too much! still I inspect mine before dropping them in :)

I found that they dropped the temp a bit lower than I liked personally so I've taken to storing them on top of my coffee machine, then warm up with the machine so there's less energy stolen from the coffee :) They do seem to keep it warmer for longer though so all good!
 
I don't think I've ever seen it for under £20 including delivery. That Amazon price is pretty good.

I've also had my eye on the Gaggia at Amazon. Price has been dropping steadily over the last few weeks. Only problem is that I know I'll want to upgrade soon after buying so I may just take the first step into a dual boiler. I'm not in any rush though as I also need a quality grinder.
 
Ahleckz said:
Cheapest place to pick up an Aeropress? Anywhere doing it sub £20? Can't hurt to try and save a few pennies! :D
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Probably amazon, can't spot anywhere doing it for less than ~£24 including postage.
Also, this Gaggia Classic RI8161 at £169 seems to be very cheap. I always thought that they were a fair bit more expensive than this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaggia-Clas...72XS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322653820&sr=8-1
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Aye, caught my eye last week, don't know why they didn't push it with the black friday deals, since then a couple other places seem to have lowered their prices (dixons are also doing it for £169) but it's still very good for the money.
 
I didn't realise you could get a decent 'proper' machine for that cheap nowadays!

Just a heads up, if anyone wants some 'average' coffee to tide them over Douwe Egberts are sending out free samples of their new ground range. It'll be 'meh' I'm sure, but hey it's free. Just fill in the info here:

http://www.facebook.com/DouweEgbertsUK?sk=app_140161106087754

Note: It didn't like my personal domain email address and I had to use my Gmail instead.
 
well have been working my way through the back log of has bean coffee (still have three bags to go through) and finally started drinking the Costa Rica Zarcero Honey Process backend of last week and this week.

AfhUbZbCEAETsuK.jpg


If you love sweet coffee's this is one for you. From the recent coffee's I have been drinking from in my mug this is one of the best in my eyes.

It's such a change to the usual nutty/earthy coffee's i usually like and has been a sublime cup everytime.

If you wanted to see what all the fuss was about with specialty coffee I think this would a good one to start with as I think it would appeal to the majority of people out there.

Also looks like I will be getting my Rocky grinder in a couple of weeks :D

Can't wait. If anyone has one/ has experience with one what is a good setting to use with filter coffee for the chemex. I will probably put some cheap tester beans through first to dial it in to make sure I am happy (don't want to waste the good stuff) but would like to have a good starting point before blindly going about grinding beans.
 
The Zarcero is indeed a superb coffee and definitely an easy drink. I hope there's some left in a couple of weeks as I reckon it's going to make a superb ingredient for Irish coffee at Christmas. In fact it's very difficult for me not to think of Whiskey as it cools down!

Out of interest, I assume that you had a good look at the Vario grinder which I thought was supposed to be the dog's danglies for someone who likes to play around with different filter methods. What made you decide on the Rocky?
 
Hamster said:
Out of interest, I assume that you had a good look at the Vario grinder which I thought was supposed to be the dog's danglies for someone who likes to play around with different filter methods. What made you decide on the Rocky?
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After countless nights reviewing and short listing grinders and then getting so frustrated with countless pro's and con's with all the grinders in the £150 - £300 price bracket I decided that with the rocky even with it's faults gave me the best of everything overall. It gave me the flexibilty to enjoy my filter for now but also could turn out more than adequate espresso grind plus with a bit of shopping around have got it for around £180 (inc delivery) which I felt at this price point there wasn't much that could beat it or offer me much more than the rocky can. (As I am getting this as a gift I didn't want to go too crazy with pricing)

As I said I know it has its faults but i can live with these and as my first proper electric grinder (never had one before) this will be a nice starting point.

I know next on my shopping list is an espresso machine but that can wait. I know that I will eventually get something in the next price bracket but I feel that this should be a good workhorse for the next couple of years even if I upgrade it before then it will still be used either at home or at work.
 
davetherave2 said:
After countless nights reviewing and short listing grinders and then getting so frustrated with countless pro's and con's with all the grinders in the £150 - £300 price bracket I decided that with the rocky even with it's faults gave me the best of everything overall. It gave me the flexibilty to enjoy my filter for now but also could turn out more than adequate espresso grind plus with a bit of shopping around have got it for around £180 (inc delivery) which I felt at this price point there wasn't much that could beat it or offer me much more than the rocky can. (As I am getting this as a gift I didn't want to go too crazy with pricing)

As I said I know it has its faults but i can live with these and as my first proper electric grinder (never had one before) this will be a nice starting point.

I know next on my shopping list is an espresso machine but that can wait. I know that I will eventually get something in the next price bracket but I feel that this should be a good workhorse for the next couple of years even if I upgrade it before then it will still be used either at home or at work.
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I think your reasons are valid enough and it's clear that you've put a lot of thought and time into your decision. The reason I was asking as I'm in a very similar boat in that I'm also looking for a decent grinder and espresso machine. I've spent a few nights 'windows shopping' and I always manage to have around 50 tabs open in my browser before I feel my head is going to explode!!

Like yourself and a few more of us here I also like playing around with different filter methods and I'd rather not have more than one grinder, though I don't think a perfect all-rounder really exists at a good price, if at all any!

£180 is a very good price for the Rocky. I've not seen it new that low. Where hast thou sourced it from?!!
 
Hamster said:
I think your reasons are valid enough and it's clear that you've put a lot of thought and time into your decision. The reason I was asking as I'm in a very similar boat in that I'm also looking for a decent grinder and espresso machine. I've spent a few nights 'windows shopping' and I always manage to have around 50 tabs open in my browser before I feel my head is going to explode!!

Like yourself and a few more of us here I also like playing around with different filter methods and I'd rather not have more than one grinder, though I don't think a perfect all-rounder really exists at a good price, if at all any!

£180 is a very good price for the Rocky. I've not seen it new that low. Where hast thou sourced it from?!!
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http://interpresso.com/brands/Rancilio.html?page=3&sort=featured

its the delivery that kills you almost £30 but if you spend over £175 before delivery they deliver it free. Unfortunately with their limited options ie grinders or espresso machines there really wasn't anything that I wanted at that price which would be worth keeping long term.
 
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davetherave2 said:
http://interpresso.com/brands/Rancilio.html?page=3&sort=featured

its the delivery that kills you almost £30 but if you spend over £175 before delivery they deliver it free. Unfortunately with their limited options ie grinders or espresso machines there really wasn't anything that I wanted at that price which would be worth keeping long term.
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Their prices seem insanely low. Do you know where are they based? If outside the EU have you factored in duty? Looking at their shipping times to different places, it seems they're in Asia somewhere. Seems a bit too good to be true!!
 
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