Odie77 Senior Member Joined: 16 Nov 2012 Posts: 2 Location: Belgium Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Lelit PL41TEM
Posted Fri Nov 16, 2012, 10:22am Subject: Grinder choice
Hi
For a while I've been reading a lot of posts and reviews on grinders. I'm not having a grinder yet, as I started reading too late: I bought an espresso machine only and at first thought that would be quite enough...
The machine is a Lelit PL41TEM (€ 450), so now I'm looking for a grinder that matches it. The tricky part is that most grinders being advised here and on some other large coffee sites are either not available where I live (Belgium) or have quite different prices.
Based on a site that offers some decent prices in my area (The Netherlands, but that's still close), I'm ending up with the following shortlist. I tried to put them in order of preference based on reviews, but would appreciate any remarks or suggestions.
Something for me to consider as well is a small footprint (< 30cm depth), so I still have to look at their sizes, but I'm most interested in any direct targets for removal from the above list.
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,792 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Fri Nov 16, 2012, 10:26am Subject: Re: Grinder choice
I'd remove the Rocky from that list...it's nowhere near the others in terms of grind quality.
MC4 is basically the doserless version of my M4. It's a great grinder and is capable of keeping you happy for years to come, even if you upgrade your machine. The K3 and Vario also get great reviews. All three of these grinders are in the same class, but I can only vouch for the Macap from my own experience. With Rocky off your list, you can't go wrong.
Odie77 Senior Member Joined: 16 Nov 2012 Posts: 2 Location: Belgium Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Lelit PL41TEM
Posted Sat Nov 17, 2012, 1:53am Subject: Re: Grinder choice
Thanks for the feedback! With the Rocky out, my attention now mainly goes to the Vario as it seems to have far smaller dimensions and can fit into our "coffee" cupboard. The Compak and Macap grinders might just be a tiny bit oversized for that... They also have a more shiny metal version which would fit better in our kitchen, but then their price is nearly the same as the Vario which still offers easier grind settings.
One grinder I seem to have overlooked is the Baratza Virtuoso Preciso at € 330. I was just wondering if the € 60 uplift to the Vario would be justified?
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,792 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Sat Nov 17, 2012, 1:56pm Subject: Re: Grinder choice
you're welcome. My Macaps just barely fits under the cabinets, so yeah, whenever I want to add beans to the hopper, I have to slide them out a little and rotate them (since my counters are not very deep where I have the grinders).
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