This is my first full-on espresso grinder, so I don't have much to compare it to. As expected in outperforms my Solis on every front.
Arrival
The grinder comes shipped well packed in foam inserts. There's a manual for it, but its really, really breif. The entire unit comes ready to go out of the box, with the exception of the little plastic tamper-ette that can attach to the front. For obvious reasons, I opted to forgo the tamper option, and just used the provided screws to fill the screw holes where the tamper would have otherwise been mounted. The cord is unobtrusive, and the unit fits (though not by much) under regular cabinets. There's a little peg that serves both to lock the hopper in place and as a stop for overadjustment of the grind. I chose not to use it, and nothing seems the worse for it. On the counter, this thing just gleams. It embarrasses all the other appliances. Its that pretty.
First Use
It took me a long time, and about a pound of beans, before I got this right where I wanted it. Beans vary slightly one to the next, but for the 3 different beans I've tried so far the best setting is the notch that sets the "6" on the grind selector pretty much facing the front. Grind adjustment confused me in terms of direction and settings, but I've got the hang of it now. In terms of initial dial-in, this machine is a bit harder to use than say the Rocky, where the grind setting is pretty obvious, but operation is simple enough once you get rolling.
Since Then
I've used this grinder only for espresso, and it's been great. I've only needed to bump up and down a notch or two in regular use - more from variations in my technique than variations on the grinder. I kept my Solis for french press - I can't see setting this up back and forth for other grinds, but I know some have. It's only been a couple of weeks, but there's really no way to tell from the outside that this thing has even been used- just as shiny now as the day she was unpacked. The chute gets fairly clogged up, but I clear it out reguarly with a straw, which fits nicely between the openings in the doser finger guard, and lets me clear out the tiny bits of grounds on the vanes. I haven't set the dose, but I typically just grind what I need to overfill the filter by about a click, level it off with my finger and tamp. 30 pounds gets me to the ridge, every time. |
