If you can find this cheap and have enough space for it, this is an excellent deal on a grinder that is all about the results.
Positive Product Points
-An almost perfect grind, very consistant -Can grind extremely fine -Stepless adjustment -Very durable -High build quality -Quiet, especially when running empty
Negative Product Points
-Rather large -Doser wastes grinds -- I would say about 20% of my coffee is wasted with this grinder. Unless you clean it out after grinding every shot, coffee sticks in the chute and bottom of the doser
Detailed Commentary
I bought this machine off of a fellow CG member from the forum. It is a heavily used machine, but still runs perfectly. I unpackaged it, cleaned it and inspected it. Even though it is marked up heavily, there is nothing mechanically wrong with it.
This machine is a hulk. With the stock hopper, it won’t fit under any kitchen cabinets. You can buy a new shorter hopper for it, otherwise plan on putting it in a place with no cabinets above it.
Again, this machine is a hulk. This shows through in its performance. I can grind a double shot’s worth of beans for espresso in about 9 seconds. The 64mm burrs are rated for 600lbs of coffee. Even though my grinder appears to be extensively used, the burrs are still sharp.
Adjusting the grind is done by turning the notched collar below the hopper. Turning it counter-clockwise makes it finer and turning it clockwise makes it coarser. It comes with a sticker on it, which is supposedly the “suggested” starting point for espresso. I found that for the perfect 25-second pour with my Gaggia I needed to move it a few notches finer. I still fine-tune it depending on the beans, humidity, and other factors. With the stepless adjustment I can move it just a hair or two if that is all that it needs.
The doser is the only thing that bothers me. My machine is supposed to be an automatic. It has a micro-switch at the top of the doser to detect when it is full to stop the grinding. After a set number of pulls on the doser the machine starts to grind again until the doser is full. This feature does nothing for me, the home user. It might be useful in a busy coffee shop that doesn’t care about grind freshness, but I only grind one dose at a time.
The micro-switch covers the grind chute completely, so I can’t brush it clean. This wastes some coffee. Another issue I have with the doser is the vanes that sweep the coffee. I bought a brush to brush the grinds off the top of the vane assembly and to move the grinds to the edges. This helps empty out the last bit of the grounds.
I have read that some people have a problem with the doser missing their portafilter when they dump the ground coffee. This is not a problem if you pull the doser lever slowly. Slow pulls dump perfectly into my 58mm portafilter. If I pull the lever too quickly about half misses and I get ground coffee all over my workplace.
All things considered I highly recommend this grinder. They can be picked up off of ebay used for rather cheap. Nothing else can compare to what I paid for this grinder. The resulting grounds produced are very consistant. The only issue is the wasted coffee and size of the grinder. The Mazzer Super Jolly is about results – the coffee grind, if you are looking for the absolute best grind for you dollar, get this machine. If looks or size are more important you might want to look at another grinder.
Buying Experience
I bought this from a coffeegeek forum member. It was in the exact condition he described. I am very pleased with the transaction.
