Great grinder. Priced in the sweet spot between Rocky and Mazzer Mini, this is the best grinder to get if the Mazzer seems too pricey, but you want the infinite grind adjustment feature.
Positive Product Points
Infinite grind adjustment, fits under kitchen cabinet without modification, eays to use, great grind consistency.
Negative Product Points
Slow grind adjustment mean grinder must be dedicated to one kind of grind.
Detailed Commentary
DAILY USE For the last 18 months, I've started the day with an espresso. I measure out my 17-18 grams of beans and grind per shot, using a brush to get the spare grinds out of the doser. The grinder chute is very accessible, so this is not a difficult task. The grind quality is very consistent. When switching between roasts and blends, minor tweaks to the settings are required. In my dry climate, the grind never really needs tweaking from day to day when using a given roast and blend. I have settled on a favorite espresso blend - Wiener Melange from Dietrich Coffee, which I can buy three to nine days out from the roaster. From week to week, using this blend, I never need to readjust the grind more than a tiny tweak - the first daily shots are within 1 to 2 seconds of 25 seconds every morning if not spot on, due to the minor temperature and humidity change in my dry climate. It appears that 1 to 1.5 grams are left in the burr area after every grind, much like every other quality grinder out there. I do use those grinds for the next shot, and don't worry about it, as the second shot of the day is 100% fresh, and the difference is negligible from the shot with 1 gram of yesterdays quasi-stale grind. Since I use an unmodified Silvia, I am not likely to notice this because of the difficulty in achieving full temperature stability on that machine.
GRIND ADJUSTMENT The grind is adjusted by a dial which turns a worm gear. This results in a solid, tunable grind. However, if you want to switch between espresso and press pot grind, this just won't work for you... it takes forever to switch between grind types - this grinder needs to be dedicated to one kind of grind for best results. That said, I bought it for espresso use exclusively, so this is not a big deal for me.
MAINTENANCE About every two to three months, I unscrew the top screws and lift off the top burr carrier and brush everything out very well. After reassembly, the grind is at nearly the same setting as before disassembly, plus or minus a tiny adjustment. The adjustment from the worm gear raises and lowers the bottom burr, and the top burr is fixed on a metal plate, which is why the setting is not really changed. This is a nice feature for me, it means minimum hassle to get my espresso.
CONSTRUCTION: The machine is solidly build with a great paint job. The doser works very well, leaving few grinds behind after emptying the unit.
UPSHOT: A great grinder, I'd buy it again if I didn't think it would outlive me.
Buying Experience
Bought from Chris Coffee, the product was back ordered. CC did a good job of letting me know that they were waiting to get more from Italy. However, it would have been nice to know at checkout on the website. Overall experience: very positive.
Three Month Followup
A great grinder. No regrets here.
One Year Followup
Still grinding beautifully. I'd buy it again, money well spent.
