I must have spent six months weighing my options as to which grinder was my ideal match. The Mazzer Mini was the most appealing, but outside of my price range by several hundred dollars. Nothing else really seemed close in quality and price to the Rocky. The thing is ridiculously heavy when it arrives and its built like a stainless steel tank. I use it exclusively for espresso, and it has yielded consistent grinds since day one. I've heard it is not a good grinder for drip cofee or Turkish, but I've never tried so I can't comment on that. As for espresso grind, it is outstanding and my espresso flavor made a significant jump from average to "complex and well balanced". One trick that I would recommend is to remove the locking screw on the bottom of the hopper so that you can un-screw it for cleaning. The second trick is to use a canister vacuum to suck out all of the coffee debris when you clean it out from time to time. I bought an attachment for the canister vacuum that I only use for that purpose and it looks like new after every cleaning. The only real negative, in my opinion, is that the hopper only holds about 10-12 ozs. of beans at a time. Ideally is would hold a pound of beans. The Rocky is my pride and joy and you should consider it if you want to really improve your espresso's flavor, but don't want to spring for a Mazzer.
