Much improved espresso shots and ease of use make this the perfect companion for the Silvia espresso maker as well as all around grinder for day in/day out grinding duties
Positive Product Points
Built like a tank High quality internal components Large bean hopper Low profile design fits nicely under kitchen cabinets Grind consistency
Negative Product Points
Beans jam up Grinds hang up in chute One handed operation not possible
Detailed Commentary
I purchased the Rocky doserless around 15 months ago when the dollar's drop against the Euro started to affect the prices of European espresso equipment. I wasn't all that unhappy with the Solis Maestro that I was using at the time and in fact I didn't think that I would see an improvement in the espressos I was making using a Rancilio Silvia. I was wrong. Using the Rocky made a noticeable improvement in the quality of the shots. I am able to pull consistenly better shots with the Rocky than I ever could using the Maestro.
The grind consistency is very good. The grinder is used mostly for expressos. However, I also use it to occasionally grind for press pot and drip coffee. Grind consistency is very important for press pot coffee and I am happy to report that the Rocky does an excellent job in this department. The Rocky does a great job grinding at any setting from coarse to espresso. The gradations are such that I have never had to change the setting by more than one click stop left or right in order to dial in the correct grind for an espresso shot. The grind settings are very predictable.
Problems noted: The beans feeding from the hopper into the burrs will sometimes get hung up, they won't always drop into the burrs. In order to get the grinds to drop into the burr assembly one has to shake the machine or poke the beans with a stick to relieve the log jam. A nuisance to be sure. Two hands are needed to operate the grinder since the on/off switch is a spring loaded rocker that must be held in place by the operator. It would be useful to allow the user to decide if that feature is needed or not.
Buying Experience
Very good. I purchased it on e-bay from david at eads. He is a great ebay seller to work with. I had the grinder within a week after the bidding closed, shipped from Texas to Alaska using the post office.
