I found the Smart grinder pro was a very capable grinder for espresso and is probably one of the best value for money grinders there is. I upgraded to the Niche Zero which didn't really make any difference for me taste wise but it grinds with much fewer clumps than the smart grinder. it is faster and quieter and the adjustments are much more user friendly. It also produces less mess. so it makes for a better all round user experience but the coffee tastes pretty much the same to me. So i really agree with what Kev is trying to put across in this video. Most of us really don't have the finely honed palette to notice subtle changes. We mostly just know when something tastes good or bad.
Nicely put, and that video from your Uncle is fantastic! Bottom line - grinding your own beans, even in a blade grinder (which I did for years!) is better than buying pre-ground. Also, been trying to pin down your accent... I lived in Southport for 30 years and you sound like you might be from the North West!
When my roommate and I first got into whole bean coffee in college, we started on a blade grinder! It wasn't the best or the most uniform but we had plenty of great cups of coffee. Once you start playing around with V60s and espresso, it helps a ton to have a higher quality burr grinder to dial in recipes. But for the average coffee drinker that isn't nerding out about these things, they're totally serviceable for french press/cold brew/aeropress/filter. That being said, these days unless you're on a shoestring budget I'd recommend a manual hand grinder. Anywhere from $50-$100 can net you really solid Timemore or 1zpresso hand grinder that'll last forever. The lack of a motor means they can put most of the cost into the construction and burrs, meaning they'll often out-perform similar price electric burr grinders. And if you're worried about it being annoying to hand grind, I can promise that the larger steel burrs in stuff like the JX or Timemore actually makes it very easy to chew through beans. Much easier than the cheap Javapresse ceramic burrs.
Yeah, I do strongly believe blade grinders are better than no grinders. Burrs are better but so many people start out with blade grinders and then work their way up. Cheers, Kev.
Well done kev, very controversial, i half agree especially if you add milk or syrups to your coffee, but if you spend money on expensive speciality coffee you have to go half way and get some half decent equipment. I mean you would not drink expensive single malt whiskey out ot a metal bucket even though it would still taste like whiskey if you get my point.😉👍😎🇬🇧
Haha ;-), SGP is definitely a huge upgrade on blade grinders, but faced with a choice of pre-ground or blade grinders I'd definitely go with one of them, they're not going to cut it (hehe) for espresso, but for cafetiere, filter etc., most "normal" coffee drinkers (vs us abnormal coffee geeks) will be really happy with the coffee they're able to produce.
Good video, Kev. Preground coffee is really hard to extract well, since it gets stale. I like the pops of green you've added to the studio/coffee bar. So what's your favorite cheaper burr grinder?
Cheers Tom. Depends on what you mean by 'cheaper' really. My cheapest very cheap burr gnders are the ones on amazon which are clearly identical but the names keep changing 😄, Sboly, Cooze, they're not the best but they're about the cheapest proper burr grinders, and they're OK for manual brewing and espresso with pressured baskets. The likes of Gaggia MD15, Wilfa Svart, mellitta Calibra I think are among the best for under £100, all better build quality than the cheaper unknown brands in my opinion. For espresso with standard baskets though the best cheapest options in my humble opinion are sage/breville dose control pro (or smart grinder pro but that's a bit more £) lelit fred, iberital MC2 (more or less the same as lelit Fred but a bit messier and rough around the edges). I could keep going on for ages as there are so many grinders to choose from especially once we break the £250 barrier. Ta, Kev
@@Coffee_Kev Yes purchased both with your promo .. As someone getting into the Home Batista malarkey for the first time… brilliant combo, and the Duo Temp is great for learning with, as gives you more control of dosage, timing, etc The Sage Grinder Pro makes grin size selection simple. Really think this combo is the best way to go , in starting the “Coffee Geek” journey 😂😂
I use a Clever Coffee Dripper and Baratza Virtuoso grinder. I previously owned a Baratza Encore. I’m no coffee expert but after upgrading to the Virtuoso, I noticed that my coffee was significantly less bitter and more flavorful. I assume the improvements were due to less fines and a more consistent grind. Given I drink coffee every day and the Virtuoso is built like a tank (problem-free for the past 7 years), the investment was well worth it.
Thanks 🙂.Video coming soon - but in the meantime, for short-term storage, any airtight storage is fine, preferably with at least a one way valve, better still a way to push the air out such as Airscape or coffeevac. Never in the fridge. For longer-term storage, freezer is fine as long as they're sealed before freezing, and on removing from freezer you allow them to thaw before breaking the seal, and don't re-freeze. Cheers, Kev.
Grinders oh gosh I got rid of me nuxe one ( is it call nuxe lol 😮 ) as I now rely on a grinder in machine my dear Delonghi Spec Arte I wonder if them who use specialty coffees ever go back to off shelf ones 😅 cuz to me they have a place and my palette is so novice re proper fresh bean types
Looking for advice on buying my first hand grinder to use with the dedica 885 - trying to keep cost proportonate as i drink 2-3 Americanos each morning and make a latte for the Mrs... Any recommendations? Cheers
Any chance you will do a comparison between The smart grinder pro and the new barata ESP? I'm saving up to buy a new grinder in that price range and I would love to get your opinion on which one to get
Stop with the useless facts at the end, I'm now forced to not only smack the like button but also watch all of your videos to the end. BTW - I may have missed this but I don't recall you mentioning that using a blade grinder will make 'dialling in a shot' a pain due to the inconsistency. Anyway grind the @&%$ing coffee any way you want, it'll still be better than pre-ground coffee. Also did uncle Peter go back to the coffee seller at the market, I'd love a follow up if he did 😀
I don’t want to shit on this video for the sake of it but I have to say after this not much respect for the rest of you content. Yes you are kinda right blade ground coffee is better than instant witch is the first jump people make but there’s as big a different from blade to burr. If you are an instant drinker and occasionally drink blade coffee yes it will taste very good and like wise if you are blade drinker then go to a burr grinder you will be like o wow (taking consistency of brews out of the equation) Most people watching videos like these on RU-vid aren’t people drinking Nescafé gold they are already interested in coffee and want to make it better.
I think you're missing the intention, this video obviously speaks to people who don't currently grind their own coffee, it's aimed at the main stream coffee drinker to encourage them to get more into coffee starting with grinding their own, and for mainstream coffee drinkers, not yet indoctrinated into the world of speciality coffee, any way to grind their own coffee is fine to get started with. In the video I do encourage burrs over blades, but in my humble opinion any way to grind coffee is better than drinking pre-ground, or as you say, instant. Cheers Kev
@@Coffee_Kev I just think you are wrong. As a good few people on this feed have said they took your advice and bought the sage and now they are saying what was the point. You aren’t consistent in what you are saying. And by the time someone is at the point of searching coffee videos on RU-vid the are past the blade stage
@@murraythebaker you're welcome to have your own opinion. My opinion is that most people watching this who have a burr grinder know this isnt aimed at them, and I do clearly state my opinion that burr grinders are the better option. The one person who has said that I think it's pretty clear was joking. I don't think anyone is going to ditch their burr grinder and go buy a blade grinder because I've said any way to grind your own coffee (even blade grinders) is better than nothing. Ta, Kev.
OK. I thought we were having a fairly decent discussion, I'm not sure why responding to you with my opinion gives you the impression that this is a yes man channel. If it was a yes man channel I'd delete any negative comments rather than responding to them.
