# Newbie grinder question



## Sleepymouse (Dec 17, 2017)

Hi All

I am a newbie to home espresso. I have recently bought a Gaggia Cubika (not sure why they get a bad press, but maybe I will find out soon). Anyway I also have a grinder, I think it is a Hario copy and like others who have tried cheap grinder I have an issue with coffee quality. Too fine and the machine cannot pump and too course and all I get is brown water that tastes of nothing.

I would like advice on which grinder to buy. I am a little tight for storage space so I am looking for a hand grinder that will produce acceptable results.

Thanks in advance


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Depends on your budget, Made by knock hand grinders are well respected, about £100.


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## Sleepymouse (Dec 17, 2017)

Budget would be under £100


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Sleepymouse said:


> Budget would be under £100


if you don't mind a second hand one then get an Iberital MC2 from ebay - but be prepared to jump as they don't often come up.


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

If you can stretch your budget a bit you will start to come across more capable used grinders albeit there may be a trade off for space. If going electric, the MC2 is compact but can be a tad, shall we say, noisy in operation.

Other smaller electric grinders that sometimes hit your current price range would be second hand Rancillio rocky's (may come with a doser at this price range) or a Gaggia MDX although would personally go with a hand grinder as suggested above and you looking for if not making too many espresso based shots in a day ( and will have the advantage of being portable for travel / work and using with something like an aeropress for quality coffee on the go, the aergrind from Made by Knock is very compact)

As to the Gaggia Cubika, sister has one that will not die and had it at least 10 years now so fairly resilient, must be as spends very little time maintaining it ( I don't drink coffee from it any more...







). If you allow it to come up to temperature at least 20-30 minutes on (buy a timer plug or turn on before getting ready in the morning if time an issue) you will save yourself a whole bunch of "why is my coffee not very nice / sour / bitter" questions.

Welcome to the forum

John


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## Sleepymouse (Dec 17, 2017)

I make maybe 1 coffee a day during the week and around 2 a day at weekends.

A hand grinder is what I am after.

How does a Porlex compare to a MBK. I realise it will take longer to grind but I am interested in comparisons with regards to espresso.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

In the meantime When using the hario you can use the dose ( how much in grams ) to adjust the flow . So are you weighing out the dose ?


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## Sleepymouse (Dec 17, 2017)

I tried different doses up to 20g but it was too watery and had little taste.

The flow was between 20 sec and 30 depending on the dose size.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Sleepymouse said:


> I tried different doses up to 20g but it was too watery and had little taste.
> 
> The flow was between 20 sec and 30 depending on the dose size.


What coffee was that


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## Sleepymouse (Dec 17, 2017)

It was beans from a local shop.

I have just returned the Hario to Amazon and I'm looking for something better in the way of a grinder. Either a mbk or Porlex I think may suit my needs but I'm not sure how they compare.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Porlex will be real chore for grinding double doses. MBK will be tolerable.


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

If you are going to order a Made by Knock product and need to know when its coming (see very long thread on here) you might want to order from Dear Green who also throw in a bag of their coffee. Aergrind showing in stock at £90 at the moment

John


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## DougalMcGuire (Feb 21, 2016)

I've ground with a Porlex in the past (a loan) and I now use a Feldgrind a couple of times to make 2 doubles in a La Pavoni. I would definitely stretch to an MBK grinder. Otherwise you'll start regretting it and just buy one anyway when you either aren't making nice coffee, or you start getting rsi from the Porlex.


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## Sleepymouse (Dec 17, 2017)

Out of interest, is there any difference between the Rhino and the Porlex. They look very similar.


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## Badgerman (Nov 23, 2017)

Have you thought of a commercial burr grinder. Can get those for £100 on Gumtree and with a little TLC can be brought back to life and as I understand very consistent and perfect for the Gaggia.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

If the OP waits he could probably pick up either of the first 2 grinders mentioned here for £100 or under, a lot under on the first one.

https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/pdf/compact-grinder-1-closerlook.pdf

It's a pity the reviewer didn't strip the first one more. More use of plastic and Sage do the same but have had to add metal to one part some time ago. Like the 2nd one the burr adjustment thread may be a rather loose fit. Going on a reviewer this isn't an uncommon problem on other makes. Fixed by a wrap of ptfe tape. The same may be true of the fist one but not sure if ptfe tape and plastic parts will work out. There are reviews about where owners have found this one better than what they had used before.

Then there is Sage but even used £100 might be too little. A happy Sage grinder doesn't produce much in the line of fines. If unhappy it does. Lots. They seem to need to grind a certain amount of coffee from all dead clean before they settle down. OK many more £ notes may do better but it's pretty easy to do worse. My Sage grinder that went unhappy also started clumping. It never had before even with really oily beans. Several Kg of them.







I'm still not 100% sure what they need to make them happy again but grinding beans is definitely a major part of it. Some grinds may need wasting. I'm currently still only using my happy one.

John

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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

ajohn said:


> A happy Sage grinder doesn't produce much in the line of fines. If unhappy it does. Lots.
> 
> John
> 
> -


How many is lots, how small are they? What is the burr gap at 'lots', what is the burr gap at 'not much'?

All grinders produce fines and the finer you go the more you get under 100um (not offered as any kind of definition of fines), but you need these for espresso.

It's the big bits you should probably worry about more.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

MWJB said:


> How many is lots, how small are they? What is the burr gap at 'lots', what is the burr gap at 'not much'?
> 
> All grinders produce fines and the finer you go the more you get under 100um (not offered as any kind of definition of fines), but you need these for espresso.
> 
> It's the big bits you should probably worry about more.


Think I will quote from the pdf

Grind quality from those cheap conical burrs was very inconsistent,

producing fine and coarse

particles. You could

clearly taste fines in the cup and the coffee

produced was muddy lacking the full range of

flavours in proper proportion with a hole in the

midrange of flavours and over extracted flavours

elsewhere. Grinds were not fluffy and didn't

compress much (if at all) when tamped.

I know exactly what he means by that.

John

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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

ajohn said:


> Think I will quote from the pdf
> 
> Grind quality from those cheap conical burrs was very inconsistent,
> 
> ...


Sorry, was this review was of your Sage grinders?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Sleepymouse said:


> Out of interest, is there any difference between the Rhino and the Porlex. They look very similar.


Better build quality on the Porlex in terms of fit & feel. My Porlex adjusts fine enough to lock the burrs, but my Rhino does not.

In terms of grind consistency they are comparable (15% below 400, 30% over 1200 sifted at filter grind on a Kruve).

For espresso, I wouldn't recommend either for brewing double shots, too much arm work & disappointment whilst dialling in. Feasible for single shots (10g dose or less) at the weaker end of espresso brew ratios.

Fine for manual brew methods & doses under 20g.


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