# What a difference a grinder makes.



## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

Well i've been hoping for an espresso grinder upgrade for about a year but something has invariably happened (mainly money needed for other things), so i've made do with the crappy gaggia grinder i bought a couple of years ago.

I can't remember the model of it but it's black, square, and about 10 inches tall. Now it doesn't make a bad grind sometimes, but i can grind say 100g of beans and measure 15g into the basket and get a great extraction.....but i can measure another 15g of the same stuff i ground, and make another coffee and that'll be a poor extraction, same amount of coffee, identical tamp, but the brew will flow through in about 15 secs as compared to 25 secs previously. Then i can make another identical basket and then that 1 will take 40-50 seconds to extract. It is pretty frustrating, the only variable i can see is the coffee grinds because the coffee is weighed and the tamper is calibrated.

I recently went to a café who makes great coffee, and i know the barista and she gave me about 5 coffees worth of the stuff she ground on their mazzer mini and every cup was perfect, consistent, with more rich crema and tasted a mile better than my gaggia's grind.

I'm gonna have to look out for a grinder like this as i realise that a good grinder is the most important piece of coffee making equipment.

It doesn't matter if you have a fancy calibrated tamper, nice fresh beans, fancy italian stainless steel belly jugs, fancy filters and baskets, or even a few grands worth of espresso machine, if your grinder isn't any good then you won't do anything else justice.

When you embark on the coffee discovery trail you step up the ladder of quality, and when you've been on a higher rung of quality it's impossible to return to a lower rung....you can taste but you can't untaste.
















What other make of grinder would be on a par with the mazzer mini ? Just in case i can't source one, like. Reccommendations are welcome.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Hi ...

Give coffeechap a shout ,there are many grinder in par and or better than a mazzer mini , don't limit yourself purely to a MM. It's rare to see a mini in a cafe to be honest as they don't handle a huge amount of volume quickly .

Cheers


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Minis are very small for commercial use, and grind quality is nowhere near as good as a larger flat burr grinder, like a K30 or Super Caimano.

SJs are adequate for home use, and can usually be picked up for £220 used.

JP


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

El Cabron said:


> Now it doesn't make a bad grind sometimes, but i can grind say 100g of beans and measure 15g into the basket and get a great extraction.....but i can measure another 15g of the same stuff i ground, and make another coffee and that'll be a poor extraction, same amount of coffee, identical tamp, but the brew will flow through in about 15 secs as compared to 25 secs previously. Then i can make another identical basket and then that 1 will take 40-50 seconds to extract. It is pretty frustrating, the only variable i can see is the coffee grinds because the coffee is weighed and the tamper is calibrated.


Don't grind large amounts in one go & leave the grinds sitting around. Just grind what you are going to use for that shot, weigh the grinds in the portafilter/basket, not what you put in the grinder. otherwise you are likely to have the same problems with every grinder.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

jjprestidge said:


> SJs are adequate for home use, and can usually be picked up for £220 used.
> 
> JP


I have seen them go for that, and have known people pick up a bargain and also a complete nail on ebay for £140. But I'd generally say reliably sourced used SJs in good nick tend to go for £230-£300 mark.


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

Hi MWJB the coffee i grind doesn't sit around for longer than a few hours as there are 2 of us drinking it







i found the grind consistency worse to be honest when grinding 1 cup at a time so in my wisdom i thought it may have evened itself out by doing a bit more volume at a time. Yeh i do weigh out the grinds and not the beans but i weighed out 15g so many times i don't really need to weigh it. I measure it out in an egg cup which holds a double shot, when i have weighed my shots i've been accurate to 0.2 of a gram.



MWJB said:


> Don't grind large amounts in one go & leave the grinds sitting around. Just grind what you are going to use for that shot, weigh the grinds in the portafilter/basket, not what you put in the grinder. otherwise you are likely to have the same problems with every grinder.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

A few hours is too long.


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

Thanks folks







well the mazzer mini and eureka mignon are the only grinders i've read about so i don't know any other makes, that's why i was hoping for reccommendations based on 1st hand experience so thanks i'll look into SJ's.....what does SJ stand for,and who is the manufacturer?

Yeh the cafe i was on about is a small volume cafe and i saw the grinders were mazzers and they have MM on the back of them so i was guessing they were mini's. I did chat with coffeechap so hopefully something suitable will turn up.

I forgot to say that i was looking for 1 for home use in my post, but it was very late !


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

I do put in an airtight jar but that's the price i pay for having a crap grinder, as the problem is worse doing 1 cup at a time











MWJB said:


> A few hours is too long.


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## michaelg (Jul 25, 2013)

Still too long though; 20 mins is about your max even in an airtight jar with still has air in it (ie it's hardly a vacuum you purged with argon ) SJ is Super Jolly, a Mazzer grinder. So same make as the mini you saw but bigger. Most people using them for home use swap the hopper for a rubber lens hood and lens cap as a lid as it stores less beans and takes up less room.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

The mazzer you saw was probably a mazzer super jolly as most coffee shops only really use the mini for decaf (but not all). Sjs are the industry standard through reputation not necessarily grind quality have a read of this thread it might help you

coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?17071-Grinders-what-do-you-get-for-your-money


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## Firochromis (Oct 26, 2014)

El Cabron said:


> Thanks folks
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Macap is a good maker too.


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

Ahh okey doke coffeechap, let me know if you can come up with a good grinder please. I did see a mini for sale on here but it's collection only, and from what's been said, there are better grinders for the money so i'm more confused as what to do than when i started hahaha



coffeechap said:


> The mazzer you saw was probably a mazzer super jolly as most coffee shops only really use the mini for decaf (but not all). Sjs are the industry standard through reputation not necessarily grind quality have a read of this thread it might help you
> 
> coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?17071-Grinders-what-do-you-get-for-your-money


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Hi El Cabron. Mine is the Mini that's for sale at £220.

Ideally I'd prefer collection, but depending on where you are I might be up for meeting halfway, although if you live 100 miles away, maybe not!

(I am near Windsor). Although I guess if you've seen the ad already then I presume you're too far away.

BTW my other half is Spanish, and she thinks it strange that someone would willingly call themselves Cabrón! Apparently it's quite an insult&#8230;
















If mine is not for you, then best of luck in your quest.


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

Hi hotmetal, yes yours was the 1 i was looking at







but i live on the isle of wight and really need delivery as i have mobility problems, which is a pity.

The el cabron thing is a long story....i used to live in the Canary islands and it was a thing we would jokingly call each other (it's not that harsh an insult, it means b*stard) as with all swear words it depends on the way it is said. Also i make electric guitars, and 1 of them was my version of a fender telecaster 'la cabronita' but if i ever came to sell it online fender would be all over it with copyright etc so i decided to call it azzacaster el cabron so guitarists would recognise it and fender couldn't do anything.... la cabronita means the little b*stard and mine is simply THE b*stard hahaha no offence to anybody of Spanish descent intended of course.



hotmetal said:


> Hi El Cabron. Mine is the Mini that's for sale at £220.
> 
> Ideally I'd prefer collection, but depending on where you are I might be up for meeting halfway, although if you live 100 miles away, maybe not!
> 
> ...


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Brilliant story! I know another guy who makes guitars, Gary Hearn. He's done something funky with the sound box construction that makes them unusually loud for an acoustic. Yeah, IoW might be a bit far! Oh well good luck.


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

No worries and thanks, if you decide you want to post it or take your Mrs on holiday to the isle of wight let me know heheh



hotmetal said:


> Brilliant story! I know another guy who makes guitars, Gary Hearn. He's done something funky with the sound box construction that makes them unusually loud for an acoustic. Yeah, IoW might be a bit far! Oh well good luck.


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