# Waving hello



## I need coffee (Nov 18, 2016)

Hi fellow coffee lovers,

I just joined the forum for the same reason I expect a lot of others have - the bewildering world of the coffee grinder!









So, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit on here that I have a Phillips Senseo coffee machine, with the Coffee Duck holder which allows me to use ground coffee instead of the teabag-style coffee pods the machine was designed for. My mum and dad bought it for me about nine years ago and I discovered the joys of slightly more proper coffee than the instant I was used to, then learned about the coffee duck from a coffee seller at a farmers market and promptly got one.

That led me to the world of ground coffee and even nicer flavours







. Eventually I decided to grind my own, as I had read that it gives a better flavour. I bought a Klarstein Piccobello, as it was a reasonable price (£35, supposedly reduced from £85, though I now have my doubts), claimed to be able to grind for espresso and had burr grinders. However, it doesn't grind very finely and the coffee is quite often weak in flavour.

So now I'm looking at slightly more expensive ones (Christmas is coming and my mum and dad got me into proper coffee, so they can buy me a decent grinder







). The Senseo is by no means a proper espresso machine, so I don't need a really top notch grinder, but it is nine years old and starting to get a bit noisy, so it may not be long until I look into getting a better machine, so I also don't want to buy a really cheap grinder which won't be any good for that (see: Klarstein Piccobello, which isn't even fine enough for a not-espresso machine!). That said, I don't want to bankrupt my parents!

I have been looking around online and getting more and more confused. One review extols the virtues and the next bemoans the coarsness of the finest setting!!! I thought I had narrowed myself down to a Bodum Bistro, Dualit 75015 or Baratza Encore, which all get decent reviews regarding espresso grind. But now I feel I should ask people who know a bit more than me so that I don't end up with two grinders which aren't up to the task and parents who are annoyed that I'm not using their gift that I asked them for!









Thanks for any advice. I know people must get fed up with the same old questions.


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

don't trust the online reviews of that price band - there all pants - trust me ive owned a few - get your post counr upto 5 and you should be able to access the sales thread.

My advice - you might as well look at upgrade of the machine and the grinder if your looking to make leaps and bounds in your coffee quality.

Starting point minimum - Gaggia Classic - Buy SH £100 - £150 / Grinder Iberital MC2 £60 - £90

these are the absolute starting point that can and will provide quality extraction of espresso

alternatively If budget is tight research pour over, drippers and hand grinders - they can provide fantastic coffee if used well - many top coffee houses provide pour overs as a way of to get the best out of certain coffee roasts, look up aeropress, drippers, Porlex hand grinders, Vario etc

good luck on you journey.


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## I need coffee (Nov 18, 2016)

Thanks for the reply Jimbojohn55. I shall look into upgrading as you suggest. Gaggia Classic is a name which seems to crop up a lot on forums and such, but the Iberital is a new one on me and I will do a bit of research.


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