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Your most essential coffee-making accessory
 The
Conical Burr Grinder
I'm going to give you my recommendation for a burr coffee grinder
that will speed you on your way to
making perfect espresso with
rich crema at home.
A lot of people think they can scrimp a bit on their coffee grinder, but
my opinion is that there is a point at which your coffee grinder is more
important to making perfect crema than is your espresso machine. Really!
I mean it. You will never achieve perfect crema with an inferior
grinder. So don't go for anything less than what I recommend below when
you come to buy your burr coffee grinder.
As you will have come to realize from reading my other articles on
how to make perfect espresso coffee, many little things done well
add up to making a
perfect espresso brew. Many of you wouldn't even think that how you
grind your coffee beans would make any difference, but in fact it does make
all the difference in the world.
For a start, you want to buy your coffee beans whole (unground); this way
the flavor and freshness of the beans is locked in for a longer period of
time and are release right before you extract your
espresso. Coffee beans, like all foodstuffs, are perishable, and exposure
to heat, air, and light, will cause the beans to deteriorate over time.
For this reason, you need to buy whole beans since once the beans are
ground, there is much greater surface exposure to air, which accelerates the
deterioration in flavor and freshness of your beans. You should grind
your beans just before brewing your coffee, or grind small batches at a
time, just enough for a day's supply max, and keep the ground coffee in an
airtight container in the fridge or a cool cupboard or pantry. Don't,
however, put them in the freezer like some people recommend.
(Read about
storing your coffee beans in a way that will keep them fresh)
 We
have come a long way in terms of what is available for domestic use in terms
of coffee mills these days. When I first started out making espresso
coffee drinks at home some 25 years ago, the "hip" thing to use was the
blade grinder. The same basic models are still available today, along
with some very fancy and stylish models in stainless steel which, while
complementing your kitchen decor, still don't "cut it". There are
essentially two things that count against the blade grinder: first, heat.
Because of the very high speed with which the blades rotate, a large about
of heat is generated and actually burns your beans, affecting their flavor.
Good espresso roast beans are not cheap, so you want to handle them with
tender loving care! Second, to brew perfect espresso coffee, you need
coffee that is ground with a high level of consistency in terms of the size
of the individual coffee particles. Blade grinders do not control for
consistent grind very well. So while they are the cheapest option,
throw out your blade grinder, or reserve it for grinding nutmegs and
peppercorns!
So if it's not to be a blade grinder, what is it to be? The answer is
a conical burr grinder. Note, I said "conical" as there are also grinders
that are simply "burr grinders". At the center of the conical burr
grinder is a hardened cone-shaped grinding wheel referred to as a "conical
burr". Conical burr grinders are capable of producing the consistent
grinds that are needed for
making perfect espresso with
rich crema. Your conical burr grinder should also feature a gear
mechanism that reduces the speed with which the burr grinds the coffee so
that heat production is reduced to a minimum.
Conical Burr Coffee Grinder Recommendation
Like
my espresso machines and accessories, I have tried a few grinders over the
years. As I said at the beginning of this piece, I started out my
espresso-making career with a blade grinder at home. Now I know better
and so do you! Don't as the outcome will never be perfect espresso
coffee. The best entry-level conical burr grinder I have owned to date
(and still use) is the
Solis Maestro Classic Burr Coffee Grinder. It does a perfect
job of producing a very consistent grind, has a large range of grind
settings, and wonder of wonders for a domestic grinder, it's pretty quiet
too. Also, the hopper capacity at half a pound is good for domestic
needs. Another great feature of this grinder is the wide selection of
grind setting available. Expect to pay over $US100 for one of these
Swiss-engineered machines
at Amazon.com. Personally, I wouldn't settle for anything less
than this machine. Believe me, with the money I've spent over the
years on cheaper but inferior coffee grinders, I could almost retire now!
So save yourself some time and money; just because I have wasted money in
the past, doesn't mean you need to.
You can pay more for the same grinder but with some add-ons such as a grind
timer and pulse button which makes it easier for grinding directly into the
portafilter. This model referred to simply as
Solis Maestro Conical Burr Coffee Grinder will set you back up to
$US150 at Amazon.com And then they have a top of the line model known
as the
Solis Maestro Plus which runs up to $US170 at Amazon.com.
Again, from what I can tell, this is essentially the same machine, but it
has a metal base, making it heavier and more stable sitting on your counter
top.
So the final choice on model is up to you and your budget. I'm
personally very happy with my
Solis Maestro Classic burr grinder, and that's just what I intend to
continue to use at home until something better comes along for about the
same cost, which I don't think will be for a while yet.
(c) John Corney 2006
Espresso Machine
Recommendation for the Home
Burr Coffee Grinder Review and Recommendation
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