The best entry level "prosumer" grinder

For most people who routinely drink automatic filter coffee or have the occassional latte or cappuccino, spending $200 on a coffee grinder must seem absurd. A few years ago, this was precisely my attitude.

5 weeks working in Turin, Italy completely changed my coffee drinking habits, and I quickly became enamored of the quick, short espresso shot from the countless espresso bars littered throughout the city. Starting my day with a cafe latte at the Hotel Giotto before setting off for work was a daily ritual.

Upon my return, my first task was to buy an inexpensive pump espresso machine, and I picked up a (now discontinued) Saeco Armonia on sale, which I am proud to say I am still using 18 months later.

The reallly big shocker when researching espresso machines was finding out that coffee geeks often recommend spending as much on your grinder as you do on your machine. I was thinking they were like those audiophiles who buy $4,000 power cords....seriously deluded.

However they have a point. The consistency of the grind is more important the shorter the extraction time gets. Since espresso is about quick extraction under pressure (measured in seconds, not minutes as with filter or french press), a consistent grind is critical. By consistent grind, I mean that each granule of ground coffee should have a consistent shape and size. Not obvious when you consider that a coffee bean usually shatters when it is crushed.

Not only consistency of the grind itself, but over time. Essentially a good coffee grinder should be able to produce that consistent grind over and over again, hopefully for many years. Your cheap flat burr or blade grinder will wear out in months, if not weeks. But it really doesn't make much of a difference if you make filter coffee.

However the penny pinching scotsman in me was still reluctant to fork over even $100 for the least expensive conical burr grinder made by Breville, and I opted for the Krups GVX2 flat burr grinder. This turned out to be OK, as the Saeco's patented pressure system was designed to produce great espresso without being too finicky over the grind.

The Krups worked OK for about 6 months at the finest setting, but was beginning to show signs of wear. This was easy enough to fix by disassembling the burrs and placing paper shims (2 layers of peel 'n stick address labels, trimmed with an exacto knife) underneath the lower burr to compensate. However I knew that this would really only last another 6-7 months before the burrs were completely worn out.

I really had my heart set on buying a Rancilio Rocky (doserless) as according to most user reviews, is the best "entry level" grinder. (I also have my heart set on a Rancilio Miss Sylvia espresso machine, but the Saeco is still working great). When I began shopping I was shocked to see how much the Rocky increased in price, and there was no way I could afford one at over $400. So time to look at lower cost alternatives.

In the under $200 range I considered the Saeco Titan, the Capresso Infinity SS and the Gaggia MM. I did not know much about the Baratza other than they supply Starbucks' home grinder, which was a pretty good endorsement. The friendly folks at idrinkcoffee.com in Vancouver steered me towards the Virtuoso stating that they had a much lower return rate as well as endorsing Baratza's excellent customer service. Since Baratza is a small American company that only sells grinders, I considered this a plus. These people are passionate about their product and their end-user's experience.

After 1 month, I can definitely say that this grinder is definitely easy to live with. However it took a week or so to find the optimum grind for my machine, and it was necessary to disassemble and calibrate after a month (a very easy task to perform).

From a more technical perspective, here are some of the reasons why I think the Virtuoso is the best choice in this category:

1. Low speed DC motor. Low speed means that the burrs do not heat up the coffee, which can destroy flavour. A DC motor instantly produces maximum torque, there is no start up delay. The result is a more consistent grind.

2. Fully-hardened Italian burrs. While the grinder itself is manufactured in Taiwan, the burrs themselves are made in Italy. Actually this is a great combination, as I think Taiwan has perhaps the best electrical engineers and the Italians are renowned for their mechanical engineers.

3. Anti-static design. This may seem minor, but believe me, not having static-charged coffee dust flying all over the kitchen is a godsend.

4. User-accessible calibration. No other grinder in this price range offers a way for the user to calibrate the burrs. This may seem unneccessary, but even with the best burrs, they will wear over time and will need adjusting.

So does this grinder improve the coffee flavour? According to Saeco, it shouldn't, given the forgiving nature of their machine. And to be honest, using my favourite medium-dark roast coffee (William Spartivento, I am hard pressed to tell the difference in a latte or cappuccino. The big difference is in using a lighter roast, where I am now getting much thicker crema and a much more full bodied (less watery) flavour. In fact, we are finding darker roasts tasting more burnt than before. 

I have yet to try another coffee brewing method using this grinder, as we have a profound preference for espresso/cappuccino/latte in this family. This is to the point that any other method just doesn't cut it any more.