Thread: Calling all connoisseurs - Coffee Grinders

I bought a Moka Pot the other day and have since made 3 cups of coffee with it using Cuban - dark roast beans. Also purchased a cheap burr grinder and grind the beans on each use.

The coffee is immense but the grinds are quite uneven.

What I would love it to buy an old burr grinder and fix it up as a project in order to grind some fantastic fine grind beans.

1) Where could I purchase such an old burr grinder at a cheap price.

2) I also store the beans in the freezer and grind them straight from the freezer (as I was told to do for freshness) do you agree with this?

I guess down the line I could get an espresso machine but at the minute I'm more than happy to experiment around with my Moka Pot. It's just the grinder which I feel is most important.

Originally Posted by poona

1) Where could I purchase such an old burr grinder at a cheap price.

In an online shop, possibly from the US, given the current exchange rate. Check CoffeeGeek - Coffee & Espresso Grinder Reviews for reviews. If you want a hand grinder, you will most likely want a Zassenhaus.

Originally Posted by poona

2) I also store the beans in the freezer and grind them straight from the freezer (as I was told to do for freshness) do you agree with this?

Yes, absolutely.

Originally Posted by poona

I guess down the line I could get an espresso machine but at the minute I'm more than happy to experiment around with my Moka Pot. It's just the grinder which I feel is most important.

Thing is, if you have a machine, you will also want an automatic grinder. I have a Rancilio Silvia (highly recommended, and arguably the best semi automatic home espresso machine money can buy) with a Demoka grinder I got on the cheap. Cannot be beat unless you go for a semi-pro machine (we'd be talking USD 2,000 and upwards, then).

As always, your mileage may vary.

I have a solis maestro and as far as I'm concerned it does everything I need. To me as long as it has sufficient control for the fineness of the grounds you need, it has a conical burr grinder of heavy duty metal, has a gear reduction motor and the grinder ring easily comes out for cleaning that's all you need. You can spends hundreds for a machine that looks like it belongs on the starship enterprise or in a commercial coffee house and I guess if your really into this its worth it to you but its not to me.

As far as freezing the beans I get green beans and roast my own and only roast about 8oz at a time and grind as I use them so freshness is not a problem for me. if you buy already roasted beans unless you know the exact date the beans were roasted they are probably half stale when you get them since you only have a 30 day window at max and many feel two weeks is all you should keep them. So if they are marginal when you get them or you buy alot (which you shouldn't do) freezing will help extend them to a point. I know many say once they go into those valved bags after roasting they stay fresh for months but not in my book.

On the freezing beans thing, I pumped my local roaster (who has forgotten more about coffee than I'll ever know) on this issue and he flat out said that unless you need to keep the beans past 3 weeks, don't freeze them as the freezing tends to force the oils out of the beans and every time you open the package to take some out, you're introducing more air/moisture into the mix. He strongly recommended to keep the fresh beans in an airtight container but if I should have a bag that I realize I won't get to before at least 3 weeks to then toss the unopened bag in the freezer until I can use it and then take it out, allow it to return to room temperature before opening and then transfer to the airtight container and use as soon as possible.

I know I'm spoiled rotten as I get to pick up my beans with the knowledge of their exact roast time... and it's rarely more than 24hrs old when I take it home. Of course, at 24 hrs they're still not ready for consumption.... I like to give them at least 48hrs of resting time before I start to use them... anything earlier usually tastes harsh and burnt but after 48 hrs it's a few days of absolute bliss and then a slow but steady decline in quality towards the 14 day mark but varies a bit depending on the actual beans... I find beans from around South America to suit me the most but I'm pretty picky and one years crop to the next can be enough to force me to search for something from a different region or even just a plantation or two down the road.


Regards

Christian

The beans I have were roasted the morning I bought them :-)

The guy was also serving other customer who were requesting freshly ground beans and he was telling me that the grinder he is using is about 20 years old. lol The grind were so find and even from this big bulky metal machine.

Originally Posted by poona

The beans I have were roasted the morning I bought them :-)

The guy was also serving other customer who were requesting freshly ground beans and he was telling me that the grinder he is using is about 20 years old. lol The grind were so find and even from this big bulky metal machine.

As was said, after the beans are roasted they should sit at least 12 hours and 24 is better before use or grinding and once ground no matter how freshly roasted the beans are the the freshness of ground coffee is measured in hours.

I've been grinding them as I need them. Just grinding little dosing sizes at a time whilst keeping the rest in the freezer. It's weird how they don't freeze and become too hard to grind. Must be the oils in the beans.

My wife emphatically says NO to putting beans in the freezer. Freezing coffee beans destroys the aromatic oils within them. They arent frozen on the way over so why would you need to now? She says- airtight container at room temperature. Thats the way to best preserve your coffee.

So says SWMBO...

I'm not an expert but I've been drinking espresso for at least 55 tears,

Speed is very important when grinding coffee beans. You should try to find one of this:

This one made by Krupps, uses the burr milling system to avoid overheating. It's around $60.

At home we use Cafe Bustelo, and we get excellent results. YMHO