Coffee Equipment

I have owned a do own a metric buttload of coffee brewing equipment. Some of it I use daily. Most of it, I don't use at all. Some of it has broken down. I've sold other pieces. This is just a general inventory with some thoughts.

Grinders

Baratza Virtuoso ★★★★★

I've only owned this grinder for a short time (at this point a few days), but it's already my favorite grinder I've ever owned. There are far fewer fines (tiny particles of coffee that are much smaller than your intended grind-size. These particles increase bitterness, and the mess you're making while brewing.) than with any other grinder I've ever owned. The coffee it produces is about as good as any coffee I've ever been able to brew at home. This grinder is definitely at the high-end of the consumer-level coffee grinders—from here, the only available upgrade is the pro-level coffee grinder (something like the Guatemala Lab. After having used this grinder for a few days, the idea of a pro-level coffee grinder is less appealing than ever.

Rancilio HSD-ROC-SD Rocky Coffee Grinder ★★★☆☆*

This grinder is 3-stars with an big, fat asterisk: I don't make espresso. I only make coffee. If I was an espresso drinker, I feel like I would have gotten more enjoyment out of this grinder. This grinder, whether used for espresso or for coffee, does have some problems. First, it featured deep screw-holes in the hopper where beans would get stuck—I used a camera-lens air rocket to blow the beans out. Second, the outlet from the grinder is a horizontal chute. Gravity tends not to pull things horizontally. As a result of these two facts, I would sometimes lose about 3 grams of coffee in a freshly cleaned grinder. These problems aside, it was certainly a very consistent grinder. Also, looking at this grinder gave me a lot of joy.