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| Grinders Priced Over $200 |
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| A look at EspressoPeople's $200+ Grinders. |
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Although there are many grinders on the market today, EspressoPeople has been very careful to only offer what we believe are the best models for the money. The grinders listed in each of our major categories, including this one offer very good performance and reliability, vis a vis their price. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for, and our goal is to make sure you get everything possible at your budget point.
EspressoPeople carries four grinders in the over $200 range, including the Rancilio Rocky Burr Grinder, the Gaggia Model MDF Burr Grinder, the Innova Conical and Flat Burr Grinders, and the Pasquini Moka Burr Grinder. When you get into this range of products, the grinders are considered very high end home use models that could be used in a light to medium commercial environment, and often are - countless cafes and restaurants in the United States use grinders like the Innovas, the Rancilio Rocky and the Pasquini Moka as their second grinder for different bean types or decaf coffee.
There is another major trait shared by all of these grinders - they are essentially espresso grinders, and designed for that purpose. You can use them to grind coffee beans for any type of brewing method from Turkish to coarse grind, but by and large these are meant for espresso machine pairing.
With the exception of two variants of the Innova line of grinders, all of our above $200 models are doser grinders. A "doser" grinder is a machine that has a compartment in the front with a set of rotating vanes. You move these vanes by flicking a lever, and each flick doses out a portion of ground coffee. If you fill the doser chamber with grounds, a click on the doser usually equals between six and eight grams of coffee. One click is enough grounds for a single shot. Two clicks is enough for most double baskets. When you visit your favorite cafe, the grinder you see next to the espresso machine almost certainly has a doser chamber on the front of it.
The exception in EspressoPeople's premium grinder lineup are two variants of the Innova grinder. We offer two units without a doser; instead, they have an "exit chute" which could facilitate grinding for drip or press pot.
The Gaggia MDF Burr Grinder and the Rancilio Rocky burr grinder are very similar and perform at a more or less equal level. The major difference between the two is the Rocky's larger hopper, and slightly better motor which is also quieter. In fact, the Rocky is one of the most quiet grinders on the market today, borrowing much technology from it's older sibling, the commercial Rancilio MD40 grinder. The Rocky also has a heavier chassis and comes in a stainless steel model, as well as painted metal.
This is not to say the Gaggia MDF is a slouch. It has a wide grinding range, works extremely well with any Gaggia espresso machine, and sits in a slightly smaller space.
Both grinders have a wide range of adjustments and can competently grind from Turkish to coarse grind, and can easily move up and down their range. Both use flat burr technology with high quality, commercial sized burr disks with a complex tooth pattern.
The Innova line of grinders offers four different variants. You can buy a conical burr model with a doser or with an exit chute (doserless), or you can choose a flat burr with a with or without a doser.
The flat burr variants use commercial sized flat disk burrs with a tooth set that is even better than those found on the Gaggia MDF or Rocky. The burr set is housed in a big beefy brass housing, and is a very secure and stable grinding system. The conical burr variants use a large conical burrset housed in an extra strong resin housing. These particular burrs are much larger than the ones found in our more economical conical burr grinders, and the difference shows in the resulting grind.
One of the best features of the Innova line is the stepless "worm drive" gearing system that allows unprecedented control over the range and fineness of your grind. Even grinders costing 3 times as much don't offer this level of fine tuning. The drawback to this system is that, while the other grinders in this category can easily switch between coarse and fine grinds, the Innovas require more work to do so - you would have to turn the grind selector dial a hundred or more revolutions to get the equivalent of 10 or 15 clicks on a Rocky grind selector.
The top of the line machine carried by EspressoPeople is the Pasquini Moka commercial grinder. This grinder is a serious performer. It's the largest and heaviest grinder we have, and it will most likely outlast all the other grinders in our lineup. Whereas the other grinders could do commercial work in a pinch, this grinder was designed for light commercial usage.
The flat burr set is a serious piece of work that delivers near perfect shavings of coffee grounds at any level of fineness you want. It has a built in coffee tamper, sound shielded motor, a quick-remove bean hopper, and allows easy access to the grinding disks. It is available in a chrome finish to match the Pasquini Livia 90 espresso machine, and a neutral black finish. If we only had our choice of one grinder to take to a desert island, this one would be it (of course, we'd need an espresso machine to match, and a power generator and lots of fuel). We consider the Moka the ultimate grinder for home use.
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| Other Sections of this Guide |
| Do I Need A Grinder? |
Espresso People believes that the grinder is one of the most important quality coffee purchases you can make. Find out why. |
| Different Grinds |
Grinding for coffee is not absolute; a french press requires a different grind when compared to espresso. Find out about it all. |
| Grinders under $80 |
We present an in-depth, objective look at the grinders we carry in the under-$80 price range. |
| Grinders under $180 |
We present an objective and honest view of the grinders we sell, priced between $80 and $180. |
| EP Recommends |
Here's our top picks for grinders in all the available price ranges, and our reasons for choosing them. |
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