Hi All,

First post - but definitely been a lurker. Thanks for all the posts and contributions in the past... many good cups of coffee were had because of forums like this... thank you.

So - I have a bit of a pickle. A nice one. I have enough AirMiles to acquire a Breville Smart for free. But compared to the Virtuoso [now with Preciso burrs] - seems like the Smart is not up to snuff for espresso grind...

Should I take a free decent grinder or pay for a solid grinder that does everything?

My long term plans are:
ROK hand espresso machine [in the next 12 mths] and a semi-auto when when counter space is available [say, 5 years from now].

We both do Aeropress 100% of the time - and use the Zassenhaus hand grinder - but it's getting tedious to do 4 cups/day for 2 people with a single grinder... We would be grinding at different times of the day, so the grinding would be single serve...

Suggestions? Advice?

Thanks..
-Peter

Since your looking for espresso use, neither work for espresso, they're both great coarse/brew grinders. The Preciso/Vario/Forte are Baratzas espresso grinders. They all have micro adjustment to act step-less which is needed for espresso, using a non-stepless grinder for espresso would be like trying to drive a car with square tires . Though the Preciso/Vario can do full range technically (espresso -> coarse), not recommended to do so and best left to one purpose or the other vs switching back and forth. Will put a lot of wear and tear on the plastic adjustment causing grind settings to go out of wack. However the Forte is built much more stout and solid and can easily handle the full gamut of coffee grinding and switching back and forth no problem, not cheap, but there's nothing close to it for an "all in one" grinder for home use.

Are you referring to the "Smart Grinder Pro" (820) for 2000 miles? It is an improved Smart with supposedly enough steps for espresso. (The key word is supposedly.)

2000 'dream' miles = $210.53 cash value

One thing I like about Breville is the 'price' is the same in Canada and the USA - this grinder (820) is $230CA in Canada, and $230US in the USA.

If you buy the 820 in a store, it will cost you $260 (in Ontario, HST).

With the Baratza, you are paying the 20% exchange - so the price to you (and me) for the Virtuoso has gone up 20% since last fall. (Currently $230US in the USA, vs. $280CA+HST in Canada) BTW, you 'need' the adjustment of the Preciso for espresso, so if you are thinking espresso, then the bar is higher ($360CA+HST)

So, between the Virtuoso and the Breville, I would get the Breville.

Given it's free and you are finding hand grinding tedious... unless you can think of a better point-saving goal I'd say try the free grinder. It'll be interesting as a comparison, at least.
While you may need shimming (or not, depending on the state of recent grinders) you'll at least have a decent idea of intro to espresso with low-budget equipment. I suspect you'll learn a lot. It won't likely be user-friendly.
I use a commercial grinder and the ROK because it lets me tinker and I can get good results out of it. For many reasons I also am not able to upgrade yet.

If it's free, the Breville Smart Grinder is a no brainer. The only problem with the Smart Grinder is that it has much variation from step to step, at least for tweaking the grind for espresso. I had it for some time and it was my only complain about it.

Given that all the variables become a constant, except for the grind particle size, going from let's say a 28 sec shot to a 29 sec shot is not possible by just adjusting the particle size with the grinder. Some other variable will have to change to accomplish this. This lack of control is the main reason I upgraded to a steeples design.

There are reports of some users not being able to grind fine enough for espresso, but this was not my experience. Perhaps it was an issue with earlier models. I could grind fine enough to choke the machine and still have room to grind finer if I wanted to.

I had a Smart Grinder, and shimmed it. Even when pulling what "looked" like a nice shot, tasted not remotely as good as the Vario or even the Preciso. Like it just completely lacked flavor, remember it's not a matter of grinding fine enough to choke, my old Capresso Infinity before that could choke an espresso machine.... but was useless for espresso.

Since you want to do both, you could get the Smart now since it does make a great brew grinder and would be free, and then down the road when your ready for espresso buy an espresso only grinder so when you still want do other brew types you'll have the Smart Grinder around for that. Many have two grinders at home for that purpose, otherwise your only choice is a Forte which can handle both needs and switching back and forth but is up there in price.

I wouldn't say it's his only choice... a Super Caimano can switch between grind sizes easily and repeatably, but the steps are relatively large. Still a great grinder, though.

The SG Pro has a different adjustment mechanism with more steps as well as an adjustable upper burr for even more adjustment. Comparing it to the very early Smart Grinders that required shims is pointless.

I have no idea if the new 820 will pass for espresso. I do have a later model 800 that the wife uses for brew coffee and I also have an Oracle. If the adjustment on the new 820 mirrors what they did on the Oracle you should have no problem.

Thanks for the advice.
Wow - I am surprised that a $300 Barazta still cannot make espresso grounds. Kind of disappointing - when I was researching coffee/espresso preparation - I thought Baratza was the $-it - and that I could get that grinder + Gaggia Classic = boom *god shots*

I guess making great espresso at home is going to cost a lot more than I initially planned.

I'll bite the bullet on this SmartGrinder because [1] we need one [2] the Breville is a decent/consistent grinder for Aeropress [3] free is free.

Will report back on this Grinder...

Thanks again...

I'm a bit late but here's my take --- I have both the Virtuoso and the Breville Smart Grinder Pro.

The Virtuoso feels more robust and is a bit heavier. The sound it makes while grinding is also more pleasing to the ear. It's not that the Virtuoso is not capable of grinding in the espresso range: it is, and it will choke your machine at the finest setting. The problem is that there is only about 5-7 discrete settings that are available in the espresso range, which is probably not enough for properly adjusting your shots.

The BSGP is less expensive, a bit more creaky and plastic-y, but is shock-full of features. First, the "Pro" version features more adjustment steps out of the box --- 60 steps vs 40 for the previous non-Pro model and the Virtuoso. But there is also another adjustment on the burr set itself, which can put more of these discrete steps in the espresso range if needed. The BSGP can grind fine enough and probably has almost as many discrete steps in the espresso range as the Vario. It's a small conical as the Virtuoso though, and to the experts here, it looks like the quality of the grind itself is not on par with the Vario though. That being said, I also have a Vario, but I'm not using these in the same setup so it's pretty hard to compare. The grind from the BSGP is clumpier than the Vario, is all I can say, but it can grind as fine as far as I can see.

The BSGP has a more whiny motor but it does the job. Apart from that, it's a bit like the BDB: the number of interesting features for the price is astounding. It has a large hopper with an airtight cover. The hopper is lockable and can be used to carry beans. There is a large, clear display. The timer is electronic (vs mechanical on the Virtuoso) and can be paused and resumed. It comes with two porta-forks that work very well (magnetic snap). You can push the portafilter on a button to grind or use the button on the panel. It comes with a bin with an airtight cover. The base doubles as a tray for loose grounds and is detachable and magnetic.

So I think it's easy to recommend the BSGP, with one caveat: I cannot comment on durability. One thing is sure though, for the price it's amazing.