Not to mention the OP has no desire for a commercial grinder due to size limitations, here was also no given interest in modding.

Forte BG is probably hard to beat. As far as Baratza build quality, it is not poor, and there are many grinders that have been working for years without needing customer service. Forte does address the limitations of a vario quite well. I would definitely like to have one.

I will put in another vote for the Baratza Forte BG. I've had mine for several months and I'm very pleased with it in every regard. As it has already been mentioned, it can be had for around $700. It also addresses your concerns about build quality.

Where can they be had in the 700 range? There is a percentage of me that wouldn't mind a commercial grinder. I would just have to set it up in the laundry room. I see some bunn grinders in my area on Craigslist. I may need to do some research on then. I would love a malkonig(sp?) but there is no way I could swing that kind of cash. Forte looks great. I have read where the rocky is an espresso grinder but can do f/p. Would you guys consider the rocky a good option for drip/brewed coffee?

Also. Any thoughts on the MACAP M4 stepped doserless for drip/brewed?

jridgunc wrote:Where can they be had in the 700 range? There is a percentage of me that wouldn't mind a commercial grinder. I would just have to set it up in the laundry room. I see some bunn grinders in my area on Craigslist. I may need to do some research on then. I would love a malkonig(sp?) but there is no way I could swing that kind of cash. Forte looks great. I have read where the rocky is an espresso grinder but can do f/p. Would you guys consider the rocky a good option for drip/brewed coffee?

You will have to contact the vendors and ask for the going street price on the forte. I believe they (Baratza) have MAP pricing (minimum advertised price). I was able to find mine for $700 total, like I mentioned before. I would also like to point out the Baratza forte is manufactured by Mahlkönig.

And I would never consider a grinder designed for esspreso to be good for drip/brew (or vice versa).

I wouldn't use an espresso grinder either. The grind distribution you want for one is not remotely close to the other.

Ok. Are ceramic or steel burrs better for brewed coffee? And why?

I am learning a lot here. I didn't realize that the stepped espresso grinders were poor options for drip. I just assumed espresso grinders were marketed at the espresso crowd because the way they are designed would be impractical for going back and forth from course to fine grinds due to how the machine was geared/threaded.

Thanks for the insight here!

If I am reading this correctly the options are. Low end baratza / high end baratza (forte) / commercial (bunzilla).

Is the breville smart grinder designed for espresso?

I like the idea of getting an old wall mount grinder with a large crank. I could see convincing my wife that those are an ok option. She would give me crap but if it isn't too labor intensive I could see bringing her over to the dark side!

From a previous thread

Actually, the claim from Mahlkoenig / Baratza is that the particle size distribution curve is unimodal at coarser settings and bimodal at finer settings. It is designed to be an all-purpose grinder.

As I have understood it the baratza is a multi purpose grinder not a coffee drip/brew grinder. It really seems like most grinders other than espresso only grinders are marketed as grinders associated for both drip/brew and espresso.

I would ask. Are there non commercial grinders that are actually totally optimized for drip/brew or does that not really exist?

When you watch the Seattle coffee gear folks they keep talking about some of these grinders as multi purpose grinders. They seem to be a big proponent of the rocky over the baratza/capresso/breville/bodum. Are they just giving bad advice?

jridgunc wrote: If I am reading this correctly the options are. Low end baratza / high end baratza (forte) / commercial (bunzilla).

Is the breville smart grinder designed for espresso?

Personally I'd take the Breville over a low or mid range Baratza if you only want a brew grinder. Breville claims it can be used for espresso grinding & while it can it does a lousy job in that range. I played with one for about 4 weeks when it first came out & thought that it did a better job in the drip range then the Baratza Vario I had at the time. It also suffered none of the issues that caused me to sell the Vario.

jridgunc wrote:Ok. Are ceramic or steel burrs better for brewed coffee? And why?

In the case of the Vario/Forte, the steel (Ditting) are best for brewed coffee. As to the why, because that was their intended use when they were designed. If fact the forte with the steel burrs is called BG (brew grinder).