I'm looking to upgrade from my tried and true Rocky to a stepless grinder. Seems like you can't go wrong with a Mazzer Mini. We have a Super Jolly at work and I am a fan for espresso but the design makes it pretty difficult to go back and forth between French press and espresso IMO. How is the Mini in this regard? I generally am about 50/50 on espresso and FP usage. Anyone have similar experience with Mini?

They use the same adjustment ring. As you know from using a super jolly, moving the settings is a pain, and its not necessarily easy to get back to your espresso setting. In addition, Mini's burrs are designed for espresso, not press. You can get a much better grinder for brewing applications cheaply. I suggest dedicated grinders.

So, you CAN use mazzer mini for both press and espresso, and I did exactly that for years. Like pacificmanitou said though, the adjustment is going to be exactly the same as what you are used to on the super jolly.

As to grind quality, while the mini is certainly a step up from the Rocky (I directly compared them several times back when I had a mini and my friend had a Rocky) its not THAT big of a step up. Its not going to produce as good a shot as your Super Jolly at work. Although the mini-E versions can have their burr replaced with the super Jolly burr, so that's something to consider. Also, the mini is really not a great choice for press, it makes too many fines. This is going to be a problem with pretty much any designed for espresso grinder.

The thing about the mini, because it is really a small commercial grinder but is small enough to be manageable at home, it was once upon a time considered the be all end all espresso grinder for home use. If you look around on the net you can still find older statements to that effect, but that's not really the consensus any more. A few key things have changed. Firstly, Baratza has come out with some good grinders that are better designed for home use: the Preciso and the Vario. The Preciso is roughly comparable to the mini for espresso, and is WAY better for brewing. The Vario is better for both espresso and brewing. The downside is that neither has the bullet proof commercial grade build quality of the mini. If you want that, there's also the Forte, which is basically a ruggedized vario.

Before I start sounding like a Baratza salesman, the other big thing that has changed is that more and more Home Baristas are using large commercial conicals at home, like Kony, K10, and Robur, and have realized that there are substantial taste and consistency benefits. Now, these grinders are huge and expensive, and not everyone can afford them or wants them taking up space in their kitchen, but few argue their superiority. Finally, hand grinders like the Pharos and HG One have come out, allowing those large conical burrs to be used in a smaller package, provided you are willing to provide muscle power.

Point is, you have a lot of options, and the mini isn't what she used to be in terms of public opinion. If you must have a one size fits all grinder, I would consider a vario or forte over a mini personally.

Like you, I used a Rocky as my all-in-one grinder for years. Was considering upgrading to something better for espresso, but staying with all-one-one grinder. But instead went with separate grinder for espresso and still use Rocky for FP and drop. I'm WAY happier with separate grinder approach. Better and more consistent espressos and no hassle/fidgeting from switching back and forth. Once you're dialed in, it stays that way until you need to adjust for a new bag of beans and then it's usually just a nudge.

There is a single grinder option. A Mahlkönig EK-43 works for all applications. It is, however, large, very expensive, and lends itself to a particular type of espresso thats not for everyone. Those that have the setup seem to love it.

Cool thanks for the advice everyone. I guess keeping my Rocky in the cabinet for FP is an option. I doubt I could get much for it on eBay anyways. Its got new burrs I replaced last year but its aesthetically pretty beat up. works fine for FP though. So maybe I need to do a little more digging on dedicated home espresso grind options. Size is an issue for me. My wife would go ballistic if I put something Super Jolly size on the counter.

Vario/Forte or k30 perhaps? K30 is a better grinder, but the price reflects that.

So lets say I'm going dedicated Espresso and I keep the Rocky kicking around for FP.

Baratza Forte AP or Mazzer Mini Electric A?

Thats the top end of my price range so I'm really can't go above that. Any others that should be in the mix in that range?

I would choose the Forte (or a used super jolly) over the mini. I'd also encourage you to take a look at the HG-one, which is in the same price bracket but has a large conical burrset, which many of us find preferable in terms of its ease of use and flavor profile.

Also note hg-one is a hand grinder, albeit a very nice one.