I knew I would be disappointed by trying this. But I got a new grinder and I didn't want to waste my Vivace on dialing it in. So I asked for a pound of their freshest stuff.

I open the bag and immediately I don't like what I see... extremely oily. Meh... I'll put enough for a double into my still-new Mahlkonig ProM. I grind half way and I see some of the beans in the hopper. They are bits and pieces... broken fragments... chipped beans. What the...?

This is what I see under closer inspection.



Starbucks Espresso Roast
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I mean, really? That just looks like it sucks!

For comparison, here is a three week old roast of Vivace Vita.


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My five pound order of Red Bird shipped out today. Thank goodness!

Coating a new grinder's hopper and pathways with oil from dark roasted beans probably isn't the best way to start it out.

I just gotta ask, that twig in the first picture, was that included with the beans?

Each coffee is going to be better (well, probably no hope for the *$) at a different grind, so you can't really dial in a grinder, you dial in the coffee for your tastebuds.

The breaks in the Starbucks are not the sort you see in green coffee; these come from the roasted beans getting crushed.

Otherwise, I agree with Marshall that degunking your grind path with some GrindZ may be a good idea.

I think your initial idea of grind Starbucks came from conflating two separate things -- breaking in a the grinder versus setting it correctly. For breaking in, the best bet is to use a light roasted supermarket coffee, like 8 o'clock blend, and grind a few pounds slightly coarse. This will remove any burr irregularities, shavings, etc in the grind path.

For dialing in, pinch the grind between your fingers: it should be finer than table salt or sugar, but not quite a powder. Once you are at that point, you'll be close to the right setting; but you'll still need to pull shots to get it perfect.

Sir Anselm wrote:I just gotta ask, that twig in the first picture, was that included with the beans?

Haha, no that's a chop stick I used to sift through the fragments. Kinda reminds me of the bottom of the popcorn bucket, ya know?

another_jim wrote:The breaks in the Starbucks are not the sort you see in green coffee; these come from the roasted beans getting crushed.

Otherwise, I agree with Marshall that degunking your grind path with some GrindZ may be a good idea.

I think your initial idea of grind Starbucks came from conflating two separate things -- breaking in a the grinder versus setting it correctly. For breaking in, the best bet is to use a light roasted supermarket coffee, like 8 o'clock blend, and grind a few pounds slightly coarse. This will remove any burr irregularities, shavings, etc in the grind path.

For dialing in, pinch the grind between your fingers: it should be finer than table salt or sugar, but not quite a powder. Once you are at that point, you'll be close to the right setting; but you'll still need to pull shots to get it perfect.

Yes, my intention wasn't to break-in the grinder, so much as it was to play with my new grinder until my new machine arrives. This week should be fun... I have a Mini VII arriving (I hope), new tamper, a few other accessories and 5lbs of Red Bird.

If for some reason I can't get the Mini (I worked out a deal with a local vendor at SCAA Expo), I still have a Duetto on pre-order for the June shipment, as a backup plan. If that doesn't happen, I'll call up Stafano and buy one of his VBM Doubles. And if that doesn't happen I'll pimp myself out on the street and hustle my way into someone's GS3.

Uh huh, I have some GrindZ, that's a good idea.

I've actually found that the Trader Joe's coffees work well in a pinch. Fresh out of the can they are pretty good, however they go down hill quickly. Not to mention you can get roasts that don't taste like ash from Starbucks and they come in cans so you don't have to worry about a over zealous stocker crushing your beans.