Hi,
I am about to purchase my first espresso machine and I really don't have the extra money to buy a grinder right now. I noticed that Whole Foods and Trader Joes can do this for you. Is this a good route to go?

Thanks for your help!

You can do it, but the difference between a great shot of coffee from fresh ground and a great cup of coffee from ground-fifteen-minutes-ago is easily noticeable. And the grind will change as the bean ages, or degasses, or stales (whatever lexicon you prefer) but yours' will not. Buy a great grinder instead, and save up for a great espresso machine.
You can get better espresso from a great grinder and a mediocre espresso machine than you can from a great espresso machine and a mediocre grinder. Someone much smarter than I said that.
Saving money by getting an average grinder will change your espresso experience by leaps. The difference between a five hundred dollar espresso machine and a fifteen hundred dollar espresso machine is in ease of use. They'll put out the same product, you'll just have to work a bit harder with the five hundred dollar machine. They'll both do the basic two jobs that an espresso machine is supposed to do; make water hot and pass it through the puck in the neighborhood of 9 Bar.
The difference between a $50 grinder and a $150 grinder is worlds apart as far as the results go.
Go buy the best grinder that you can afford. Then save up for the espresso machine that'll do whatever part of the work that you're not willing to do.

You could also go with the ever overlooked hand coffee grinder such as the Zassenhaus conical burr grinder. Much cheaper than a Mazzer but you still get exceptional grind with a bit of work. If they ever get any in at Sweet Marias I plan on getting one to use while camping.

Avoid pre-ground coffee. The grind is never correct for your machine (the proper grind changes daily and sometimes hourly) and as Psyd pointed out, in 15 minutes the coffee is long lost it volatile aromatics and gone flat. Remember, if you can smell it in the air, it is not in the coffee.

HB wrote:I bet many of the respondents to What was your upgrade path from a Rancilio Silvia-class espresso machine? would disagree.

And I've heard just as many say that they can get as good a shot from Silvia as they can from a Brewtus II, or a La Spaz, or whatever, but they can get it more consistently with the latter. I dunno. If you look at my upgrade path, I went from getting good shots on Silvia with the occasional great shot to a pro two-group with a 12 litre boiler and a 4000W 220V element. I still pull sinkshots with it, though. PEBPAG (Problem Exists Between Porta-filter And Grinder)
My point was that the better machine makes pulling a shot more consistent and easier, while a better grinder makes better espresso.
Hey, I could be wrong...

Thanks for your replies! I am definitely going to look into buying a quality grinder. I am interested in the Zass conical burr grinder mentioned above...are they still difficult to find?

I have not been able to find them anywhere for several months. You may try EBay unless someone else has a magic vendor that has a stash.

Hi,

Here in Canada they are available at Terracaf.

http://terracaf.ca/en/produits/in...amille=12&IDsous=6

I am using a Zassenhaus at home and I find it works better than the Isomac Gran maccino that I use in my studio. Though it is a bit slower and manual. However i enjoy the sound of the beans cracking as you grind them which you miss when using an electric grinder.

You can get the Isomac grinder at 1st line coffee. A good deal for a mediocre grinder but it gets the job done.

Best of luck on your decisions. Just to mess you up, Have you considered a manual lever espresso maker?

Unfortunately, Terracaf won't ship to the US. I did a search for hand coffee grinders and I found one by Lodos, a Czech company. Anyone familiar with these?

Regarding the manual lever espresso maker...haven't looked at these yet...is the LaPavoni line the most popular?