I've been reading posts from knowledgeable foristas for long enough now that I'm convinced I ought to have a grinder at least as good as my espresso machine. For the last four years, I've had the two pretty well in synch: Gaggia Classic with PID ($400) and Baratza Virtuoso Preciso ($300). But I've now upgraded my espresso machine to a very basic E-61 setup (Quick Mill Carola $900). Presumably this means that I also ought to get a better grinder. But can anyone explain why?

What exactly will the better grinder do better for me.

If context helps: I'm a one-espresso-a-day, straight shot guy. I dose by weight and use a yogurt cup funnel and WDT to even out the grounds. Given this, I don't care much about grinding speed or hopper capacity, say, but I do care about taste and repeatability.

A better grinder will give you better taste and repeatability.

If you enjoy your espresso, I see no need to upgrade now.

On this forum we seem to have an equipment baseline "creep," where the minimum equipment seems to get more and more expensive. Soon only a 3 phase Robur will do!

That would be the 3 phase liquid nitrogen cooled model.

I say team up with someone that has a grinder in the range you are considering and test them out

I got ya covered... I have a beautiful Rocky looking for a home!

I'm in the same position. Had a gaggia classic/preciso for 2 years and upgraded to an Expobar Lever Plus a year ago. I just replaced the plastic upper burr holder ($4), and all is good. I am very pleased with what my machine(s) produce and find it much better than what I get out. Anyway, after much research, I was ready to pull the trigger on a Quamar M80E. Good price, reviews, etc. But I found some other info saying that these commercial(type) grinders need a 'bean column' to work their best, and may not be a consistent single dosing as compared to the bean column. This concerns me because ,I, like the OP, grind one dose at a time. It seems that the Baratza line have the market cornered on single dosing and low retention? For me, and maybe the OP, filling the hopper will just stale the beans when we're pulling one to two shots a day. Right now, I've decided to stick with my Preciso until I get better clarification on how to proceed. Maybe this info can help both of us?

toyman wrote: But I found some other info saying that these commercial(type) grinders need a 'bean column' to work their best, and may not be a consistent single dosing as compared to the bean column. This concerns me because ,I, like the OP, grind one dose at a time. It seems that the Baratza line have the market cornered on single dosing and low retention?

I'm a big fan of Baratza and their CS (I own a Forte), but that said, it's been said by those who know more than I (about everyone... ) that in GENERAL, flat burr grinders do much better as single dose machines, due to their significantly fast rpm, thus feeding the beans down more adroitly. This pretty much ameliorates the possibility of the dreaded 'popcorn' effect that many large conicals (running at much lower rpm) exhibit.
The Vario family have a very low retention, almost negligible, and the design pretty much prevents popcorning.

The Preciso is a conical burr grinder, and from experience does a very fine job with all grinds as well, but is (IMO) slightly less consistent with espresso.
It will perform well with your machine, but perhaps finding a refurb Vario (a flat ceramic burr) would complete your espresso "kit" for a good long while. You'd also have some fun comparing tastes from each grinder. If you CANT afford both, I'd feel safe in saying that the Vario, or Vario W would be an upgrade, especially for consistency.

With respect to an earlier poster and his Rocky, I'd say your Preciso is a better choice. I've used both.

As the original poster, I appreciate the responses so far, particularly from IMAWriter. Here's what I have so far:

• A better grinder will grind more consistently, improving repeatability. Noted.
• A better grinder will prevent popcorning. Great, but even better if I knew what popcorning was.
• A better grinder will improve taste. I'd hope so, but I don't understand how. This is exactly what I was hoping someone would explain.

Popcorning is when coffee beans bounce around the hopper instead of being pulled into the burrs.