So, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a snigle step and all that... I finally saved up enough cash and bought myself a Zassenhaus grinder yesterday and I am currently enjoynig the rewards this morning (french press). Small steps, especially after drooling over some of the home set ups I saw in the photo thread, but a start none the less.

For the record I bought mine at Elysian Coffee on Broadway in Vancouver, who were exceptionally polite and even threw in a bag of week old ethiopian coffee when I asked if they had any old stuff I could use for seasoning (I may have been taking myself a bit to seriously asking for beans to season my grinder?). Considering the stuff they gave me is fresher than any of the store bought stuff you can get thats not bad going!

Now to scrimp and save for a espresso machine!

Good on you. The journey is as much fun as the rest of it, so you've got plenty to look forward to...

Cheers, Chris

Enjoy the journey!

Was that a new Zass? Or one of the honored older ones?

-C

I'm afraid to say I went for a new Zass, I don't have a Canadian credit card at the moment so I was buying cash. So far I'm only using it for French Press and the grind seems fairly consistent, but I do have the problem of having to keep my finger on the adjustment mechanism to stop it slipping. I have yet to see how fine a grind it can produce.

I've been pleasantly surprised to find out how much it changed the nature of the coffee I've been drinking. Having said that, and I may lose my forum membership for saying this, but I actually like the taste I was getting from my bladed grinder. It will be interesting to go back after using the Zass for a while and seeing what I think.

A new Zass was the first "serious" grinder I bought about 10 years ago, and it's still a favorite today. I also have many vintage models, and the new model does an admirable job - easily able to grind for any espresso machine I've ever had, including an Andreja HX. If you have any issues with the grind setting drifting a bit, some Loctite, or other thread-lock, will do the trick.

As far as your discovery that you like the coffee you brew that's been blade-"ground", keep using your Zass and fresh coffee - that should change quickly. And in the meantime, enjoy the journey, and the discovery of all that coffee is.

I was thinking of trying to use a thin piece of wire, that way I can still easily remove it and change the setting. Do you just break the join to change the setting or have you got it dialed to where you prefer it?

The other issue I've noticed is that the grinder occasionally needs a shake to help feed beans into the burrs, have you ever encountered the same thing? I'm thinking of maybe welding something on to the crank shaft to agitate the beans so they feed into the burrs without me agitating it.

Loctite blue seems to provide enough "stick-tion" while still allowing the adjustment nut to be moved. May have to reapply some blue in the future, but it seems to be okay with the little tweaks I've been making for some time now.

Yes, I also have an issue with all the beans feeding into the burrs. My routine is to grind until it gets very easy to turn the knob, meaning that all but a few stragglers, or bean-chips, remain. I then open the door to the hopper, and sweep all the remaining un-ground coffee toward the burrs, close the door, and finish grinding. No modification necessary.

BruceB wrote:Now to scrimp and save for a espresso machine!

Good luck! I am saving for a roaster and a hand grinder. spending all my green on the brown. Start of this journey is first step into madness Be aware where you're heading

Though I lack the green to buy I'm pretty aware of the madness I am wholly offering myself to! I spend far to much time drooling over espresso machines on the internet not to recognise it as anything other than insanity!

And Bob, I seem to be getting on just fine with keeping a finger on the adjustment. Though I will remember your adice about the loctite blue once I get an espresso machine! I imagine I'll get fed up once the grind gets finer and takes longer