damonbowe wrote:In my opinion, this burrs set and this espresso machine is the most reliable setup for consistent, good results. With this setup, your only concerns will be what water you are using (what filter) and what beans/how old your beans are.

Regarding grinders, the EK43 is popular, K10F is awesome and has less retention than people nit pick about on the message boards, and the K30 has a good form factor. I think those three grinders are great with that machine.

Whether you need to spend that much on a machine is another story, but that is considered a workhorse machine for most roaster test labs and is obviously a top of the line machine for home use. But like everything else, you can spend more but get diminishing returns as that price creeps upward.

You are correct -- I do not need to spend that much $$ on a machine. A nice LaSpaz, a plumbed Vivaldi, a Vetrano 2B, Duetto 3, Faema, et al, paired with any mini or big Titan would have worked well... the law of diminishing returns sets in with a machine.

So I considered where the machine would sit, the amount of control I wanted, budget, the amount that I'd have time to be so intensely involved with the machine that I'd play with it a long time...

The Vesuvius would be great, and so I read through everything, and considered the User -- me. I would not play with it the way it was intended. It would be fun with more time, and perhaps at a later date. Right now, I would not do the Vesuvius any justice.

Still, I wanted some contact with the machine other than pressing a button or pulling a lever and stopping the flow -- so for me, I hope the GS3 MP Strada option works paired with an Anfim SC Barista...

Like most here, I'm certain that if it's important, I'll add another grinder down the line...

Thanks, Gentleman, you are educating me.

I ordered Scott Rao's seminal book ... so the education continues.

I'd strongly suggest just taking some coffee classes at local roasters rather than relying on a book. I'm sure the book is great and all, but the hands on experience is not replaceable. I don't know any roasters in Dallas (I'm sure there are some) but I can recommend taking a trip down to Cuvee in Austin for a class. Lorenzo is awesome.

Appreciate it ... may go to SoCal for vacation and a class.

Will begin checking out Dallas, and thanks for the excuse to go to Austin.

For the sake of any curiosity, as to grinder, decided on the Ceado E37S with the smaller hopper to go with the GS3 MP Strada.

Why?

DaveC posted a thorough review elsewhere, and Rich's comments, and others.

Based on comments of high quality in the cup, quiet, low retention, adjustability, easily maintained, value - price is right. At this high end, all grinders are excellent -- it's a matter of preference.

Ceado is only available at WWL. Mark Jackson was easy to work with, and if I have issues, he said to call him.


(Initially went with Anfim SC Barista, but UPS dinged it, and CCS is out of stock at the moment. Thought about Mythos Barista but at almost $3k for home use ... made me queasy - the price/value ratio was not there for me)