Capresso Infinity vs. ROK grinder

#1: Post by **Palidos** » August 21st, 2019, 1:46 am

Hey guys! I just recently purchased a 2014 la pavoni cor 300$. I ended up using all my budget on the machine, and don't really have the budget right now to spend 200$+ on a grinder. Locally, I found a good condition Capresso infinity and a ROK grinder for 60$. I've heard great things about both. What do you suggest I choose? I'm open to other suggestions too! But max I'd like to spend is about $100. Thanks!

#2: Post by **C-Antonio** » August 21st, 2019, 7:54 am

Wholelattelove did a review of the ROK grinder and they had a comparison with the Baratza Vario, you can find them on youtube. I personally never had occasion to put the ROK side by side with another grinder I trust to do my own comparison.
I am partial to manual grinders, less noise, less stuff that can break, lower heat, so in a way I am biased... but beside the quality etc if you are the kind that see cranking for a couple minutes a chore you will grow to hate any kind of manual grinder (even if a good manual grinder can be a good backup too)

#3: Post by **Scott_G** » August 21st, 2019, 8:53 am

Between the two, I'd buy the ROK. If you don't like it, sell it for no loss.

#4: Post by **redbone** » August 21st, 2019, 9:23 am

Different folks different opinions. I tried and never understood the purpose of manual grinder at home. Found that motor noise was insignificant compared to the noise of bean grinding. Further lower grinding time meant less noise. A Eureka Atom grinder for instance grinds quickly and quieter than any hand grinder I've come across including HG1. Fast effortless grinding for home use does not produce significant heat vs multiple shots in a commercial environment. I've owned a few Infinity grinders prefer the metal casing variant and recommend them for pour over grinding over the poorly aligned ROK grinders I've tried. Although the Capresso is not stepless the conical burrs are more forgiving than flat burrs. The C.Infinity grinder can grind fine enough for Turkish grinds or coarse enough for F. press.

#5: Post by **janpijpelink** » August 21st, 2019, 9:29 am

I have a Capresso Infinity and for espresso, it is IMO not a great grinder. I had to upgrade to a Baratza Sette.
I have seen many good reviews about the ROK for espresso. Go for it.

#6: Post by **jtrops** » August 21st, 2019, 10:35 pm

The La Pavoni is sensitive to poor grind quality, and every semi-auto machine I have used is much more forgiving. So, with that said I would recommend waiting for a decent hand grinder to show up used for around $100, and save a bit more. Recently I have seen used Orphan Espresso Lido's selling for around that much on this site.

If you want an electric grinder I can't think of many under $300 that play well with the Pavoni. You can get lucky though. I had a Krups that got decent reviews for consistency and shot quality; however it was very loud, and made a lot of static. As a result I picked it up for $10. A quick stepless mod, and it worked well with my Pavoni. It was loud for sure, and I have a "Zerostat" gun that I used to keep the static in check (now I would just mist a bit of water on the beans). I ended up giving that grinder to one of my students who picked up a Europiccola. He was happy to put his Hario Skerton in the drawer in favor of the loud, and slow Krups.

If the alignment problems that I have read about with the ROK can be overcome it may be the better of the two. From Infinity reviews I have read I don't think it will be a good fit for the La Pavoni.