Regular and decaf espresso: Do I need two different grinders ?

#1: Post by **Blouisa** » November 28th, 2020, 3:25 am

Hi there ,
We are planning to purchase a nice espresso machine ; my husband drinks regular and I drink decaf. Per my research and the man selling us give machine it sounds wise to have two different grinders though that does not seem the most economical solution. I know it would be a semi hassle to change beans and clean gears and so I would be open to two grinders if we could find two affordable rather than the one more expensive grinder we had planned to buy before coming to this realization. Would love recommendations.
Thank you. !

#2: Post by **cdbugler** » November 28th, 2020, 7:24 am

I have a Lido ET hand grinder for when we pull decaf shots. It's a great grinder, comparable in quality with machines that cost 4x the price. But we drink far more regular than decaf coffee.

#3: Post by **Jeff** » November 28th, 2020, 7:53 am

A single-dosing grinder, or one that works well with a single-dose workflow would be well suited, assuming it's reasonably easy to adjust including getting back to the same point. Decaf vs regular can often be very different in grind size. As just one example, I run different beans through my Niche Zero all the time.

Drip/press vs. espresso is a little different as there's a big grind-size shift and a slightly different grind profile preferred for espresso and drip that is available from very expensive grinders for each type of grind (most people on the street, I think, would already consider 200-300 for a grinder expensive, especially if you have to crank it). If the grinder is easy to adjust, it can be used for both. I do that with my Niche Zero.

#4: Post by **Jasper_8137** » November 28th, 2020, 7:54 am

You shouldn't have any issues if you buy a grinder that's good at single dosing, like a Niche Zero or Monolith. These typically have very little retention and are great for moving from bean to bean.

#5: Post by **rbh1515** » November 28th, 2020, 9:39 am

I drink regular and my wife decaf...I use a monolith. The settings are very different, and I just adjust it back and forth, no problem? One caveat. A lot of decaf espresso is very darkly roasted and oily. I won't run oily beans through the monolith. I have a Baratza Virtuoso that I use for Aeropress, and it actually works very well on the finest setting for most decaf blends. My wife did find a nice decaf espresso blend that is very good and not over roasted, and I run it through the monolith.

#6: Post by **spressomon** » November 28th, 2020, 10:07 pm

I haven't pulled decaf shots in quite some time but went through a period where the last cappa of the morning was decaf and I used two grinders. For everyday caff and decaf shots/drinks its a bit of a PITA, to me, to adjust my Monolith back/forth. Its not the act of adjusting that is tough but rather getting the grinder setting back to the exact position. If I'm off by just a little it will effect the flow one way or the other and ultimately effect the espresso. Of course it also depends how picky you are about the variances

You didn't mention what your budget is...but I'd give serious consideration to two Niche Zero grinders for the two different beans you work with on a daily basis. Or a good hand grinder for the 2nd/decaf grinder as a vast majority of decaf beans are dark roasts and inherently much easier to grind.

#7: Post by **Bluenoser** » December 1st, 2020, 6:44 am

On a different note, if you decide on a single grinder, I might not choose a Baratza Sette 270. The reason is two-fold (I have a Sette and a Monolith)
1. I clean the Sette much more often and after cleaning, the grind setting will change. After cleaning you need to adjust finer to get back to where you were, so you'll go through a dialing-in period again on both beans.

2. The micro adjustment knob can be a bit of a pain. If you are dialing in a bean and run out of micro-adjustments, you need to adjust the macro ring, but where you place the micro ring is a bit of a guess. Thus a grinder with a single ring adjustment would be easier if you are dialing in two different beans on a regular basis.

While two grinders are certainly more convenient, I would choose one solid, more expensive grinder and work with that for a while and then see if I wanted to add another later. You definitely want a single dosing grinder, and a Niche Zero would certainly be a good choice for the price. I also drink 1 regular and 1 decaf each day. I find a cheap set of "test tubes" handy. I measure out 18g of regular for 8 tubes and 18g of decaf for 8 tubes and that makes it quicker to just dump a tube in the grinder without having to measure/weigh each dose. I did not go for anything expensive.