Best (inexpensive) grinder for drip/french press?

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
mmm
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#1: Post by mmm »

I know this is the 'Espresso Grinders' section, but not sure where else this would fit.

I'm thinking of selling my Anita / M4 due to moving soon and having no real time to do everything in the morning. The M4 doesn't seem like a good choice for drip / french press, so I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations for a cheap grinder that does the trick?

Based on searching here and doing some research, I came up with the following choices:

Gaggia MM
Baratza Virtuoso
Baratza Maestro Plus
Capresso Infinity

Has anyone used these for drip/fp and care to comment? I've read some good things here regarding the Virtuoso for this, but haven't found much on the other grinders.

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RapidCoffee
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#2: Post by RapidCoffee »

The Baratza Virtuoso does a decent job for French press, vac pot, Aeropress, etc. No idea how it compares to the Maestro or Infinity. I've also used a Kitchen Aid Pro for non-espresso grinding. It's a solid, innovative design, and I liked it. But enough folks have complained about the KAP that I'm hesitant to recommend it. Due to a restricted range of grind settings at the fine end, both of these grinders (Virtuoso and KAP) are marginal for espresso, but seem to be adequate for other brewing methods.

Sorry to hear that you're leaving the espresso world behind.
John

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cafeIKE
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#3: Post by cafeIKE »

Can't speak to the Gaggia as I've never used it. Any of the others are fine for press. The Capresso is probably the least costly. I had problems with static on two Virtuoso's

perstare
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#4: Post by perstare »

Before springing the extra bucks for the Virtuoso, I went to a local dealer who carried
the Capresso, and though a lot of good things were written about it, I was put off by too much
plastic which I thought wouldn't survive more than a year. The Virtuoso is solid, heavy duty, and
weightier even though it sports some plastic. I am not plagued with static issues as some others are.
I've had it for over a year, and it's a charm. Also, can't say enough about the company that stands
behind the Virtuoso.

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erics
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#5: Post by erics »

I was in the same exact predicament and ended up getting a hand grinder from these guys:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.zas.shtml
Skål,

Eric S.
http://users.rcn.com/erics/
E-mail: erics at rcn dot com

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cafeIKE
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#6: Post by cafeIKE »

perstare wrote:...Also, can't say enough about the company that stands
behind the Virtuoso.
Baratza wrote the book on customer service. Absolutely the best!

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RapidCoffee
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#7: Post by RapidCoffee »

Like perstare, I've had no problems with static on my Baratza Virtuoso. As in none, zero, zilch, nada. I believe they've added an antistatic coating to the grinds container, and it really works.

However, I cannot concur about Baratza's customer service. When I had difficulties adjusting the grind settings on the Virtuoso, I called Baratza and left a voice mail message. No response. Left an email message. No response. Finally, over a week later, I got an email reply, with a disclaimer about an errant spam filter. Phone message seems to have vanished in the ether. OK, these things happen, and maybe it's the exception that proves the rule - but no high marks on Baratza customer service from me. Not when I have to wait a week for help on a grinder adjustment.
John