Bluenoser wrote:laughing.. .. and I would agree, was surprising they had only the lower end of burr grinders..

Why is that surprising? Many of us on this forum are probably familiar with friends and family seeing what WE are making and wanting to know how they can up their coffee game themselves, for many of them, the Encore is about as steep a pricetag as they can tolerate... there's not even a point in suggesting nicer grinders like a Mazzer, Vario, Sette, etc because they wouldn't even consider it.

Would it be interesting to see them compare a Mazzer Major, K10 or EK43, sure, but what audience is that catering to?

(consider that they didn't even bother to encourage people to buy fresh coffee to take advantage of a competent grinder)

Bluenoser wrote:laughing.. .. and I would agree, was surprising they had only the lower end of burr grinders..

For America's Test Kitchen, it's not super surprising. I think the most expensive thing I've ever seen on any of their reviews over the years was the Vitamix blender and the Kitchenaid stand mixer.

But yeah, they could've also tested a more premium yet "affordable" grinder like the Baratza Vario.

I'm interested to know what type of coffee they were brewing. If they are brewing illy, Starbucks, etc...and more medium/dark roast coffees - it's feasible they aren't tasting much difference...

Also the element of consistency is important. Were they able to replicate the same cup of coffee with the blade grinder consistently?

I'm not sold on these "results"