cccochran wrote:As a newbi to HB, I am amazed and grateful to the knowledge which is shared on this site.
Looking to upgrade my grinder, I have been enamored with the HG-1, but am feeling the Sette will probably fit my modest experience level better. Thanks to all of you who share your time and experience; it is appreciated.
Craig in Seattle

If you can afford an HG one and don't mind manual grinding, why would you get the sette instead? Experience shows ( as others have pointed out) that eventually you may want a titan anyway.

RyanJE wrote:If you can afford an HG one and don't mind manual grinding, why would you get the sette instead? Experience shows ( as others have pointed out) that eventually you may want a titan anyway.

Even though one could "afford" a more expensive grinder, doesn't mean they should spend the extra cash.

Didn't say they should. I was just asking why they chose the sette over the HG1. Depending on that reason, it might be a short term option.

RyanJE wrote:Didn't say they should. I was just asking why they chose the sette over the HG1. Depending on that reason, it might be a short term option.

I just find that "grinder creep" has gotten out of hand.

Well...
We've been using a Mazzer Mini-E as our secondary SOE grinder and our Mythos as our main...
Although the Mythos was definitely better in terms of speed, fluffyness, dosing consistency and flavor...
We still love our Mazzer Mini-E....
The Mini-E had a combination of a lower RPM spin and smaller burrs which we found to be great for certain coffee's over the Mythos...

An extraction is like a painting and the grinders are the paintbrush...
Sometime's another paintbrush would work better..

Grinders aren't something that can be evaluated objectively (in a taste perspective)
It can only be evaluated subjectively... and it is subject to user prefference...
Different distributions will yield different results in the cup...
Does this grinder produce a particle distribution that suits my taste????

The only thing we can judge objectively about a grinder...
Is it's price point... the adjustability... durability.... ease of use... dosing consistency.. etc.. etc

I can also afford a Slayer or GS/3, but is my palette sophisticated enough to recognize the better quality?
Above a certain price point the law of diminishing returns roars its ugly head. When does one say I am satisfied with what I've got...don't know.
I also choose not to dedicate a ton of counter space to coffee products. The Sette could easily be placed back into the cupboard after use.
Lots to think about tho.
Craig in Seattle

When you start evaluating grinders based on Bang for the Buck or ROE then things change rapidly.

cccochran wrote:I can also afford a Slayer or GS/3, but is my palette sophisticated enough to recognize the better quality?
Above a certain price point the law of diminishing returns roars its ugly head. When does one say I am satisfied with what I've got...don't know.
I also choose not to dedicate a ton of counter space to coffee products. The Sette could easily be placed back into the cupboard after use.
Lots to think about tho.
Craig in Seattle

If you have such sufficient funds I think getting in a future kafatek order sounds like the right game.

This is a late post, but after putting 4+# through the Sette with a couple different espresso blends, I am playing with higher doses/less fine, lower doses/finer, and higher doses/longer pours with a local roaster (Cafe Lusso) "dark" roast.
I am finding I can definitely change the flavor profiles given the above variables, and a longer higher dose of 18.7-18.9g in a very old la marzocco portafilter that might be a triple, gives a "richer" (don't want to use the word chocolate) flavor....
Interestingly on my M4 I dosed higher, but the grind in the Sette is so fluffy that it won't really fit unless a cone/settling prior to tamping is done...

Curious if another_jim could further comment on bean darkness, as I am trying to understand where the beans I use are in the spectrum, given his review comments. For comparison any comments on how dark the Costco Starbucks Espresso bean blend is? I am using this not for love of the beans(great for breaking in burrs), but it is a consistent nationally available bean. I think this is on the medium dark part of the scale, but not very dark, but I haven't really thought out comparisons over the years....

So where would the Starbucks Espresso blend be considered on the darkness scale?

floydo wrote: ... (Cafe Lusso) "dark" roast. ...
I am finding I can definitely change the flavor profiles given the above variables, and a longer higher dose of 18.7-18.9g in a very old la marzocco portafilter that might be a triple, gives a "richer" (don't want to use the word chocolate) flavor....
Curious if another_jim could further comment on bean darkness, as I am trying to understand where the beans I use are in the spectrum, given his review comments. For comparison any comments on how dark the Costco Starbucks Espresso bean blend is? ...
So where would the Starbucks Espresso blend be considered on the darkness scale?

I don't know Lusso's or the Costco store brand. Starbuck's regular espresso roast is technically a French roast, roasted to the end of the 2nd crack.

As to the "richer" taste; if you dose higher, chances are you'll get a more concentrated shot, even if the taste doesn't change. The easiest way to tell for sure is to let shots at various doses cool and compare them then; this cancels the effect of mouthfeel changes.