What happened with me is I initially refused to believe that the more expensive grinders produced better results and as I got better and better at pulling espresso shots I found the quality of my early lesser quality grinders were the road block until I finally got a Versalab (early single belt model) and life was good but the experience was short lived because of quality issues.

After getting the Versalab repaired by Terranova a few years ago I have no desire to get another home power grinder and am now satisfied pulling good to fantastic shots with my La Pavoni Europiccola (old un-sleeved 49mm portafilter model with no plastic innards) even the crappy shots still taste good enough and I have not even changed burrs yet. I do have an included set of fancy coated top of the line burrs included that I will use if these current burrs ever wear out.

I am sure the other grinders with top quality control such as the monolith and others are great but I have never tried them and the Versalab design is my cup of tea.

My other grinders that I have used are Mazzer Super Jolly, OE Pharos, OE Lido original, Lido 2, and Lido E various Zassenhaus both vintage and modern, Heller 101 with both burr sets, various quality vintage hand grinders, Sozen turkish mill and other slower turkish mills.

A lot of these grinders are decent quality grinders that produce good grinds but the Versalab that has been repaired by Terranova makes the best tasting coffee in my experience.

The interesting thing is... what do people who think that by paying twice or triple the amount of a price of a good and solid espresso grinder think that they will get. Is it really the end of the road?

Obviously they will have to to tell themselves (and their wives/husbands) that the price difference gives them everything they've been looking after.


I feel that symptom (after all I am a first son of a machine engineer) but personally, diminishing returns is a road that I do not to want walk too far.

Not anymore.

Some people do like chasing diminishing returns

This kind of like hopping in a car enthusiast forum and asking what's wrong with a Camry (answer-nothing but some ppl want porches)

Side note: A cool thing about coffee as a hobby...especially over the last 5 or so years...is that enthusiasts can afford/have access to truly the top gear. In fact, commercial setups often need to make a number of sacrifices for the sake of scale and practically that enthusiasts don't. Kinda remarkable to think about.

My family loves giving me grief about my grinder "addiction".

Right off the bat, I'm a piker in this ball game!

I have 2 very good electric grinders, the Niche Zero and the DF64. I have a handfull of manual grinders and one on the way(Arco).

The only one of the manuals I have that is of decent quality is the Timemore Chestnut Slim, and it's mediocre at best.

I have bought and sold several other electric grinders over the years and have one out on a long term loan(I will never get it back).

I would love to have a Kafatek or any of the other end game( ) boutique grinders, but I likely never will. I just can't justify the price tag when I love the rsults of what I already have.

Everytime my wife or kids bring up my "Problem" I pull up the HB Grinder forum and give them a big raspberry!

Hah, heh, hah!

( With empathy, gently).....I suspect it's more like cured...for now....oh, how we must love to do this to ourselves, lol lol

blondica73 wrote:Grabbed the E65s GBW, so now I'm left with two Mahlkonigs, the EK43s (super aligned with Titus burr carrier) and the E65s GBW. I use the EK43s for single dosing, mainly light roasts and use the E65s GBW for everyday coffee, medium roasts. I think I'm cured now.

Just when I thought I was out...