iploya wrote:I'm in this camp. How many of us would gladly pay another $100 or even $150 for a "burr seasoning service" when selecting customization options on a $2k grinder? Probably most of us.

(I picked up 12 lbs of stale Starbucks beans on eBay to supplement the roughly 10-12 lbs I have put through the MC4 so far. I am about 10 lbs through this weekend project.)

By the time your grinder makes it into your hands, about a kg has already been put through it. Denis typically recommends to don't bother with breaking in and to just enjoy your grinder right away. He does tell you to expect the grind settings to drift as you continue to use it.

cebseb wrote:Denis typically recommends to don't bother with breaking in and to just enjoy your grinder right away.

And that's the other camp - the "it's good enough to enjoy now, so just relax and it will slowly get better with time" group. Both are subjective cost/benefit analyses from different perspectives.

Denis also describes how the TiN coating when new initially creates more fines, which leads to a wider initial particle distribution, and which, on a practical level causes a high incidence of spraying when new. Most users report better results in cup after some amount of grounds, and for the TiN conical burrs it is common for people to report 25 lbs or several times that amount until they start getting optimal results.

People who "season" brand new multi-thousand dollar grinders are wasting thirty pounds of perfectly good coffee beans imo. These are the same folks who unnecessarily "burn in" their Class A amplifier or worse yet - their speaker cables <--- lol, wtf??!?

How else are you going to eliminate the Quantum Decoherence in your speaker cables? I bet you use a grinder without carefully placed Shun Mook disks!

(Sadly, I have to state clearly that this is a joke. I'm sure some publication somewhere is saying this in all seriousness.)

If anyone needs help breaking in their Monolith I'm available to help. I'll do it gradually with high quality, fresh beans I've roasted myself. I figure it will take about 6 months but when you get the grinder back it will be ready to go. Best part is, I offer this service for free; you merely need to pay shipping (both ways). DM me for further assistance

mgrayson wrote:How else are you going to eliminate the Quantum Decoherence in your speaker cables? I bet you use a grinder without carefully placed Shun Mook disks!

(Sadly, I have to state clearly that this is a joke. I'm sure some publication somewhere is saying this in all seriousness.)

To me, anyone who can taste the difference between a seasoned and non seasoned grinder is wasting their multi million dollar palate if they are not in the coffee business.

In my earlier post, I mentioned I ran a pound of coffee through my new Ceado E37SD. Then decided to use the second pound to dial in.

I then used the beans I was very familiar with and the difference between my very seasoned E37S and the SD? The difference was mind blowingly undiscernible.

Caffinator wrote: To me, anyone who can taste the difference between a seasoned and non seasoned grinder is wasting their multi million dollar palate if they are not in the coffee business.

In my earlier post, I mentioned I ran a pound of coffee through my new Ceado E37SD. Then decided to use the second pound to dial in.

I then used the beans I was very familiar with and the difference between my very seasoned E37S and the SD? The difference was mind blowingly undiscernible.

I'm not certain. The grind settings drift in the first month or two of grinder use, so *something* is changing. I'm just happy to locally optimize - what settings taste best *today*?

To hopefully not sound off topic. One of the beverage product I respect the most is Budweiser. Not that I like the beer. But for the consistency of their end product. When you drink a Bud. You know you're drinking a Bud. Despite the countless variables of the raw ingredients that are used in every single batch. What kind of tweaking has to go on in order to achieve a consistent end product from raw materials that are constantly changing?

Same for coffee. Every morning coffee I make. I make at least one 'test' shot. Sometimes I need to change the grinder setting. Sometimes I don't. Beans change their characteristics easily on a daily basis. So, grinder and even machine settings, timing etc must change with it.

It doesn't matter if you have the most accurate grinder or whatever if your raw ingredient is constantly changing. One must adapt to it. Just ask any winemaker.

I've never consumed a Budweiser. Beachwood aged isn't my thing.

I can trivially taste the difference between a new vs seasoned set of burrs.

Shrug...

Budweiser. Respect the process for the ability to achieve a consistent end product to become one of the largest beer producers in the world Same for McDonalds. You may not like their food. But they are the largest and most successful restaurant in the world. Starbucks? Need I say more?

You not liking something is all and well for you. But to discount it when millions, and I mean millions, of people enjoy their product on a daily basis is pretty soap boxy.

If you can pick out 10 shots of seasoned burrs with 100% accuracy from a sample of 990 shots made with non seasoned burrs. Then you have a point. Until then, taste is 100% subjective.