On this page:
Economical Bodum C-Mills |
Maestro PLUS Conical Burr Mill | Virtuoso Conical
Burr Mill | The
Rancilio Rocky SS Mill | Mazzer
Mini Espresso Mills |
Two
Conical Burr Mills from Baratza to choose from...
Maestro Plus is a good general mill for drip grinds, and good for occasional espresso uses.
Maestro Plus Conical Burr
Mill |
The Maestro Plus Mill is a good
all-around conical burr and a good choice if you mosstly drink french
press or filter drip, with maybe an occasional espresso. The Virtuoso
Mill is
also a good all-around mill but a better choice for espresso with
commercial grade 40 mm conical burr set. In our tests it produces
a more consistent, even fine grind. Both mills carry the Baratza
name but are manufactured by Solis for Baratza who has sold the grinder
for years and knows it well.
1 year warranty against defect, repair or replacement, provided by
the US importer. Both machines measure 5"x14"x6". The
Maestro Plus is matte black with a brushed metal base. Virtuoso is
matte black plastic with a brushed metal top and base. |
Virtuoso
Conical Burr Mill |
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| Some comments of fineness: Most folks grind coffee too coarse. In general, you want to grind as fine as possible without allowing sediment through your filter, or clogging up your espresso machine portafilter. This mill will allow you better control of the finer settings while still allowing for the coarser adjustments, like French Press. You can grind coffee finer when it is an EVEN grind such as the Maestro produces, get better extraction from the coffee, and ultimately get a better cup. I encourage you to push your filter-drip grind to a finer range with this mill, and see the results! The Maestro Plus features a larger grind range than all previous models: 40 click stops. Click here if you want to download the PDF file of the manual for the Maestro (which includes directions to clean the burrs.) If you are stepping up to a conical burr mill from a whirley-blade mill, you might not be aware that you can't regrind coffee in any burr mill! In other words, you can't put ground coffee in the bean hopper and grind it finer - it clogs the burrs. | |||
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The Maestro Plus has the fancy new base- a solid chunk of polished metal that gives the mill stability, helps reduce static transfer, and doesn't look bad at all! |
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It might sound odd to say, but the plastic body on this mill is really nice: matte black and silver hides fingerprints and it is thick stuff. |
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Maestro Plus has 40 click grind range from Espresso to French Press: you turn the bean hopper to adjust the grind Switching from a blade mill to a burr mill? It goes without saying,
but maybe it should be said ... with any burr mill you should never
re-grind coffee. That is, only whole bean goes into the hopper. |
Easy access to the hardened steel conical burrs also means periodic cleaning is simple. Burrs are the the core feature in a high-quality mill, and the conical burr configuration is the best. While the design and ease-of-use are important features of the mill, it would all mean nothing without great burrs ...and this is what separates this mill from other expensive mills. The Maestro features a larger grind range than all previous models: 40 click stops.
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The Maestro Plus burr set is housed in very tough high density polyethylene (same heavy duty plastics used in commercial cutting boards). It is easy to access and clean the burrs: you turn the grind hopper to the coarsest setting, lift it off, then lift out the top burr. If the burrs seem a bit loose in this position, don't worry. As you tighten the grind setting all the slack is taken out and they become rigid in their housings. The burrs are tool grade steel. They are not stainless, so you can see some discoloration (see pictures to the left) on them, but that is normal. |
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Side view of Maestro showing the timer knob: the mill measures 14H x 5”W x 6 ” D. This is a really handsome mill, something that is definitely not a detriment to the appearance of a kitchen countertop. |
You activate the grinder using a mechanical timer or use the new Maestro Pulse On-Off button on the front of the mill! You can advance the knob to stop grinding prematurely. So it's easy to get consistent quantities by setting the timer. It is designed to be used either way, and will not break by advancing the dial forward. |
Below the name on the front of either mill is
a button - this is the pulse on-off button.
 Virtuoso pulse button |
While its not a dosing espresso grinder, the mill dispenses grind vertically: this means you can grind right into the espresso coffee filterbasket using the Pulse On-Off Button. So many mills shoot the grinds out the back of the base, horizontally: not good The hopper is dark acrylic. The body and controls are well-designed and the materials are a plastic that doesn't show fingerprints: hey, you are paying for the great burrs here, not the wrappings... |
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Everyone talks about "conical burr grinders" as a requirement for good coffee brewing. But the fact is that pour-over or automatic drip brewing does not require these expensive mills. The humble little blade grinder is a remarkable little machine, long-lasting, low-maintenance, and not $100! My only gripe with blade mills is that some struggle to grind even the smallest amount of coffee ... and if you have to grind for a longer time, the motor will start to heat up the coffee grinds -not a good thing. But the C-Mill electric coffee grinder has a very strong and precise motor. It beats the pants off the Krups or Braun mills out there, The coffee beans don't get crushed, but rapidly cut. important so the coffee isn't heated in the grinding process (which can damage the coffee flavor). The C-Mill grinds 1.6 oz of coffee at a time. It is 7" tall, about 4" in diameter. The new Chrome model is heavier, more solid, because it's a solid cast-chromed metal casing, not cheap chromed plastic. Bodum C-Mill, White $27.00 |
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| The Rocky by Rancilio in Stainless Steel ... without a doser, for all uses ... or with a doser, for espresso. | ||
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Rancilio
Stainless Steel Rocky without doser |
The Rancilio Rocky grinder is a top-grade, consumer mill made in Italy. It has the best quality burrs and a straight-forward adjustment to dial in the precise grind for espresso, regular-drip or other brewing methods. You can get it as an all-around mill, with a convenient front-mounted switch, or as a dedicated espresso mill, dressed up with a doser and coffee handle holder. This is one solid chunk of metal, weighing in at 22.1 Lbs. in its packaging. The motor is powerful and grinding is quiet. It has commercial grade 50 mm flat burrs and 55 grinding adjustment steps, enough to pinpoint the exact grind requirement for the most particular espresso machine. And it covers a full range of grinds from fine to coarse, from Espresso to French Press. (I wouldn't say that the coarse grind is its strong point though. It's passable as a French Press grind but really the Rocky excels in the medium to fine to ultra-fine grinds; filter-drip, vacuum pot, espresso, and Turkish). The decision you need to make is whether the Doser or Doserless model is right for you. Both are the same mill with different hardware attached to the front (and the doserless mill has a spring-loaded switch on the front. You will be able to use either as all-around mills, but the no-doser model is a bit better-suited for this. Be aware that new Rocky mills are tested at the factory, and you might see a little grind residue on the burrs or in the doser. That is a good thing! |
Rancilio Stainless Steel
Rocky with doser |
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| The Rocky is one good-looking, solid hunk of metal! It features aqua-tinted acrylic hoppers and chutes to preserve coffee freshness. It is a compact 14 inches high, 10 inches deep and 5 inches wide. It weighs 21-23 Lbs. as it sits on the counter. | ||
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 Everyone comments on the quietness and evenness of the grinder in action! It has a very solid feel a 166-watt motor with direct drive that is very quiet (under 70 decibels). The motor weighs around 12 Lbs., has a high temperature overload switch to prevent possible damage if a stone gets caught in the burrs. It operates at 1700 rpm. |
To the left, the bottom burr housing as it appears when you unscrew the top burr. As you can see, just 3 slot screws and you can have the bottom burr out ... not sure why you want to, but access to the burrs is quick and easy. The great burr quality and 55 grind adjustment steps mean you can fine-tune your grinding to the Nth degree! |
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Grind adjustment is easy to view from any angle with oversized numbering. There are 55 burr steps, and you simply push the grind adjustment lock tab (above image, lower right) which is spring-loaded. Push it down and turn the top hopper. While this is not the Mazzer's stepless burr adjustment, it is really user-friendly. Expect the adjustment lever to wiggle a bit since it is a pin/spring-mounted design. This has no effect on grind quality and does not result in any appreciable grind "drift." If the hopper is moving while grinding - we have developed a fix for this problem that is described here. |
The Rocky Drawbacks: The other complaint is that the doser and the coffee handle holder mounted underneath it are not useful. This is an issue with all home coffee mills that have dosers, in a way. You are pre-grinding into the doser, then dispensing. Unless you use a lot of espresso each day (shame on you, you glutton!) you are going to end up with some older grind mixing with fresh grind. You also have more parts to clean. The advantage is you don't have to wait for 20 seconds to grind in the doserless model, but I don't mind the wait; I really like doserless mills! The other doser problem is getting the dose adjusted to dispense the right volume. Once again, you can go doserless and avoid all this... but that is my bias. Doser model: Some people choose to remove the "forks" and simply dispense espresso or other coffee grinds into a small container of some sort (maximum of 3 inches tall). This works great and allows you to use the doser model for other types of brewing - and for espresso you can simply spoon the coffee from your little 3" tall container into your portafilter. |
 Bean hopper and the ground coffee container (doser model) can hold up to 10.5 oz coffee. |
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 The coffee handle "fork" on the doserless model is a really, really nice design. It appears to work with all the coffee handles I could put in it except the Solis SL-90. Pictured here is the Silvia coffee handle. |
 On the no-doser model, You can easily dispense into another container for other brew methods. The coffee handle "fork" is so nice that it would be a shame to move it to make it a multi-purpose mill, but it is easily removed. |
Here are two grinds, a very coarse grind for French Press on the left and an Espresso grind on the right. I use a grind slightly finer than the one on the left for Press. And for espresso I use a setting of about 10 on the Rocky dial, but of course these things are different for every coffee, for every degree of roast, and for every espresso machine. And THAT is exactly why you need a good mill like the Rocky. |
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More on the Doser / No-doser debate: Some home espresso enthusiasts like the doser model with the fork removed and the ground hopper lid off - you can put a 3" tall container udner their to pick up the grind, then transfer it into the portafilter with measure scoop (or weigh your dosage on a scale). The one advantage I can see is easier access ti clean out the grind "tunnel" the rectangular passage from the burr chamber to the hopper. On the doserless model, you have that curved aqua-tinted plastic piece, a dispenser cover, in front of it. You need it there to some degree to keep the grind from flying out. But it sort of obstructs a brush from getting up there ... sort of. I have a shop vac by my mill so it takes 2 seconds to pull out grinds when I switch coffees. But you probably don't want a shop vac in your kitchen. So one alternative is to get the doserless model, then to take about an inch off the outer curve of the dispenser cover, which will keep the grounds dispensing in the right direction, and allow easier access with a brush. I personally thinks this makes more sense than buying the doser model, then taking off all these pieces to use it in a different way. And I also really like the curved bar / coffeehandle holder on the doserless model -it's great in function and as a design element! But hey, that's just my opinion. -Tom |
| The Mazzer Mini Espresso Mill ...with espresso doser. It's an investment! | ||
The Mazzer Mini is simply the best home espresso mill you can buy. There are so many well thought-out features on this mill, it is difficult to list them all ... you will simply discover them over time as every other happy Mini owner has. But at the center of it all is something called a stepless micrometrical grinding adjustment. The 58 mm hardened steel grinding discs are floated in a mount by 3 high-tensile springs. This allows for seamless, continuous grind adjustment. It does not rely on a mechanism to set the distance between the burrs that could slip during use, or needs recalibration. The total weight is over 23 pounds, and the motor is shock-mounted, meaning there will be no vibration. I have found there is no static electricity in the grinds, and the doser is sturdy, easy to use, and easy to adjust. They call this color Aluminio in Italy, but it is not made of Aluminum - it means silver. There are a couple other widgets included with the mill not shown in my pictures; the bolt on "tamper" and the grind-catcher tray are not really needed and just get in the way. The newest version of the mill features the "shorter" hopper - total height is 17" from base to top of hopper. Mazzer Mini, Silver
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| Note: I wanted to photograph a clean new mill, not my dirty one ... but I forgot to put the tamper attachment, the grind catcher, and the grind adjuster arm on for the photos. These all come with the mill! Here's a complete photo. | ||
| Mazzer (an Italian company just outside Venice -I know ... it sounds German!) has built mills since the '50s and mostly manufactures larger commercial machines. With the Mini, you have commercial quality in a slightly smaller package. This raises perhaps the only downside of the Mini: where to put it. It is 19" tall, 7" wide, and 11" deep. You will probably want 22" min. to 26" ideal vertical space for it. This is a bit much for some kitchen counters with overhung cabinets. |
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 The doser is easily adjustable and has a ground coffee capacity of 200 grams or .44 lbs. The range of dose adjustment is 5.5 to 9 grams or ,19 to ,32 oz. |
 The Mini with timer features a really sturdy, large mechanical dial, which you can use as an on-off switch too by turning it one way or the other. |
 The top burr from the Mini set. The Mazzer Mini features a 58 mm commercial size burr set, mounted in a stepless spring-loaded housing. The motor turns these at 1600 RPM. |
 The bottom burr from the Mini set, in its housing. The burrs are hardened high-carbon tool steel. They have a life time of about 5 years under heavy usage. (We will stock sparest too). |
 The brilliant little details on the Mini are endless. I like these sturdy rubber feet that keep the mill in place, and perhaps help isolate it from static electricity. |
 The bean hopper has a gate to close it, so it can be removed for changing the coffee, cleaning, or to refill it. Capacity 600 grams, 1.3 Lbs. |
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