It is very important to get a good grinder, even before you buy an espresso machine.
Don't skimp, don't blow it off.
Get one if you even dare to hope to have quality coffee in the home.
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Types of grinders:
Blade grinders use a spinning metal blade to grind coffee. Not much suspense there. These tend to be cylindrical plastic devices that cost around $15 USD.
Cheap-asses take note: these grinders have two major drawbacks.
- The coffee is not ground evenly, so you can't get a perfect grind out of them.
- The blade tends to heat the coffee, which is detrimental to the flavor.
For those reasons, this type of grinder isn't recommended for espresso.
Burr grinders use a spinning metal plate to shred the coffee evenly. These machines can be automatic -- you tell it how much coffee you want and how fine you want the grind. Incidentally, the device that measures out coffee is known as a "doser."
Several companies now make low-end burr grinders. You should stay away from these, as the low-end models often overheat and do a lousy job of grinding anyhow. In other words, if you don't have much to spend you'd might as well save your hard earned cash and go for a blade grinder. But if the printing press in your basement is churning out crisp counterfeit currency, you're much better off going for a high quality burr grinder.
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The Grinder is not an Optional Thing
