Previously, Rellosa used a hand-crank model that took too much work and a blade grinder that resulted in uneven ground size the Krups, he says, solves both these problems, giving him “the ease of an electric machine and the consistency of a burr blade,” he says.

The simplicity is exactly what Strategist writer Jeremy Rellosa, who bought the machine about a year ago, likes about it. It comes recommended by Paul Schlader, owner of New York City-based Birch Coffee, who promises it has the essentials: 12 settings for selecting your preferred grind size and a “cup selector” dial to grind the exact amount of coffee you need for the number of drinks you’re making - and that’s it. If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge on a model upwards of $100, the Krups Precision Grinder is a very solid place to start. “When you have to replace the burrs every few years, they make it incredibly easy to do so,” he says.īlade style: Burr | Noise level: Quiet | Price: $ And Humberto Ricardo, founder of Third Rail Coffee, adds that Baratza machines are “designed to be repaired instead of thrown away should something break, which is good for my wallet and for the planet.” And speaking of repairs, Pratt noted Baratza’s great customer service. While he acknowledges it can be a little loud - or a “touch chatty,” in his words - Foos says that’s to be expected for a grinder made of plastic and designed for the home. “It’s intuitive and performs wonderfully,” he says. Elliott Foos, director of coffee at Daymoves in Brooklyn, told us that he used the Encore at work when he previously ran the coffee shop attached to the first iteration of chef Flynn McGarry’s Lower East Side restaurant Gem. Some favor its higher-end models (more on a couple of those below), but several of the coffee aficionados I spoke with recommended this more affordable option, highlighting its quality performance and solid build - especially for the price. And it’s easy to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the detachable parts before I store it.Īs a brand, Baratza came up in my reporting more often than any other. In general, my biggest qualm with coffee grinders is the mess they make, but this one has nicely angled sides on the grind chamber that allow for relatively neat pouring. It takes a couple of rounds to grind a full bag of beans (how I do it, as opposed to per serving), but works quickly at about a minute per turn. And the subtleties between all the sizes are very apparent: You can make minute adjustments if you’re dedicated to landing on exactly what will yield the best cup for your particular coffee-brewing method. Mine generally stays between 25 and 30 to work with my standard coffee machine, but I’ve used the smallest setting for espresso (notoriously difficult to get as fine of a grind as you need) with no problem. There are two simple switches - on and off - and a dial to set the grind size between 0 and 40. The machine is super intuitive to use, and initially took me no more than five minutes to set up and get a handle of. I’ve been using the Baratza Encore for a year now and I love it (it’s one of the tools that has convinced me to up my at-home coffee game). And if you’re shopping for a whole new setup, you can read my guides to the best coffee makers, electric kettles, espresso machines, and milk frothers.īlade style: Burr | Noise level: Loud | Price: $$ And if you’re still not quite convinced a coffee grinder is something you should put so much hard-earned money towards (ahem, me), don’t worry: I also tapped a few other Strategist writers and regular home cooks with a caffeine habit to find out their even more affordable picks. Some are predictably very high-end (so if you’re a coffee fanatic looking to hone your skills, you’ve come to the right place), but others are surprisingly reasonable given the landscape of the market. I also asked baristas, roasters, and coffee shop owners about the versions they keep on their own counters. So to figure out which models are worth the investment, I tested some out myself, including the (relatively) mid-priced model that ultimately won a permanent spot in my kitchen and, therefore, our best overall badge. Unfortunately, most decent coffee grinders - even those made specifically for home use - cost a very pretty penny. And your beans won’t be any good at all if you’re not grinding them yourself right before brewing.

And as any actual coffee snob will tell you (trust me, I’ve talked with a lot of them), your coffee is only going to be as good as your beans. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a particularly good one. Give me a cup - pretty much any old cup - and I won’t complain.

Starbucks smart mug