Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
Grinds great; difficult to clean
By Jeannine Otchis
This is quieter than most conical burr coffee grinders. The ground coffee beans so far have been of a consistent size. Seems to grind consistently and quickly for my needs. So far, I am impressed. The disappointment came when I attempted to clean the machine. The upper conical burr that is supposed to be easily lifted out is locked or frozen and cannot be removed. Although electra craft has responded to my emails regarding this matter, to send it in for repairs will be at my expense. It is still under warranty. I am not sure that I want to invest any more money with expensive shipping charges to and from. I could by another unit somewhere else for less money. My advice, buy a coffee grinder locally where you can return it if it doesn't work.
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
Bad grinder for the money
By Ben
I never write reviews, but I thought I should for this to help keep people from buying a product they might not be happy with. I found many flaws with this grinder and was not at all satisfied. First, the description and instruction booklet aren't accurate. There are 15 grind settings, not 10 (but they aren't actually very different between grinds -- see below). The upper burr can be removed (with significant difficulty) and lower can't be removed. This makes brushing out and cleaning the deeper parts of the grinder fairly difficult. Also, the instruction booklet advises against filling the ground coffee container above the max fill line, but there IS no max line on the ground coffee container. In actual use, I was not at all satisfied with the quality of grind this grinder produced. I used this for french press coffee and the grinder doesn't grind coarse enough or consistently. There was a lot of dust and smaller bits so that when I would go to press my pot, the plunger would stop about halfway down and become too difficult to press. I also noticed that between the coarsest and finest grind settings, there is hardly any difference. I don't make Turkish coffee or espresso, but I tried grinding at many settings and the resulting ground coffee was only adequate for drip brewing. Fine grinding isn't too fine and coarse is definitely too fine. Finally, the ground coffee container IS NOT anti-static as advertised.For the same price, you can find a similar burr grinder with a large bean hopper that produces a MUCH better grind in terms of consistency and dust. See the Bodum Bistro Burr grinder. This grinder's price is the same and it produces a wider variety of grind sizes and has a glass ground coffee container that greatly reduces static even in the driest of climates. The burr in this grinder is also much easier to remove and the lower parts are more accessible for cleaning with a brush. I replaced my Espressione with this one and I am quite satisfied.To summarize, this grinder is practically worthless. If you want versatility and consistency in grinds or don't buy it. If you want a static free container, don't buy it either. Finally, if you want to be able to clean your grinder with ease, avoid this one. There are many others out there that are much higher quality for the same price.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Are we all reviewing the same grinder?
By Patty MacDuffie
My experience is totally the opposite of some of these reviews. First, it is not quiet, it sounds something like the vacuum cleaner - but that doesn't bother me for the time it takes to grind enough coffee for a cup.I've started grinding again recently as I've been buying my beans in bulk (cheaper). Pulled out my old Pavani, which I use for regular coffee, and bought this Espressione unit which I use for decaf. I only do one cup at a time.The grind is beautifully fine (and consistent) - and I could go finer if I wanted to, which would be several grinds finer than my Pavoni gives me. Whenever I finish grinding with the Pavani, there are grounds sticking to the top and sides of the gound coffee hamper; I open it up and get a certain amount of ground coffee around the counter area. When I grind with the Espressioni there is very little static, no coffee is stuck to the lid and very little to the sides and bottom. My counter stays completely clean, and I don't waste any coffee.In contrast to another reviewer, my ground coffee container does have a max line, but I don't get anywhere near it grinding one cup's worth at a time.I plan on buying a second one for my regular coffee, it is such a pleasure to use!Added 25 Sept 11: I purchased a second grinder, this time from Amazon. There are differences from the first. The labels on the grind coarseness/fineness are different. The first one labels them clearly from fine to coarse, with several degrees you can choose in between. The second one labels only 1 to 15, and I had to hunt through the manual to find where it said which end was fine and which was coarse.As one reviewer complained above, there is indeed no marking for MAX on the cup. Not a big deal, as the max line is right where the little lip is at the top of the collection cup that its lid sits on.The cup for the second grinder is slightly less anti-static than my first one. So obviously there are differences from one to the next - I guess these can be "treated" non-uniformly.A reviewer complained that they had to keep giving the grinder a shake while grinding as it would stop pulling the beans into the grinder. Yes, I have experienced this with my first one - but not the second one. I give it a little shake or slap on the side. ;) Works everytime. Again, not a big deal.All in all this grinder is still head and shoulders above any other coffee grinder I have ever owned.
See all 26 customer reviews...
Good for grinding, cord not hidable
This item is of poor quality, save your money!
