Kyle can you give us a rundown on coffee grinders the way you did with all of the brewing options?
Hellz Yeah although
R
roxfontaine gave a good jist of it.
For grinders it's really not so much the brands but the style, type, and materials.
So you want to grind coffee. Well there are a few things to think about. First what am I grinding for. If you are using your grinder for exclusively espresso then getting a dosing grinder that does so at very low heat and grinds ultra fine is a priority. That being said if you want an all-purpose grinders your priorities are different. If most of those words made no sense don't worry I'll get you there.
First of what does the grinder do? It makes your beans into a usable powder of varying coarseness. The things to consider with a grinder is that it not only has to mash your coffee beans but also bear in mind that the grinding action generates heat. Heat, just like air, is the enemy of your cup of coffee (until you are brewing obviously.) the more heat a grinder generates and puts on your beans the blechy it is going to make your coffee and negate all your hard work. Your ability to taste and care about this heating weighed against your willingness to spend money is the big thing with grinders.
So there are three types of Choppas inside grinders. Blade grinders, Conical Burr and Plate Burr Grinders.
Blade grinders are great for herb, not coffee, I don't know why they exist.
Conical are a set usually 2, sometimes 3 cone shaped sharp things that mash and grind up the coffee. Plate Grinders catch the beans between two flat plates that also mash and grind the coffee. In my opinion there is no real difference. Generally the conical are cheaper and I know how to maintain them so that's what I use (see below for my set up.)
Next up is the material these Burrs are made of - The lowest priced-ones are made of a carbon based metal - more heat, don't last as long, and generally grind almost as fine. If you are exclusively/specifically looking to do espresso this is not going to be good enough for you.
Next up are ceramic ones - these last a lot longer, grind a little better, and transfer a lot less heat to the beans in grinding. Hence superior.
Lastly there are grinders that dose and don't. Dose simply means that you place your portafilter (magic espresso wand) under it and it puts in a set amount. With a doseless you are weighing out your amount putting it in the hopper and grinding.
I really don't recommend a dosing grinder unless you are doing lots of multiple espressos on the regular. Weigh your beans, add it to the hopper for each coffee. It's fun, gives you something to do with that digital scale you have from college, and makes making all different kinds of coffee (aeropress,drip etc) easier.
So where does that leave you - Mazzer, Rancilio, and Baratza are all great brands. I feel like Baratza is the most common and also the easiest to find on sale -
So there Conicals in order are -
Encore, Virtuoso and Preciso
Encore - Cheap, effective metal burrs, great for pretty much everything except espresso (get's a little hot and not super fine enough for consumer level espresso machines)
Virtuoso - Basically the Encore with cermaic burrs and thus better for espresso
Preciso - as rox said - damn fine for espresso!
For the flat burr you end up with a digital interface - and comes basically doser and none -
Both called the Vario - all ceramic - very nice. I've never used one but they are very well reviewed.
So lastly what on earth do I have and use?
As stated I have a volatile little espresso machine that i repeatedly beat and wish I could drastically upgrade. So for me the grind is important (I make espresso daily) - I have the Baratza Encore. Now I know what you are thinking - Kyle you said metal burrs not great for espresso ... This is true - so here is what you do. You buy the Encore for between 100-150 dollars. Then you order online replacement ceramic burrs for the Preciso. THEY FIT! The burrs cost about $30. Watch some online tutorials on the baratza website and BOOM! you have seriously upgraded your grinder for half the price. You still can't get that absurdly fine powder but for me it works. Now in truth I'd prefer a nicer grinder and wil get a nicer one before I upgrade my machine but for now this is what I'm doing.
I hope this helps?
I'm happy to run through other brands but frankly the websites of each one should give you the info you need, i.e. style of burr, material, digital or analog, and heat output.