Hi everyone. I recently bought a Breville Bambino. It’s my first espresso machine, and I’m quite happy with it. I love the fact that it has a thermoblock which means that I don’t have to wait for the water to turn on before I can enjoy my coffee. I’ve been able to pull some good shots with it, but the exact same technique sometimes gives me inconsistent results. I’m thinking it’s my grinder.

I have a Timemore C3 manual grinder. It’s great for most other brewing methods e.g. aeropress, V60, French press etc. But I don’t think it’s the best for espresso. I borrowed a Baratza Encore from a friend and it gave me more consistent results.

Now, I do like the Encore, and would buy a new one, but I looked at this chart and it looks like it doesn’t go too low in terms of grind size. Do you guys think that it might cause problems when I upgrade my machine in the future?

Also, if you have any other suggestions for grinders, let me know. I’m willing to spend around $200 on it right now. (I guess I can go up to $300 if it’s worth the extra $100.)

Thanks for taking your time to read this. I really appreciate it.

  • @mister_newbie
    3•9 months ago

    Eureka Facile (or Manuale - they’re basically the same thing, Facile has extra sound dampening)

    A few 3D printed extras (angled based, angled hopper chute), and silicon bellows (Etsy sells everything), and you’ve got yourself one hell of a single doser.

    And it’s actually quiet, unlike many of the Baratza products; if they’re too much $, though the Encore ESP is good, and while loud-ish, quick.

    I had the Breville SGP before my Eureka, wasn’t a fan of it - stepless is the way.

    • @[email protected]
      2•9 months ago

      This is a good suggestion.

      I’d like to emphasize that a quiet grinder really is worth a little premium. I have a eureka mignon crono and that thing likes to scream with its lack of sound proofing.

      When using a friend’s mignon silenzio I was surprised by how much nicer it felt to be able to make a quiet cup in the morning.

      Long story short, I’m now looking into applying sound proofing to my grinder and I wish I’d just spent a little more to get a much better experience out of the box.

      • ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρєOP
        2•9 months ago

        Interesting. I don’t think I mind the noise too much. I wake up pretty late, so I don’t really worry about the noise. I will keep it in mind, though.

    • @[email protected]
      1•7 months ago

      And it’s actually quiet, unlike many of the Baratza products; if they’re too much $, though the Encore ESP is good, and while loud-ish, quick.

      I can’t speak for the Baratza but one of the surprises we got switching to the Opus over our previous cheapie Cuisinart was how much quieter it is - can actually grind with other people asleep in the house!