Loading…

My neighbor said my $18 blade grinder would ruin pour over, and she was dead wrong after 4 months of side by side testing | Coffee Enthusiasts - Opinions Matter

blair_green•28d ago

My neighbor said my $18 blade grinder would ruin pour over, and she was dead wrong after 4 months of side by side testing

My neighbor Dana has been roasting her own beans for 11 years and she cornered me at the mailbox last fall to say a blade grinder would wreck my pour over and I needed to spend $150 on a burr grinder right away. I almost caved but decided to test it first. I ground 12 grams at 5 quick pulses and brewed the same beans in my V60 next to her burr ground batch every morning for 4 months. Some days hers was better, some days mine was, and my roommate blind picked mine 3 times out of 5 last week. The uneven grind actually gave me some body that her super even grind was missing, and I stopped stirring the slurry as much to fix the muddiness. Now she drinks my coffee and won't admit it. Has anyone else stuck with a cheap grinder way longer than the internet says you should?

2 comments

2 Comments

benflores28d ago

How many pulses do you use for a darker roast vs a lighter one? I used to be that guy preaching that you had to drop $150 minimum or you were wasting your beans, and I'd link grinder charts at people in comment sections like it was my job. Then my girlfriend got me a cheap blade grinder for camping and I messed around with pulse counts and shake methods and honestly some of my cups came out better than my old burr setup. The uneven bits seem to give you a mix of fast and slow draining which adds something to the cup, and once you learn to work with it instead of fighting it the muddiness thing goes away. Your 4 months of testing is way more proof than most people bother with, and the blind pick is the part that really kills me. Dana drinking your coffee and staying quiet is honestly the best ending possible.

parker_jones5028d ago

So you went from posting grinder charts in comment sections to defending a $20 blade grinder, that is a hell of a character arc. For darker roasts I do like 5 or 6 pulses, lighter ones take more like 10 to 12 because those beans fight back. Your girlfriend basically saved you from yourself and Dana just sitting there sipping is the real punchline here.