Smart Grinder Pro

Breville’s great, though most people here won’t recommend a machine with a built in grinder. That one comes with a Smart Grinder Pro, which is great for most bean types specially if you’re into Italian espresso/based drinks. You could go for a Bambino Plus and spend the rest ($600ish) on a much bett

Are people recommending grinders based on actual daily use or just specs? Because on paper DF54 sounds amazing flat burrs, low retention but I keep seeing mixed real world feedback about workflow and consistency. Meanwhile something like Encore ESP seems boring, but people actually stick with it lon

I have had 3 Shardor grinders, 2 of them being the model shown, one being a replacement for a cheaper one, the third being a replacement for the second. The first 2 lasted less than 6 months in combined total, and the third showed signs of exhaustion on speciality coffees, at which point i moved up

ESP Pro is a solid call — conical burrs, simple, and tends to handle darker/oily beans without freaking out. Also check Breville Smart Grinder Pro or used Baratza Sette if you wanna save cash; get a 54mm tamper (metal, good weight) and maybe a naked/stock portafilter upgrade for easier dosing and le

Breville Bambino Plus with either a Breville Smart Grinder Pro or DF54 Grinder. An absolute starter kit that leaves room to grow. If space is a concern, then Breville Barista Express Impress.

Best advice I can give you is to ask if your dad is even interested in using a machine like the Bambino. You mentioned he likes coffee, but does he like espresso? Or does he just want to make a quick cup of joe in the morning and be on his way? Does he actually like drinking and making lattes and ca

Breville bambino and SGP. I wouldn’t worry about the nitpickers, I have this setup and consistently outperform any of my local shops with delicious coffee every morning. The setup is solid and can be had for relatively cheap. I’m not convinced that the incremental gains beyond this setup are worth t

The Encore is not an upgrade from the Breville SGP. If your Breville SGP is still doing the job, stay with it.

Just to mention: CoffeGeek.com, to my surprise, found that the Breville Smart Pro Grinder actually can be quite nice, even at this point in time: https://coffeegeek.com/reviews/fullreview/breville-smart-grinder-pro-full-review/.

For this machine, I've used a Breville SGP grinder, and it works very well with a medium/dark roast coffee at grind level 6, with a naked portafilter. But currently, I prefer to use it with a hand grinder.