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Unpopular opinion: my $18 Oxo burr grinder almost made me quit coffee for good
About 4 months ago I picked up a cheap electric burr grinder at a thrift store in Tacoma for $18 and thought I scored big. Turned out the burrs were shot and every batch came out so uneven that my pour overs tasted like burnt cardboard mixed with dirt for weeks. I kept blaming my beans, then my kettle, then my water, then myself, and I went through 3 different local roasts before I finally figured out the grinder was the problem. What really got me was that I spent $65 on beans during that stretch trying to chase a good cup, when the fix was just new burrs for $22. The whole thing dragged on for almost 2 months because I refused to admit a thrift store find was the issue, and I even got into an argument with a barista in Ballard who tried to gently tell me it was my grind. I finally swapped the burrs last weekend and the first cup tasted so clean I actually laughed at myself. So before you buy new beans or blame your technique, have you checked your burrs lately? How long did it take you to figure out your grinder was the weak link?
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blake_bell2921d ago
Man, come on, blaming the grinder is the easy way out. Two months of bad coffee and you never once stopped to check if your pour technique was off or your water temp was running too hot? Burnt cardboard and dirt sounds exactly like water past 205 hitting old beans, not just uneven grounds. Half the people on here chasing gear fixes would get way better cups by just weighing their beans and stirring the bloom. That barista in Ballard was probably right for the wrong reasons, and you laughing at yourself after new burrs might just be the placebo talking.
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