Breville - the Smart Grinder Pro 12-Cup Coffee Grinder - Stainless Steel

Being the first coffee grinder I've had, It took a little bit of experimentation to get the right grind that we needed for our Delonghi machine which does both drip and pour over but is mostly used for pour over. On the initial coarse-medium settings (50) recommended by the manual, the grind was a little bit inconsistent but far too coarse for our machine and we have settled on a medium fine setting (39.4) which is perfect. I've also ground coffee for the Saeco fully automatic espresso machine (which can grind its own beans) with the grind set to 16 and it also produces a nice even grind that is as good as the machine grinds itself. It's fairly noisy in operation but that's to be expected but emptying the hopper of unused beans is simple and cleaning it takes no more than a couple of minutes. We only made the change from pre-ground coffee becasue we discovered a coffee that was only available as a bean but now wonder how we lived without having one!

Coffee at home tastes better than ever. We currently make filter coffee at home, and having the beans ground immediately before means flavour is maximised and this grinder makes it so easy to customise your preferred setting. The build quality is high and it is not imposing on the kitchen bench. Blending in nicely with my other appliances. There is no going back from here - buying ground coffee beans is a thing of the past!

Title says it all, does many things but all of them with mediocre results. I am only guessing all the high star reviews are from people who are new to espresso prep and haven't come across a proper and decent coffee grinder. As a kitchen appliance for the wider masses it's ok, but as a espresso grinder way to expensive for what it actually is, and does.

The Smart Grinder Pro is a massive step up from a simple blade grinder and sits comfortably at the quality-focused level of entry-level burr grinders. It also boasts several key features that make it stand out from its major burr grinder competitors, like the Baratza Encore. Its user-friendly design holds an LCD screen ‘information centre' that brings together all essential information needed to grind great coffee to one place.

Have only had the grinder for a couple of weeks, it works really well. Love that it has a memory so that once you have determined the correct grind size and time of the grind for the particular beans you are using you don't have to reset it, you get the right amount of coffee every time.