Remember, at this time I knew nothing about grinders, and I knew very little about espresso making in general at that point, I'd mainly brewed manually up until not long before getting the Smart Grinder Pro as an upgrade to my manual (Hario Skerton) grinder and cordless drill setup. If you watch the various reviews and comparisons, you'll find that the Smart Grinder Pro is usually found to be quieter than a lot of other grinders, and it's among the quieter grinders I've used. You may see the exact same Sage grinder marketed as a Breville conical burr grinder in other countries. The grind adjustment dial changes the number on the digital screen, smaller is finer, bigger is coarser, and if you didn't think it could get any simpler, it can, because it tells you on the screen what brew method the current grind relates to, so at the finer end you'll see “espresso”, and then that will change as you move it, so if you're grinding for espresso for example, you can just start off somewhere in the middle of the “espresso” range, and adjust from there.

I think there have been a few issues with some models, but I’ve also heard that the Baratza support team are really good, to be fair. Choose between ‘cups’ for French Press or Filter and ‘shots’ for Espresso to get the right dose for the coffee you’re brewing. Brands we know that understand and support our beliefs and principles on how a machine should perform. It's worth pointing out that they didn't have a clue who I was, I didn't even bother saying on the phone “I run coffeeblog.If you’re just starting out and learning the ins and outs of espresso then the Intuitive nature of the Smart Grinder Pro will aid your learning.

A clear and concise LCD screen shows grind setting, grind time and number of shots or cups you have selected. I found this blog and along with Kev’s great articles, videos and a couple of other YT channels have been diving down the home barista warren. There have been a few minor issues with certain models and versions of Sage grinders over the years that they have addressed and fixed. Admittedly, cheap Aldi coffee to use up first then going on to Lavazza, but will it make all that much a of a difference to grind size? Grinders that can cope with much harder beans often have a much higher powered motor, and a gearing system that transforms the motor power into torque, and all of the componentry would usually (hopefully) be sturdy enough to cope with grinding much lighter roasted beans.What I mean by this, is that the hopper on the Smart grinder pro is great as hoppers go, in fact overall it's probably one of the best hoppers I've seen, but hoppers should in my opinion be used as temporary storage only, and not as permanent storage solutions.

Watch out for a few rogue coffee grinds ending up on your work surface here if the container doesn’t fit snug. You can mod them to add a worm drive adjustment, but if you have a look for the Lelit Fred, this is essentially the same machine already modded, although these kinds of grinders aren’t as good for jumpming from one brew type to the other.With advanced features such as the automatic timer and dose control, you can enjoy consistent results with every cup of coffee you prepare. Choose between one shot, two shots or manual control over how much espresso ends up in your cup for the perfect dose every time. seconds, which will usually get me close to 18g, and I’ll weight it, and then either take a bit out or grind a bit more. It's just ridiculously user-friendly, and that's the main thing I have to say about most Sage machines, really, they seem to think of just about everything to make them as idiot-proof as possible, although to be fair even Sage couldn't do quite a good enough job of that with this idiot, as I couldn't figure out to start with how to get the Gaggia classic portafilter to rest in the portafilter cradle.

This coffee grinder's stainless steel conical burrs minimise grind heat and protect essential oils where fresh coffee flavour resides. But I want to start grinding beans myself and being able to tweak it for improved brew time and taste. I can’t decide which of the sage grinders to get – it’s usually only for me so I don’t need the big bean hopper, but I like the lcd display on the pro one. The Smart Grinder Pro also features a clear LCD screen that shows the current grind setting, time, as well as the number of shots.The Smart Grinder Pro has an LCD display, 60 grind settings, a 450g removable hopper, and it comes with two grinding cradles for dosing directly into 50-54mm or 58mm commercial espresso filters.