Cuprajake I agree there are differences., and your example coincides perfectly with my wife’s blind-tasting reaction, and I assure you she knows zero about coffee.
However, if a super-grinder is a basal requirement for good espresso, then it means good espresso has only existed for a decade or so, and has been experienced by only a handful of persons.
There was a study some years back that compared conservatory students and highly accomplished violinists playing both good quality if ordinary instruments and Stradavari. There was always a difference, however it was much smaller in the hands of the masters.
A friend used to race on weekends on a rallye track and would always make jokes about the fellows with the fully-loaded Porches being beaten by Mazda MX5 Miatas and the like, when the inexpensive vehicles were driven by very skilled drivers.
Buying Jeff Beck’s guitar will not make anyone play like Jeff Beck.
Back to coffee – differences exist but in the two thought experiments outlined above, what do you think the outcomes would be?
