Without a decent grinder, getting the best out of the bean is going to be a challenge espresso-wise.
Grinders have come a long way since this.
Name a single innovation that has contributed to grinders and grinding that has in your opinion made a difference to producing better espresso.
Lots to choose from but I’ll go with burr geometry for my top pick..
I’d go low retention/dedicated single dose. Not really a technology rather an approach to grinder design.
It single-handedly changed the entire home-coffee landscape. Prior to the Niche, the pinnacle of home espresso was just buying big burr commercial grinders like Mazzer Majors and later things like the E65 or Mythos. Then people started realising they were only drinking 2 espressos a day and not 200 like the grinders were used for in coffee shops, so it probably wasn’t the best way to grind fresh coffee at home.
People started modding their commercial grinders for lower retention, and then Niche released the Zero and almost overnight single-dosing became the standard for home espresso.
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Before the advent of the prosumer grinder, coffee heads wanting to buy into the bigger burr grinders were stuck with doser machines. Back in the day there were lots of discussions on how to mod commercial machines to make them more user friendly in the home. Now we take single low retention as an expectation.
I think home user needs, or perceived needs has driven the market. Who remembers the MC2 which was considered bespoke in its day. Then came the Vario and the Mignon, then slowly but surely things developed. Everyone had grinders with dosers on. I bought a Versalab that I hated, then went back to Compak K series (both) then the E series (I think it was called). Things like Ceado E37s and E92s. Things really changed with the coming of the Niche Zero. It absolutely turned the market upside down! Premium Titan grinders came into play and have developed nicely.
So, for me to answer the original point. The introduction of the Zero and then the trend to do burr swaps. bearing in mind, 15 years ago the way into coffee was through a used Gaggia Classic and MC2, things have really come along way in a relatively short time. To make a further point, 20 years ago there were very few machines/grinders available and until Bellabarista came along, even fewer places to buy them!
Good point about Bella Barista and availability.
Even now if you want to get a commercial grinder for any reason it’s not always easy to get one as the domestic distribution channels don’t really exist.
It’ll be interesting to see how Mazzer handle domestic sales with the Philos because currently I’m not aware of any consumer retailer that stocks Mazzer grinders.
La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos
Ah for grinders:
As in the other thread, I had a heavy involvement in each of these
