NGD (New Grinder Day)

MAXTHEDOG

Hi All, very recently joined. I’ve put an introduction in the Lounge sub forum. After wanting to take coffee drinking more seriously I finally took the plunge and bought a used Europiccola (the looks got me ages ago). After grinding beans with a Krups el cheapo blade job - yes, I know… today I’ve taken delivery of a Rancilio Rocky SD. Now I’m aware that in the larger scheme of grinders it’s pretty low down when compared to some, but I’ve just had my first 18g through it and bearing also in mind that I’ve only had the EP for a week I managed a 1:2 extraction ratio. 18 in 36 out. And the actual coffee drunk was like night and day from the drink before. I binned the remaining ground beans and most definitely won’t be going back to the Krups!! I still need a tamping station and some scales that read fractions of grams, but overall I’m pretty chuffed with my efforts.

Cheers,

Michael.

JonWoo187

No doubt some will go on and on about the Rocky being an archaic grinder, might have been good way back when, blah blah blah… It’s still quite good and will outlast most of the disposable grade junk on the market costing much more. Used one for thousands of extractions and the only reason I parted with it is when I found a Cimbali Jr close by for a steal. Is it better than the Rocky? Sure, but not by much to be honest and that Rocky is still going strong for the guy I sold it to. With good burrs it should serve you well for some time. I made a few mods to the one I had to drastically minimize retention and that was about all I felt the need to do to it.

MAXTHEDOG

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

Part of the reason I chose the Rocky was the fact that it’s been around a long while, bit like the EP. Not a particular fan of loads of electronics having spent my working life fixing that kind of equipment. Im not saying mechanical things never need attention and repair but it generally easier to fault find and get back up and running. The wiring diagram for the Rocky is laughably simple - two switches and a motor, no box saying ‘controller’. The coffees continue to improve as I experiment with all the variables and I’ll certainly never look at a shop bought version the same again!

Cheers,

Michael.

JonWoo187

Also, some will complain that the Rocky’s stepped settings are a bit far apart, but I rarely had any issue dialing any coffee in with the preset clicks. On the rare occasion I needed to be between them I used a rubber wedge lightly pushed in between the hopper/housing that effectively kept it in between say 8 and 9.

MAXTHEDOG

👍🏻 Can’t say that I’ve perceived the steps as an issue. As you say, it can easily be side stepped.