Any good grinder will do. Just remember coffee beans are always scared before they go through a grinder. You should reassure them by saying: "don't worry, you're all gonna be fine."
The sad fact is that gear videos just get more views than videos about water chemistry. But that's what you gotta do as a TH-camr. It feeds into this culture of buying new stuff. Not just in coffee but basically any hobby-focused content across TH-cam. This is a really important video, thank you for making this.
@@LanceHedrick I'm already very satisfied with my gear setup, so theory videos about stuff like water chemistry are what I find really interesting nowadays. Unless there's a machine or grinder that's really pushing something revolutionary that has never been done before (as opposed to small iterations/minor evolutions upon existing form/function), I'm personally not that interested. But I get why gear reviews do so well because they appeal to people just starting out and wanting to "do their research" on what setup they want to get.
@@LanceHedrick you should have Milin Patel on some time. He's a water sommelier for almost 20 years. I've had a tasting and it's phenomenal what different waters can taste like. My mind was blown. Here's some of him. th-cam.com/video/Z6Tc0N97jf8/w-d-xo.html Let me know if I need to get you in touch!
@@LanceHedrick That is too bad, but it makes sense. One has to do what is marketable to make things work. I feel obliged to say, though, that even if it does not make much business sense to make videos about water chemistry (or similar things!), that the Lotus Coffee Water you co-founded has definitely been game-changing for my filter brewing. I do not have enough time or energy to make concentrates these days, which I used to but found too laborious and generally unpleasurable as a process, but with some tweaking I found a recipe with your product that helps me more consistently make coffee to my preference. I, for one, would enjoy seeing a scattered few videos on matters like water chemistry (or similar things) from you in particular, but I'll continue watching your stuff regardless!
@@LanceHedrick haha, thank you! But for real though, I (and many others) really appreciate what you do to educate your viewers. The information you drop in every video is worth so much and is helping so many people to better understand and appreciate coffee. Keep up the great work!
@@LanceHedrick thanks for putting this together and it resonates with a lot of us. Marketing and community hype is so good at making us feel like we are missing out. I feel an opportunity for coffee roasters lies there, to invest on marketing the ethics and quality of their coffee. Would love to see a video of you where you dive into the topic of "how to find a good roaster" in the future. For example I am trying to support local roasters, but how do I know they work ethically? And how do I know their coffee is as good as it could be? If you've only had McDonalds, how do you know it's crap food? We need more education and focus on coffee. Maybe something you can work on in the future as well. Eg preselect 10 roasters based on ethics, pick let's say a washed Ethiopian from each and review...
Very well said. I stand with you Lance! And resonate with all that was said. In fact it’s one of the reasons Natasha and I started September Coffee Co. Thanks for the shoutout, as a very small roaster we truly appreciate it.
Your flipping video comparing the DF64 vs 83 nearly cost me $400...I was so ready to pull the trigger on the 83 until the coffee guy I but my stuff from told me to rather take the 64.
@@grotius912 First of all taste is subjective, different people prefer different flavors, textures, coffees, and grinders. Secondly as someone who owns both, the DF83 in my opinion is better than the DF64 in every way. Better build quality, better textured and sweeter shots while also having better clarity. I own and have tried many grinders and the DF83 produces top notch espresso and respectable pour overs. I'm glad you are happy with your DF64, but the 83 IS the better grinder.
@@maxuttech1028 I am sure it is and maybe someday in the future there will be sound reason to upgrade further, -but for now, where I am at in my coffee journey, I am probably better off spending the money on better coffee beans.
I’m so glad you’ve started reviewing home roasting equipment and was really hoping other TH-camrs would follow suit. Getting single origin high quality green beans at USD $8 a pound makes saving money much faster with this hobby.
Wow this makes me happy again about my brand new df64, I was really thinking I should have waited for new grinders in my price range but I’m loving this thing!
When I set out to get a grinder, I treated it similar to getting a Cast Iron pan. I wanted to get a reliable one that could work with me for years to come, without the necessity of upgrading. This was a good message, and this conversation is fundamental to many similar communities where hardware and source of materials are in flux (ie. the audiophile community, gaming, cooking, handicrafts, etc.). In the audio community, equipment quality can get you to a solid listening experience, but good equipment exposes the flaws in a low quality compressed sound file. That base level of getting a WAV or FLAC file is essential to the best sound, just like coffee and water are the fundamentals of flavor for us here with the coffee. I'm glad I could make a good reliable purchase on a grinder so I could do exactly as you say and devote the majority of my time and resources to discovering the nuances of working with different beans water and recipes. The most fun part of this all to me is the ritual of MAKING the coffee and to that end, the huge amount of things I can tweak in my technique and ingredients makes it so fun for me to play with and see how well I can brew with my own hands. I love being mindful in such a hobby. Cheers!
exactly! Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment. the parallels to the audio world are more and more apparent everyday. Appreciate your support and brew something tasty!
You beat me to it! My very first thought was "this is just like audiophile obsessions with equipment." Spot on! And thanks, Lance, for the important message!
I’m also an Audiophile/Coffeephile! Hello fellow CoffeeAudioPhile! Buy once, cry once. I’ve wasted so much money on low quality Audio equipment. I now stick with Scanspeak, Purifi, and similar and it’s very high performing but without the Audiophile tax of some of the high end assembled speakers. I buy the raw drivers and build my own enclosures, tune them myself with a DSP or build my own crossovers. I’m new to coffee, but currently looking into modding a Gaggia classic. I want to get the most I can for my money, but at the same time I want to buy something high quality that will last me decades.
I know many will be upset by this misleading build up, and I understand. But, this is a message I really think, especially considering the recent frenzy of grinder releases, was important to be discussed. Please leave a like, comment, etc, to help offset the unavoidable onslaught of dislikes and people upset in the comments. I'll of course deliver with more and more high quality grinder reviews, but felt, even with my own participation with Pietro, the upcoming Timemore, Niche, etc, that this was more important than a review. Thanks for the trust and the support. EDIT- if this somehow offended you because you felt duped, well, that is part of my point in all of this. I have been working on and carefully crafting this video from the ground up, from the thumbnail to the title to how I presented it and built it up. Everything is tied into my main point. If you feel offended, it might be a good time to ask yourself why? Anyway, this is already officially my most disliked video ever. I love the engagement ;) ANOTHER EDIT- my previous spiel on local roasters was NOT TO DISSUADE you from buying local. That is ludicrous. Instead, it was addressing what so many run into- they trust implicitly the local roaster and, if the coffee doesn't taste good, they just keep upgrading. My point was the roaster can absolutely be at fault. I was not vilainnizing buying local. Again, that is absolutely absurd and horrendously ssilly.
your argument on clickbait is a bit weird, you could also be happy with less channel growth. The argument that clickbait gives you views is the same of a drug dealer selling to kids: they want it
Thanks. Will you do an actual ultimate grinder showdown soon? I believe that a 2023 version of Hoff's vid wouldn't hurt since there's so much development in the space. A collab wouldn't hurt either.
Thanks for this reminder/wake-up Lance! I have had a similar issue for the last few weeks in that I can't make up my mind on which £500 ish grinder to actually go out and purchase! I have the cash ready but I don't have "buyers' remorse", I have a fear of "buyers' remorse" for something i have not even bought yet, which is somehow even more ridiculous. I have nearly just taken the plunge and ordered the Niche but at the last minute something in my head says "how about something cheaper like a Lelit Fred".
One of the things that drew me to coffee in the first place was how many different things there are to explore here. It's human nature to zoom in on a handful of those things, and this can lead to great insight, but in doing so we also lose a certain amount of perspective. I love videos like this that help me to zoom back out for a moment and see the bigger picture. Thank you!
That middle section about buyers remorse and bean sourcing was an amazingly candid and much needed surprise! Such a great callout and reminder to everyone.
I went with the Varia Gen 2. It's great, I love it! It has really changed my workflow for the better. It is quiet and consistent. Hope you've made your decision too 😊
Hands down the best video I could have clicked on right before buying my first complete setup. What’s funny is, I clicked on this because of the flashy words, and walked away more confident
Thank you for this. This should be on the mandatory watch list for everyone who's gotten himself into speciality coffee, heck we should probably watch this once a month as a reminder
Ngl this video is very helpful for adhd coffee people. I know myself like others with the disorder struggle not only with attentiveness, but hyper fixation as well. Having someone not only as educated in this area as you, but as a fellow person with ADHD saying “HEY divert your time,energy, and money into the thing we are here for in the first place - the people and their coffee” is going to do wonders for us who continually question whether or not we need an upgrade or the latest and greatest. This for me is the extract push I needed to get out of the “new grinder hyperfocus” I’ve been stuck in for last month or so with all the new releases so thank you so much for that 🙏
@@user-lv7ph7hs7l so you got the Q2 but felt like your missing out on the x pro? You could probably resell the Q2 and not lose too much. A seasoned conical burr should be better tasting than a new grinder so that's kind or a selling point on the used market for those who know.
@@BensCoffeeRants My comment got removed somehow. Too much of a sailor to get past the profanity algorithms. No I messed up my original description, I meant I have the Pentagonal bur would have wanted the Heptagonal. At the time the X Pro didn't exist and the Q2 had the old burr, that no one liked. It can't do espresso because it doesn't feed below 600 microns and it makes so many fines that dialing becomes very difficult. Had I known that soon after the Heptagonal burr would be available again or that the X-Pro would exist I wouldn't have settled. Now I can't sell it because people all want the Heptagonal version. They would rather pay more foe a much better burr than get a slight discount for an inferior one that I can't sell in hood conscience without pointing out that the burr is not good. That's why they scrapped the 38 mm 5 sided burr. It was a fines making mess, somehow it works at 48 mm but if you shrink it down, the beans don't quite feed right. I could grind finer but it takes 10 minutes because it can only grab half a bean, maybe nick it and then grab the whole bean. Very frustrating grinder, that I can't dial in. Go coarser, more fines, longer draw down. I change the grind from 800 microns to 1600 and same and it draws in 4:30 instead of 7 min. But tastes underextracted, since it's just the fines clogging the paper not really the coffee providing resistance. I'm giving it away and sticking to espresso until I can afford an X-Pro.
I’m glad that so far my GAS-gear acquisition syndrome-is mostly limited to camera gear. But if Weber released a smaller version of the SG1 with maybe 135mm burrs, I’d seriously have to consider it.
As someone just embarking on my coffee journey, this was so important to hear as my amazon cart grows and changes with every review video I’ve seen. Thanks for reminding me that the coffee is the goal, not the toys.
The best gear is the gear you know how to use. Everything you've said here is incredibly true, and its so refreshing amongst all the GAS vids and pics floating around, to have a video keeping it real.
How do you go about finding good, ethical, local roasters? What other questions do you ask besides pricing? Do you just go to their shop and talk to someone? I think this is a very valuable point, not only on coffee, but most of life. People need to step back, appreciate what they have, see what is out there, and think more critically about what and why we spend our time and effort. Thank you for bringing this up.
What an amazing message, in my opinion it applies to everything we do and own. Happiness lies in the actual process of researching, trying and succeeding, instead of expecting any item bought to just do it for us.
The chase is real baby! There will never be i feel that perfect cup just because i feel every perfect looking pull i make , is that perfect cup until the next one. The way i roast, the type of coffee, the country it came from, the grinder you used, all these variables will always give you different flavors.
This topic sorely needs more discussion. Another hobby of mine is photography, and I see the same thing play out. There is no shortcut to buy your way to significantly better results. That only comes through effort, knowledge, and time. High end equipment only becomes useful after everything else is dialed in, and you are looking for that last few percent of improvement.
Being sort of new to this whole coffee thing, my setup is pretty simple. I have a Staresso SP200 manual machine with its optional bottomless basket, funnel and tamper and Rock2More frother. My grinder is a 35 dollar (Canadian dollar) grinder from Triple Tree (looks a bit like the Staresso grinder) that does an okay job for my needs it seems. 12 grind settings with 4 increments in each setting. Everything was under 150 Cdn. Luckily, im not heavy enough into it all yet to pull out the checkbook :) I find one shot in my cup of SENSEO brewed coffee gives me a great start to the day. Thanks for the video.
You should make a video called Coffee Transparency: Upgrade Your Sourcing. And then actually compare all those grinders. Blind cupping across all and see where the point of diminishing returns is, and how much extra quality you get for the cost goes up. Or cup poor quality beans Vs good quality. Either way I’ll watch ❤
I think I am blessed with lousy taste buds lol. I genuinely cannot tell the difference between many grinders and coffees. Sure, I can tell between bad beans or machines and good ones. But unless it is very obvious, I cannot tell. So just a good enough one works fines with me. But I do enjoy watching experts pick apart these machines and methods. So thanks. If the tasting notes say dried fruits, pecan, baker's chocolate, etc, good grief, I can't tell.
Thank you for this video. I have been thinking about buying a stay alone grinder. That's because of something I read online. This video has made me think twice.👍
This is what one of my biggest worries was with the Sculptor when I joined the Kickstarter… this was exactly what I needed to hear! I was just at a new small roaster in Chicago and I think I’m going to do my research on all of my local Chicago roasters!
I have used sculptor 078 for more than 6 months now and it is so good! I have tested quite a lot of beans and it works perfectly. Bought from China as they are on the China market back in June 2022.
I feel this video was made specifically for me. I was waiting to buy a grinder for months cuz i kept hearing about a cool new thing coming out and i was afraid to just make a choice. I finally preorded an SD40v2. I don't care if its the best or coolest, its what i want.
This is really timely. I was looking for a new grinder, watching all the new reviews waiting for the one that sounded like it would fix my brews, then I moved to an apartment with significantly harder water a couple weeks ago. All of my brews were noticeably worse, so I bought a zero filter and third wave water. The very first cup was the best coffee I have ever had. Significantly cheaper than a new grinder, and third wave water is still way more expensive than just making your own water at home if you live in a place where the necessary minerals are readily accessible.
It is great you are paying attention to what is happening in the coffee community and industry and putting out your views on that. I imagine it's easy to get caught in putting out review after review with so much gear coming out and the community asking to review everything, so taking a step back to talk more holistically is helpful for everyone to see the bigger picture.
I feel like we are the students in a classroom who were acting like hooligans and not focusing on what actually matters for the past few weeks. And just now, we have been humbled by the class teacher. The teacher loves us. That is for sure, and we should not disappoint him. Thanks, Lance, for being so pure and honest as always. ❤
One of my greatest coffee joys has been handing a French press or pour over cup to a fellow coffee nerd that came out of a $50 grinder and seeing the reaction - the secret is just top quality beans, good water, and careful ratios and prep. Great video! Shout out to Mad Priest Coffee roaster which is exactly your vibe here and my #1 source
@@LanceHedrick it really is! As someone who has a passion for coffee but works in other professions that can be unhealthily gear-centric (audio engineering and videography), it's always nice to have a good authoritative reminder that gear lust in the coffee space is largely the same (for better and for worse).
That header....loved it. Thanks for helping me decide the next grinder (or not)...at least after the one I have blows up...maybe I should drop kick it.
We’ve been waiting so long for a P64 (almost a year), watching all of these new (cheaper) grinders coming out. It’s easy to wonder if we’re making a mistake, but this video helps me breathe more easily and reminds me that the reason we’re buying the P64 is to improve workflow. We have had several frustrating issues with our DF64 and want a dependable, higher quality machine that has been around a while. Thanks for the reminder, Lance. When we get our grinder next month, we’ll toast our espressos to you. ☕️☕️Cheers
P64 - buyer's remorse. A lot of static even with RDT. Notable retention - these last grains won't go out however hard i smash the hopper. Build quality is great though
Because i worked as a barista I had been procrastinating buying my first grinder for well over two years now because i didn’t need it considering I had all the tools I needed and wanted at work and the investment was way too big to do it casually. I got a new job in a new field but my love for great coffee has not waned. Two days ago I invested about $600 into my very own brew set up on a late night impulse buy. I’ve been anxious that maybe i wasn’t gonna get my money’s worth and that in less than a year i’d be stuck with antiquated gear. Thank you, Lance, for easing my worries and making hopeful and more excited than ever to receive my gear!
I love this message. I agree-- we need to think critically about where our money is going. As coffee enthusiasts, we should spend our hard-earned money on ethically sourced coffees that align with our moral values instead of unnecessarily feeding into rampant consumerism in a way that doesn't. It's really easy to fall into the rabbit-hole since there is so much marketing surrounding these novel products, both from the companies and from content creators, so this reminder was very necessary. Very insightful, as always!
Excellent share, Lance. I think it's also good to remember that our identities are not our gear or even our passions. We, as people, exist beyond our love for coffee, and buying a new grinder will not make us the people we ought to be. Instead of fomo for grinders, have some fomo about being a good friend or a good family member; play with your pets; hold the door open for a stranger. If you can do that, each shot will taste sweeter.
You published this video just when I spent 30 hours od researching grinders..and then I asked myself: do I really need a new grinder? What’s wrong with the comandante? Then I realized actually I love my setup, the flow only lacks if I have guests..so I might still decide later to upgrade..but now it’s good enough and I love the coffee that I can make, and enjoy it every day. Well said, thanks! 100% 👍👍🙏🔥
This needed to be said. I will always have massive respect for your channel, and value your opinion! 👏🏼 I have personally fell into the trap of upgrade-itis and it’s refreshing to hear someone address what is actually happening. FOMO is so hard to combat, and with marketing as good as it is, it’s hard not to chase the wrong dragon. You are a real one. ❤
"If you have a grinder, whatever you have... be happy with it." ~Lance Hedrick We have a $14 grinder we got from WAL-MART. Whenever my wife and I use it, we have to bang it against our stone counter to prevent the coffee grinds from sticking at the bottom too much. I have to use a toothpick as a makeshift WDT tool to break up the clumps and help scrape the bottom of the grinder. The bottom of the grinder is also falling off due to the consistent banging, so I'll probably have to go to the store to get another one pretty soon; they are after all less than $15.
Love this message. Super important. Be happy with what you've got. Stop feeling forced to consume by these brands. We care about how sustainably our coffee is being grown, but we don't look at home, at how unsustainable our gear acquisition syndrome is.
As an aeropress drinker, the Baratza Encore has always been good enough for me. Well, it died after ~10 years when my cat chewed through the power cable the motor got shorted out, but hey, they stood by their product and offered to fix it for me (I also upgraded the burrs for like, $35). Super excited to see how it turns out. 1000% the beans are the biggest factor after a certain point. The less waste we can put into this world in terms of buying and dumping equipment the better as well. Granted, my grinder isn't sufficient for most espresso use, but hey, as an aeropress drinker that doesn't matter. It should be good enough for a great cup of pourover too.
i watch your videos because i love drinking and making coffee and you obviously you know what you’re talking about. that brought me to your table. they’re super interesting, useful and informative. and you can only watch the hoff videos so many times. but the number one reason i love watching your videos and look forward to new ones: they’re fun and entertaining. the whole grinder game. it’s just fun. that’s the whole point.
For a while I’ve been thinking of upgrading my coffee set-up. I’m glad to discover TH-camrs like you, Coffee Kev and Tom who’s not quite on the corner, all of you have helped me decide. I’ve seen so many reviews where a $500 set-up is deemed inadequate and $1000 machine is the most basic acceptable machine. I’ve read comments where people have asked for less expensive coffee gear reviews only to be met with responses like “if you’re looking for recommendations for a $200 grinder, you’re following the wrong TH-camr”. There’s an element of snobbery going on that I don’t care for. If you can afford it, fine, but there’s a financial crunch on and there are a whole number of price points to suit most people. Maybe we need a wider scope of reviews other than the humble brag “simple” but expensive coffee gear set-up.
So true. Great beans and great water is like 80% or more of the flavor. I like my fancy decent espresso and niche grinder but they are just tools not ingredients. Same thing with guitar gear. It all doesn’t matter if you can’t okay guitar. But we always love to get the newest gear
Thanks for making this video. The intensity of consumerism in coffee is something I haven't experienced in any other hobbies of mine. People spend too much time focusing on equipment and not enough on coffee itself.
What you said and are promoting is so important. Too many people are busy comparing their life and possessions rather than being grateful for what they have. Also try to support the primary producers rather than give your money to equipment manufacturers who manipulate through marketing and advertising.
Well said ...you won another subscriber. I am starting to research buying a new grinder for my all-important morning brew and I'm shocked at the choice and all the start-ups now producing all these devices. I think I've found what I want after many days of watching reviews. At the end of the day, I live in a big City and I have plenty of choices if I want to stop for a coffee. At home, I want a good grinder that will not look out of place on my kitchen counter. All of the obsession with different burr sets and grind settings is somewhat over the top for most people and I am fussy about my coffee. I'm actually beginning to wonder if my current grinder really needs replacing.
Very very good point. I spent a few years of my life chasing grinders and different recipes, and still didn’t get the result I wanted. It was until recently when I realized the quality of coffee matters most. I learnt that the better the coffee, the more forgiving to recipes and to grinders.
Thanks Lance. This message is a lot like the one I got from my audiophile friends when I was looking for a stereo way back in the day. "You can have the best of the best in all your equipment, but if your speakers are bad, so is the sound." Same here. If your coffee is bad, so is your cup. As for the grinders issue, I've owned a Baratza Virtuoso for probably a decade now and am hugely happy with it. It's set to grind for my siphon brewers, does a great job at it, and I wouldn't trade it for anything really. But, when I went looking for a grinder to do espresso that was affordable for me, I stumbled across your channel doing a comparison of budget friendly grinders. And I picked the Urbanics 80 and am really happy with it. It grinds for pour overs, press, and drip just fine and could probably grind espresso better, but does so enough for me. And really, I think the motto of The Whiskey Tribe fits here. Modified for here: The best coffee is the coffee you like to drink, the way you like to drink it. (The grinders thing is also much like the early days of PC hardware, when it seemed like every 2 or 3 months there was a new piece of hardware that was faster, more capable, etc. that everyone just had to have, and most folks gave up trying to keep up and manufacturers got the message. Don't introduce the latest and greatest of your product, until you can combine it with other latest and greatest that you're producing).
I am new to all of this and have been researching all the machines grinders methods and the "how to's..sooo glad to hear this and allow myself to take the first step and not have anxiety over the whole thing, stop sitting on the bench and go play!!
Well said Lance. This is what got me into specialty coffee. I would argue it's not the producer, but the cherry pickers that are the most underappreciated aspect of the coffee chain. Consumerism is such an easy thing to get suckered into. Equipment alone does not make good produce. They are just tools. This is true across most industries. There are a few principles I abide by: 1) Assess the problem you want to solve and rank the factors that contribute most to problem. Tackle those that give the greatest positive result for the least amount of cost. 2) Average equipment used well always outperforms expensive gear that is under-utilised. 3) Law of diminishing returns - above a certain threshold, the more you pay, the less you gain. 4) The longer you wait to buy, the better technology will get and a better product you can get for the same amount of money. Set a goal when looking at purchasing products and be patient whilst saving. 5) Buy to the budget you can afford and don't look back. Enjoy it, learn its quirks and how to get the most out of what you get.
Finally someone is talking about it. Honestly, coffee gear TH-cam is an endless anxiety inducing conveyor belt. There's always something that's already better than what you just bought and oh, there's now this new upgrade to that thing that you can also buy to ummm probably not do a whole lot to the end result unless you're an SCA-trained barista or blessed by James Hoffman himself.. We all need to chill guys.
absolutely love this vid. love the waterchem mention. as a brewer id like to stress the importance of waterchem, chances are that, that neipa isnt tasting so sweet brewd with the tapwater u have comming ot of the faucet.
After waiting months for the ESP, we returned it after it jammed after the first grind. We then went back to the Breville Pro and have been very satisfied
Finally someone addresses this. Jesus fucking christ this constant pressure from the industry to make me go and upgrade my gear, really get on my nerves.
I have my end game grinder which is just a Eureka Mingon Facile. It has no bells and whistles (minus noise dampening from the Silenzio) but I am perfectly happy with the coffee coming from it. It has a wide spread for espresso, never stalls, and gives incredible grind quality and it's cheaper than the hyped up grinders at $370. At that price I cannot believe how good it is. It won't get many clicks on videos but folks it's worth looking at if you do not have a grinder already.
There used be an ad here in Ireland that went “It may seem obvious but the most important thing to get right when you’re painting is your paint “ Have tried a few coffees that are above my ‘justifiable price range ‘ lately .The best of them I reckon pays for itself by the bloom period with the grinding , visual ground coffee sight / smell and first blast of hot water aroma
Absolutely! This makes perfect sense. The coffee and how it's roasted is the most important thing and affects the taste of the coffee more than anything. However, I haven't found anyone who is making TH-cam videos or has a website that specializes in reviewing and recommending specific coffees. Yes, here and there a video that explains the different types of coffees and roasts but I haven't found a site that recommends what to buy on a regular basis.
Ummmm....VERY NICE VIDEO! YOU...Have blown my mind, really. I didn't even think that way. I fell into that FOMO mind set NOT even think of my coffee I'm using. Thanks for opening my eyes and being sincere! Glad I stumbled upon your video looking for new grinder. It all makes sense. New subscriber now!
Its like with hifi enthuisiasts. The gear becomes the hobby, the music takes the backseat apparently, but for the enthuisiasts the music does sound somewhat better with the latest gear bought. Did this, and came out on the other side with a really good system, but more relaxed on the budget. Good enough concept. Same goes for coffe gear, where the coffee and maybe depending on where you live maybe also the water quality. So all you say is true, but oth the gear is a hobby, by itself, the coffee is enjoyed no matter what, unless you become hifi only with that also. My gear is entry level, but tweaked and upgraded. Made gigantic difference with the taste of the coffee, and so I find myself content and happy with entry level gear, enjoying it spits out worldclass coffee at a low price.
After coming to Panama from my country fleeting from dictatorship (I am a Wedding Photographer) BY FAR among a couple more, because of your ethics, this is one of the best Coffee channels in my humble opinion. This phenomena is happening in the photography side as well and even worse believe me. This video made my day, thanks for it and please keep on being yourself. Bests regards from a Venezuelan follower!!!
I just feel like I got out of one of those old-time gospel camp meetings I used to go to as a kid. This was a message I needed to hear! Thank you, Lance ❤️❤️👍
Those of you in social media contribute to this madness of the barrage of marketing, spend, upgrading etc. what I’d love to see more videos of is exactly what you discuss. You can spend a ton of $’s on equipment you don’t need because you put crap in the hopper. Review how/where we find GREAT roasters and different types of coffee’s. If you coffee preference prefix is “X” then you’ll maybe enjoy this coffee from this roaster. I enjoy these services that send a variety of good roasts that offer different experiences. But I’d love to hear from you guys who have a much better level of knowledge what you enjoy.
I totally agree with you and hope others follow this advise. Luckily I’ve used and perfected my home equipment enough to understand exactly what upgrades I need. I never bought any equipment more than twice (machine, grinder + accessories) and now I’m on my end-game setup. I buy the best coffee I could find ($15 for 9oz) and use the best water possible having looked at water hardness and TDS of every single 5-gallon water manufacturer and found only a single suitable one.
I totally understand and agree with your concern. Still, I'd like to add another perspective to this I have a knack for trying to make cheap coffee taste good so I always wanted to buy the best machine, grinder, and use the best technique. I think it's an interesting and fun way to think about coffee making and you often learn that some cheap beans can actually taste pretty good, though many are not Financially, machines and grinders are mostly fixed cost with some variable maintenance cost, But beans however are purely variable cost. Overtime, expensive beans will be more expensive than expensive espresso machines and grinders. Bean costs can add up fast So, unless we keep upgrading like you mentioned of course, expensive machines and cheap beans will be less costly in the long run compare to cheaper machines and expensive beans But I do agree that producers should get a fair price so we can keep improving this industry and make it work for everyone Cheers ☕
yeah. fair wages are nonexistent with cheap coffees, which is why i was intent on more expensive coffees. But I understand there are budget differences around the world!
Thanks for the reply. Fair point. I usually buy local and I'm actually in Thailand, a coffee producing country. I wonder if the economics are different for coffee that is produced and roasted in the same country. I'll have to do some research on that Thanks for another great video. I never thought of it this way before. Great insight
I'm bringing my friend into the fold and trying to find The most information filled yet entertaining videos for him to start accruing some of his own Base knowledge and I had no idea I didn't like this video When it came out! sorry about that I'll like it now
Nail it! After two years I still have the same grinder (1zpresso) and my coffee is way way better than two years ago... Thanks to knowledge, practise, playing with water recipes (makes a big difference) and buying good coffee
As a Lido ET owner, and lover, I'm exceedingly happy that it managed exclusion from this lineup (!). Using a Hario Switch instead of a standard V60 dramatically changed my game considerably. And I agree with you, Lance, that finding great coffees is the most challenging part. Getting a subscription from Sey, Parlour, Velo, etc. is a great beginning but I am more often pausing my subscription to buy individual bags elsewhere.
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Any good grinder will do. Just remember coffee beans are always scared before they go through a grinder. You should reassure them by saying: "don't worry, you're all gonna be fine."
Lool
underrated comment.
Why did I read this in James Hoffmanns voice
Eye rolling Dad joke is appreciated
But not too fine 😉
The sad fact is that gear videos just get more views than videos about water chemistry. But that's what you gotta do as a TH-camr. It feeds into this culture of buying new stuff. Not just in coffee but basically any hobby-focused content across TH-cam.
This is a really important video, thank you for making this.
Thank you! Stuff I really like making (water chemistry, etc) barely get any views. Review videos? My best performing.
Buying fresh coffee, using good water, putting a paper filter in your portafilter and WDT isn’t sexy, but seems to make the biggest difference 😢
@@LanceHedrick I'm already very satisfied with my gear setup, so theory videos about stuff like water chemistry are what I find really interesting nowadays. Unless there's a machine or grinder that's really pushing something revolutionary that has never been done before (as opposed to small iterations/minor evolutions upon existing form/function), I'm personally not that interested. But I get why gear reviews do so well because they appeal to people just starting out and wanting to "do their research" on what setup they want to get.
@@LanceHedrick you should have Milin Patel on some time. He's a water sommelier for almost 20 years. I've had a tasting and it's phenomenal what different waters can taste like. My mind was blown.
Here's some of him. th-cam.com/video/Z6Tc0N97jf8/w-d-xo.html
Let me know if I need to get you in touch!
@@LanceHedrick That is too bad, but it makes sense. One has to do what is marketable to make things work. I feel obliged to say, though, that even if it does not make much business sense to make videos about water chemistry (or similar things!), that the Lotus Coffee Water you co-founded has definitely been game-changing for my filter brewing. I do not have enough time or energy to make concentrates these days, which I used to but found too laborious and generally unpleasurable as a process, but with some tweaking I found a recipe with your product that helps me more consistently make coffee to my preference. I, for one, would enjoy seeing a scattered few videos on matters like water chemistry (or similar things) from you in particular, but I'll continue watching your stuff regardless!
Love the self reflection and viewer education, even though I could have really used a 1+ hour grinder showdown video to help me procrastinate more. 😘
oh you better believe i'll absolutely do that in the probably near future ha!
@@LanceHedrick haha, thank you! But for real though, I (and many others) really appreciate what you do to educate your viewers. The information you drop in every video is worth so much and is helping so many people to better understand and appreciate coffee. Keep up the great work!
@@LanceHedrick with chapters please.
Yah, how am I supposed to live my best live with only 13 minutes of Lance at a time???
@@LanceHedrick thanks for putting this together and it resonates with a lot of us. Marketing and community hype is so good at making us feel like we are missing out. I feel an opportunity for coffee roasters lies there, to invest on marketing the ethics and quality of their coffee. Would love to see a video of you where you dive into the topic of "how to find a good roaster" in the future. For example I am trying to support local roasters, but how do I know they work ethically? And how do I know their coffee is as good as it could be? If you've only had McDonalds, how do you know it's crap food? We need more education and focus on coffee. Maybe something you can work on in the future as well. Eg preselect 10 roasters based on ethics, pick let's say a washed Ethiopian from each and review...
Very well said. I stand with you Lance! And resonate with all that was said.
In fact it’s one of the reasons Natasha and I started September Coffee Co. Thanks for the shoutout, as a very small roaster we truly appreciate it.
Your flipping video comparing the DF64 vs 83 nearly cost me $400...I was so ready to pull the trigger on the 83 until the coffee guy I but my stuff from told me to rather take the 64.
@@grotius912 First of all taste is subjective, different people prefer different flavors, textures, coffees, and grinders. Secondly as someone who owns both, the DF83 in my opinion is better than the DF64 in every way. Better build quality, better textured and sweeter shots while also having better clarity. I own and have tried many grinders and the DF83 produces top notch espresso and respectable pour overs. I'm glad you are happy with your DF64, but the 83 IS the better grinder.
@@maxuttech1028 I am sure it is and maybe someday in the future there will be sound reason to upgrade further, -but for now, where I am at in my coffee journey, I am probably better off spending the money on better coffee beans.
I’m so glad you’ve started reviewing home roasting equipment and was really hoping other TH-camrs would follow suit.
Getting single origin high quality green beans at USD $8 a pound makes saving money much faster with this hobby.
Wow this makes me happy again about my brand new df64, I was really thinking I should have waited for new grinders in my price range but I’m loving this thing!
Thank you for the PSA from the heart.
We really do need a platform to organize, rate and review roasters.
I'd like to see Lance do that, I think he's got the right mix of comedy, goofiness, knowledge, and adorability. He'd be like the Guy Fieri of coffee
When I set out to get a grinder, I treated it similar to getting a Cast Iron pan. I wanted to get a reliable one that could work with me for years to come, without the necessity of upgrading. This was a good message, and this conversation is fundamental to many similar communities where hardware and source of materials are in flux (ie. the audiophile community, gaming, cooking, handicrafts, etc.). In the audio community, equipment quality can get you to a solid listening experience, but good equipment exposes the flaws in a low quality compressed sound file. That base level of getting a WAV or FLAC file is essential to the best sound, just like coffee and water are the fundamentals of flavor for us here with the coffee.
I'm glad I could make a good reliable purchase on a grinder so I could do exactly as you say and devote the majority of my time and resources to discovering the nuances of working with different beans water and recipes. The most fun part of this all to me is the ritual of MAKING the coffee and to that end, the huge amount of things I can tweak in my technique and ingredients makes it so fun for me to play with and see how well I can brew with my own hands. I love being mindful in such a hobby. Cheers!
exactly! Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment. the parallels to the audio world are more and more apparent everyday. Appreciate your support and brew something tasty!
You beat me to it! My very first thought was "this is just like audiophile obsessions with equipment." Spot on! And thanks, Lance, for the important message!
I’m also an Audiophile/Coffeephile! Hello fellow CoffeeAudioPhile! Buy once, cry once. I’ve wasted so much money on low quality Audio equipment. I now stick with Scanspeak, Purifi, and similar and it’s very high performing but without the Audiophile tax of some of the high end assembled speakers. I buy the raw drivers and build my own enclosures, tune them myself with a DSP or build my own crossovers.
I’m new to coffee, but currently looking into modding a Gaggia classic. I want to get the most I can for my money, but at the same time I want to buy something high quality that will last me decades.
what grinder did you end up choosing ?
I know many will be upset by this misleading build up, and I understand. But, this is a message I really think, especially considering the recent frenzy of grinder releases, was important to be discussed. Please leave a like, comment, etc, to help offset the unavoidable onslaught of dislikes and people upset in the comments. I'll of course deliver with more and more high quality grinder reviews, but felt, even with my own participation with Pietro, the upcoming Timemore, Niche, etc, that this was more important than a review. Thanks for the trust and the support.
EDIT- if this somehow offended you because you felt duped, well, that is part of my point in all of this. I have been working on and carefully crafting this video from the ground up, from the thumbnail to the title to how I presented it and built it up. Everything is tied into my main point. If you feel offended, it might be a good time to ask yourself why? Anyway, this is already officially my most disliked video ever. I love the engagement ;)
ANOTHER EDIT- my previous spiel on local roasters was NOT TO DISSUADE you from buying local. That is ludicrous. Instead, it was addressing what so many run into- they trust implicitly the local roaster and, if the coffee doesn't taste good, they just keep upgrading. My point was the roaster can absolutely be at fault. I was not vilainnizing buying local. Again, that is absolutely absurd and horrendously ssilly.
your argument on clickbait is a bit weird, you could also be happy with less channel growth. The argument that clickbait gives you views is the same of a drug dealer selling to kids: they want it
You gotta do what you gotta do, Lance! 💰
Thanks. Will you do an actual ultimate grinder showdown soon? I believe that a 2023 version of Hoff's vid wouldn't hurt since there's so much development in the space. A collab wouldn't hurt either.
@@assemblywizard8 clicks pay for equipment and video production. “Happy with less views” means using more of your own funds
Thanks for this reminder/wake-up Lance! I have had a similar issue for the last few weeks in that I can't make up my mind on which £500 ish grinder to actually go out and purchase! I have the cash ready but I don't have "buyers' remorse", I have a fear of "buyers' remorse" for something i have not even bought yet, which is somehow even more ridiculous. I have nearly just taken the plunge and ordered the Niche but at the last minute something in my head says "how about something cheaper like a Lelit Fred".
One of the things that drew me to coffee in the first place was how many different things there are to explore here. It's human nature to zoom in on a handful of those things, and this can lead to great insight, but in doing so we also lose a certain amount of perspective. I love videos like this that help me to zoom back out for a moment and see the bigger picture. Thank you!
That middle section about buyers remorse and bean sourcing was an amazingly candid and much needed surprise! Such a great callout and reminder to everyone.
Not only buyers remorse but research fatigue! That's where I'm stuck at atm. This helps a lot. Great video. Thanks.
Which one did you pick?? I'm now stuck in research fatigue.
Haaaa, relate. Still haven't purchased, but that is to do with the cost in Australia. I'll go with the varia vs3 gen 2... I think😂
Oh gosh. I'm between the Timemore 078S and the DF83 V2. It's rough out here making a decision. 😅
I went with the Varia Gen 2. It's great, I love it! It has really changed my workflow for the better. It is quiet and consistent. Hope you've made your decision too 😊
I'm honestly a bit surprised this isn't 2 hours long
you'll be even more surprised once about 45s in.
@@LanceHedrickgreat video dude!
thank you!
I have fast forward to 10 minutes and have yet to see how each grinder works.😮
Total click bait title. Dude doesn't even talk about coffee grinders. Don't waste your time...
Hands down the best video I could have clicked on right before buying my first complete setup. What’s funny is, I clicked on this because of the flashy words, and walked away more confident
Thank you for this. This should be on the mandatory watch list for everyone who's gotten himself into speciality coffee, heck we should probably watch this once a month as a reminder
Ngl this video is very helpful for adhd coffee people. I know myself like others with the disorder struggle not only with attentiveness, but hyper fixation as well. Having someone not only as educated in this area as you, but as a fellow person with ADHD saying “HEY divert your time,energy, and money into the thing we are here for in the first place - the people and their coffee” is going to do wonders for us who continually question whether or not we need an upgrade or the latest and greatest. This for me is the extract push I needed to get out of the “new grinder hyperfocus” I’ve been stuck in for last month or so with all the new releases so thank you so much for that 🙏
The most practical video about coffee accessories I’ve watch so far. Buyer’s remorse is real. Thank you for helping learn to be contented.
I appreciate that greatly!
Contentment is great gain. 👍👍😁
@@user-lv7ph7hs7l So you DIDN"T like the X Pro?
@@user-lv7ph7hs7l so you got the Q2 but felt like your missing out on the x pro? You could probably resell the Q2 and not lose too much. A seasoned conical burr should be better tasting than a new grinder so that's kind or a selling point on the used market for those who know.
@@BensCoffeeRants My comment got removed somehow. Too much of a sailor to get past the profanity algorithms.
No I messed up my original description, I meant I have the Pentagonal bur would have wanted the Heptagonal. At the time the X Pro didn't exist and the Q2 had the old burr, that no one liked. It can't do espresso because it doesn't feed below 600 microns and it makes so many fines that dialing becomes very difficult.
Had I known that soon after the Heptagonal burr would be available again or that the X-Pro would exist I wouldn't have settled. Now I can't sell it because people all want the Heptagonal version. They would rather pay more foe a much better burr than get a slight discount for an inferior one that I can't sell in hood conscience without pointing out that the burr is not good. That's why they scrapped the 38 mm 5 sided burr. It was a fines making mess, somehow it works at 48 mm but if you shrink it down, the beans don't quite feed right. I could grind finer but it takes 10 minutes because it can only grab half a bean, maybe nick it and then grab the whole bean. Very frustrating grinder, that I can't dial in. Go coarser, more fines, longer draw down. I change the grind from 800 microns to 1600 and same and it draws in 4:30 instead of 7 min. But tastes underextracted, since it's just the fines clogging the paper not really the coffee providing resistance.
I'm giving it away and sticking to espresso until I can afford an X-Pro.
What a compassionate rant Sounded like a pc guy nerding out on new pc hardware love the passion
I’m glad that so far my GAS-gear acquisition syndrome-is mostly limited to camera gear. But if Weber released a smaller version of the SG1 with maybe 135mm burrs, I’d seriously have to consider it.
As someone just embarking on my coffee journey, this was so important to hear as my amazon cart grows and changes with every review video I’ve seen. Thanks for reminding me that the coffee is the goal, not the toys.
The best gear is the gear you know how to use.
Everything you've said here is incredibly true, and its so refreshing amongst all the GAS vids and pics floating around, to have a video keeping it real.
How do you go about finding good, ethical, local roasters? What other questions do you ask besides pricing? Do you just go to their shop and talk to someone?
I think this is a very valuable point, not only on coffee, but most of life. People need to step back, appreciate what they have, see what is out there, and think more critically about what and why we spend our time and effort. Thank you for bringing this up.
What an amazing message, in my opinion it applies to everything we do and own. Happiness lies in the actual process of researching, trying and succeeding, instead of expecting any item bought to just do it for us.
The chase is real baby! There will never be i feel that perfect cup just because i feel every perfect looking pull i make , is that perfect cup until the next one. The way i roast, the type of coffee, the country it came from, the grinder you used, all these variables will always give you different flavors.
This topic sorely needs more discussion. Another hobby of mine is photography, and I see the same thing play out. There is no shortcut to buy your way to significantly better results. That only comes through effort, knowledge, and time. High end equipment only becomes useful after everything else is dialed in, and you are looking for that last few percent of improvement.
Being sort of new to this whole coffee thing, my setup is pretty simple. I have a Staresso SP200 manual machine with its optional bottomless basket, funnel and tamper and Rock2More frother. My grinder is a 35 dollar (Canadian dollar) grinder from Triple Tree (looks a bit like the Staresso grinder) that does an okay job for my needs it seems. 12 grind settings with 4 increments in each setting. Everything was under 150 Cdn. Luckily, im not heavy enough into it all yet to pull out the checkbook :) I find one shot in my cup of SENSEO brewed coffee gives me a great start to the day. Thanks for the video.
You should make a video called Coffee Transparency: Upgrade Your Sourcing. And then actually compare all those grinders. Blind cupping across all and see where the point of diminishing returns is, and how much extra quality you get for the cost goes up. Or cup poor quality beans Vs good quality. Either way I’ll watch ❤
I think I am blessed with lousy taste buds lol. I genuinely cannot tell the difference between many grinders and coffees. Sure, I can tell between bad beans or machines and good ones. But unless it is very obvious, I cannot tell. So just a good enough one works fines with me. But I do enjoy watching experts pick apart these machines and methods. So thanks. If the tasting notes say dried fruits, pecan, baker's chocolate, etc, good grief, I can't tell.
It is awesome how much you are bringing to the coffee community. Thanks a lot for your work.
Great video 👍
Thank you for this video. I have been thinking about buying a stay alone grinder. That's because of something I read online. This video has made me think twice.👍
This is what one of my biggest worries was with the Sculptor when I joined the Kickstarter… this was exactly what I needed to hear! I was just at a new small roaster in Chicago and I think I’m going to do my research on all of my local Chicago roasters!
I have used sculptor 078 for more than 6 months now and it is so good! I have tested quite a lot of beans and it works perfectly.
Bought from China as they are on the China market back in June 2022.
This is good advice for any significant purchase. Do your research, evaluate your needs, make a decision, and then STOP watching reviews! 🤣
I feel this video was made specifically for me. I was waiting to buy a grinder for months cuz i kept hearing about a cool new thing coming out and i was afraid to just make a choice. I finally preorded an SD40v2. I don't care if its the best or coolest, its what i want.
you sure about it? 🙂what you wanted might change upon waiting for the grinder while in transit haha .. Oh man I hate being broke with wrong hobby
I've been agonizing over buying a grinder for months...this is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you!
This is really timely. I was looking for a new grinder, watching all the new reviews waiting for the one that sounded like it would fix my brews, then I moved to an apartment with significantly harder water a couple weeks ago. All of my brews were noticeably worse, so I bought a zero filter and third wave water. The very first cup was the best coffee I have ever had. Significantly cheaper than a new grinder, and third wave water is still way more expensive than just making your own water at home if you live in a place where the necessary minerals are readily accessible.
I didn’t know I needed this but I needed this
Thanks Lance, this was a much needed video
thank you for the kind words!
It is great you are paying attention to what is happening in the coffee community and industry and putting out your views on that. I imagine it's easy to get caught in putting out review after review with so much gear coming out and the community asking to review everything, so taking a step back to talk more holistically is helpful for everyone to see the bigger picture.
I feel like we are the students in a classroom who were acting like hooligans and not focusing on what actually matters for the past few weeks. And just now, we have been humbled by the class teacher.
The teacher loves us. That is for sure, and we should not disappoint him.
Thanks, Lance, for being so pure and honest as always. ❤
Thank you so much for this video. It’s like hearing from your teacher „I know you can do it so just relax“. Buyers Remorse is now gone.
Soooo…. Which grinder should I upgrade to? 😂😂
One of my greatest coffee joys has been handing a French press or pour over cup to a fellow coffee nerd that came out of a $50 grinder and seeing the reaction - the secret is just top quality beans, good water, and careful ratios and prep.
Great video!
Shout out to Mad Priest Coffee roaster which is exactly your vibe here and my #1 source
Amen!
Perfect video to accompany a 7:30 am hand-grind of bright Costa Rican beans
I hope so!
@@LanceHedrick it really is! As someone who has a passion for coffee but works in other professions that can be unhealthily gear-centric (audio engineering and videography), it's always nice to have a good authoritative reminder that gear lust in the coffee space is largely the same (for better and for worse).
That header....loved it. Thanks for helping me decide the next grinder (or not)...at least after the one I have blows up...maybe I should drop kick it.
We’ve been waiting so long for a P64 (almost a year), watching all of these new (cheaper) grinders coming out. It’s easy to wonder if we’re making a mistake, but this video helps me breathe more easily and reminds me that the reason we’re buying the P64 is to improve workflow. We have had several frustrating issues with our DF64 and want a dependable, higher quality machine that has been around a while. Thanks for the reminder, Lance. When we get our grinder next month, we’ll toast our espressos to you. ☕️☕️Cheers
P64 - buyer's remorse. A lot of static even with RDT. Notable retention - these last grains won't go out however hard i smash the hopper. Build quality is great though
You’re probably right: this is the most important video you’ve made, but also the most interesting we got to watch. Thank you 😊
Probably my most favourite message you've shared to date. Love this.
Because i worked as a barista I had been procrastinating buying my first grinder for well over two years now because i didn’t need it considering I had all the tools I needed and wanted at work and the investment was way too big to do it casually. I got a new job in a new field but my love for great coffee has not waned. Two days ago I invested about $600 into my very own brew set up on a late night impulse buy.
I’ve been anxious that maybe i wasn’t gonna get my money’s worth and that in less than a year i’d be stuck with antiquated gear.
Thank you, Lance, for easing my worries and making hopeful and more excited than ever to receive my gear!
In another note, so glad to see your sub count, it’s crazy to think you’ve amassed this many people for the love of coffee 😊
Phenomenal video about reality, GAS, and what's actually objectively important! subscribed
I love this message. I agree-- we need to think critically about where our money is going. As coffee enthusiasts, we should spend our hard-earned money on ethically sourced coffees that align with our moral values instead of unnecessarily feeding into rampant consumerism in a way that doesn't. It's really easy to fall into the rabbit-hole since there is so much marketing surrounding these novel products, both from the companies and from content creators, so this reminder was very necessary. Very insightful, as always!
Excellent share, Lance. I think it's also good to remember that our identities are not our gear or even our passions. We, as people, exist beyond our love for coffee, and buying a new grinder will not make us the people we ought to be. Instead of fomo for grinders, have some fomo about being a good friend or a good family member; play with your pets; hold the door open for a stranger. If you can do that, each shot will taste sweeter.
This video should be named “all the niche killers” 😂🤣
hahaha tbh that might've been even more clickbaity haha!
You published this video just when I spent 30 hours od researching grinders..and then I asked myself: do I really need a new grinder? What’s wrong with the comandante? Then I realized actually I love my setup, the flow only lacks if I have guests..so I might still decide later to upgrade..but now it’s good enough and I love the coffee that I can make, and enjoy it every day. Well said, thanks! 100% 👍👍🙏🔥
This needed to be said. I will always have massive respect for your channel, and value your opinion! 👏🏼
I have personally fell into the trap of upgrade-itis and it’s refreshing to hear someone address what is actually happening. FOMO is so hard to combat, and with marketing as good as it is, it’s hard not to chase the wrong dragon.
You are a real one. ❤
"If you have a grinder, whatever you have... be happy with it." ~Lance Hedrick
We have a $14 grinder we got from WAL-MART. Whenever my wife and I use it, we have to bang it against our stone counter to prevent the coffee grinds from sticking at the bottom too much. I have to use a toothpick as a makeshift WDT tool to break up the clumps and help scrape the bottom of the grinder. The bottom of the grinder is also falling off due to the consistent banging, so I'll probably have to go to the store to get another one pretty soon; they are after all less than $15.
Love this message. Super important. Be happy with what you've got. Stop feeling forced to consume by these brands. We care about how sustainably our coffee is being grown, but we don't look at home, at how unsustainable our gear acquisition syndrome is.
As an aeropress drinker, the Baratza Encore has always been good enough for me. Well, it died after ~10 years when my cat chewed through the power cable the motor got shorted out, but hey, they stood by their product and offered to fix it for me (I also upgraded the burrs for like, $35). Super excited to see how it turns out.
1000% the beans are the biggest factor after a certain point. The less waste we can put into this world in terms of buying and dumping equipment the better as well. Granted, my grinder isn't sufficient for most espresso use, but hey, as an aeropress drinker that doesn't matter. It should be good enough for a great cup of pourover too.
No viewers remorse here
thank goodness!
Thanks @Lance for this, trying to be more coffee maker user...first steps are research.
Fabi, from Argentina!
Clickbait title, way too many adverts, waste of time.
i watch your videos because i love drinking and making coffee and you obviously you know what you’re talking about. that brought me to your table. they’re super interesting, useful and informative. and you can only watch the hoff videos so many times. but the number one reason i love watching your videos and look forward to new ones: they’re fun and entertaining. the whole grinder game. it’s just fun. that’s the whole point.
I agree. And I'll always do grinder videos. I'll always do espresso machine videos. But I felt the need to address this. So I did. 🤗
For a while I’ve been thinking of upgrading my coffee set-up. I’m glad to discover TH-camrs like you, Coffee Kev and Tom who’s not quite on the corner, all of you have helped me decide.
I’ve seen so many reviews where a $500 set-up is deemed inadequate and $1000 machine is the most basic acceptable machine. I’ve read comments where people have asked for less expensive coffee gear reviews only to be met with responses like “if you’re looking for recommendations for a $200 grinder, you’re following the wrong TH-camr”.
There’s an element of snobbery going on that I don’t care for. If you can afford it, fine, but there’s a financial crunch on and there are a whole number of price points to suit most people. Maybe we need a wider scope of reviews other than the humble brag “simple” but expensive coffee gear set-up.
Love this video! Really solves the anxiety i am feeling when investing in my first grinder!❤
So true. Great beans and great water is like 80% or more of the flavor. I like my fancy decent espresso and niche grinder but they are just tools not ingredients. Same thing with guitar gear. It all doesn’t matter if you can’t okay guitar. But we always love to get the newest gear
Thanks for making this video. The intensity of consumerism in coffee is something I haven't experienced in any other hobbies of mine. People spend too much time focusing on equipment and not enough on coffee itself.
What you said and are promoting is so important.
Too many people are busy comparing their life and possessions rather than being grateful for what they have.
Also try to support the primary producers rather than give your money to equipment manufacturers who manipulate through marketing and advertising.
Lance, your competitive advantage in the YT creators' space is your honesty and candor. Never stop spittin' truth. That will always set you apart.
100% Correct! Well said!
Well said ...you won another subscriber. I am starting to research buying a new grinder for my all-important morning brew and I'm shocked at the choice and all the start-ups now producing all these devices. I think I've found what I want after many days of watching reviews. At the end of the day, I live in a big City and I have plenty of choices if I want to stop for a coffee. At home, I want a good grinder that will not look out of place on my kitchen counter. All of the obsession with different burr sets and grind settings is somewhat over the top for most people and I am fussy about my coffee. I'm actually beginning to wonder if my current grinder really needs replacing.
Very very good point. I spent a few years of my life chasing grinders and different recipes, and still didn’t get the result I wanted. It was until recently when I realized the quality of coffee matters most. I learnt that the better the coffee, the more forgiving to recipes and to grinders.
Thanks Lance. This message is a lot like the one I got from my audiophile friends when I was looking for a stereo way back in the day. "You can have the best of the best in all your equipment, but if your speakers are bad, so is the sound." Same here. If your coffee is bad, so is your cup.
As for the grinders issue, I've owned a Baratza Virtuoso for probably a decade now and am hugely happy with it. It's set to grind for my siphon brewers, does a great job at it, and I wouldn't trade it for anything really. But, when I went looking for a grinder to do espresso that was affordable for me, I stumbled across your channel doing a comparison of budget friendly grinders. And I picked the Urbanics 80 and am really happy with it. It grinds for pour overs, press, and drip just fine and could probably grind espresso better, but does so enough for me. And really, I think the motto of The Whiskey Tribe fits here.
Modified for here: The best coffee is the coffee you like to drink, the way you like to drink it.
(The grinders thing is also much like the early days of PC hardware, when it seemed like every 2 or 3 months there was a new piece of hardware that was faster, more capable, etc. that everyone just had to have, and most folks gave up trying to keep up and manufacturers got the message. Don't introduce the latest and greatest of your product, until you can combine it with other latest and greatest that you're producing).
I am new to all of this and have been researching all the machines grinders methods and the "how to's..sooo glad to hear this and allow myself to take the first step and not have anxiety over the whole thing, stop sitting on the bench and go play!!
Broooooo... This is the video of the decade!!!!!
Well said Lance. This is what got me into specialty coffee. I would argue it's not the producer, but the cherry pickers that are the most underappreciated aspect of the coffee chain. Consumerism is such an easy thing to get suckered into. Equipment alone does not make good produce. They are just tools. This is true across most industries. There are a few principles I abide by:
1) Assess the problem you want to solve and rank the factors that contribute most to problem. Tackle those that give the greatest positive result for the least amount of cost.
2) Average equipment used well always outperforms expensive gear that is under-utilised.
3) Law of diminishing returns - above a certain threshold, the more you pay, the less you gain.
4) The longer you wait to buy, the better technology will get and a better product you can get for the same amount of money. Set a goal when looking at purchasing products and be patient whilst saving.
5) Buy to the budget you can afford and don't look back. Enjoy it, learn its quirks and how to get the most out of what you get.
Finally someone is talking about it. Honestly, coffee gear TH-cam is an endless anxiety inducing conveyor belt. There's always something that's already better than what you just bought and oh, there's now this new upgrade to that thing that you can also buy to ummm probably not do a whole lot to the end result unless you're an SCA-trained barista or blessed by James Hoffman himself.. We all need to chill guys.
What if I'm both sca trained AND blessed by the holy father?
absolutely love this vid.
love the waterchem mention. as a brewer id like to stress the importance of waterchem, chances are that, that neipa isnt tasting so sweet brewd with the tapwater u have comming ot of the faucet.
After waiting months for the ESP, we returned it after it jammed after the first grind. We then went back to the Breville Pro and have been very satisfied
Finally someone addresses this.
Jesus fucking christ this constant pressure from the industry to make me go and upgrade my gear, really get on my nerves.
I have my end game grinder which is just a Eureka Mingon Facile. It has no bells and whistles (minus noise dampening from the Silenzio) but I am perfectly happy with the coffee coming from it. It has a wide spread for espresso, never stalls, and gives incredible grind quality and it's cheaper than the hyped up grinders at $370. At that price I cannot believe how good it is. It won't get many clicks on videos but folks it's worth looking at if you do not have a grinder already.
You’re a great educator Lance and I really enjoyed seeing you dive into the philosophy of specialty coffee culture.
thank you! I really appreciate it.
Thank you for this reminder
There used be an ad here in Ireland that went “It may seem obvious but the most important thing to get right when you’re painting is your paint “ Have tried a few coffees that are above my ‘justifiable price range ‘ lately .The best of them I reckon pays for itself by the bloom period with the grinding , visual ground coffee sight / smell and first blast of hot water aroma
Best video I’ve ever seen. We need more of this. This will change my coffee game going forward. Thank you!
Absolutely! This makes perfect sense. The coffee and how it's roasted is the most important thing and affects the taste of the coffee more than anything. However, I haven't found anyone who is making TH-cam videos or has a website that specializes in reviewing and recommending specific coffees. Yes, here and there a video that explains the different types of coffees and roasts but I haven't found a site that recommends what to buy on a regular basis.
Ummmm....VERY NICE VIDEO! YOU...Have blown my mind, really. I didn't even think that way. I fell into that FOMO mind set NOT even think of my coffee I'm using. Thanks for opening my eyes and being sincere! Glad I stumbled upon your video looking for new grinder. It all makes sense. New subscriber now!
Its like with hifi enthuisiasts. The gear becomes the hobby, the music takes the backseat apparently, but for the enthuisiasts the music does sound somewhat better with the latest gear bought. Did this, and came out on the other side with a really good system, but more relaxed on the budget. Good enough concept. Same goes for coffe gear, where the coffee and maybe depending on where you live maybe also the water quality. So all you say is true, but oth the gear is a hobby, by itself, the coffee is enjoyed no matter what, unless you become hifi only with that also. My gear is entry level, but tweaked and upgraded. Made gigantic difference with the taste of the coffee, and so I find myself content and happy with entry level gear, enjoying it spits out worldclass coffee at a low price.
After coming to Panama from my country fleeting from dictatorship (I am a Wedding Photographer) BY FAR among a couple more, because of your ethics, this is one of the best Coffee channels in my humble opinion. This phenomena is happening in the photography side as well and even worse believe me. This video made my day, thanks for it and please keep on being yourself. Bests regards from a Venezuelan follower!!!
The buyers remorse! My god I was just then thinking about the fact that I might buy yet another coffee related machine even though I'm a beginner
This video was exactly what I needed
I just feel like I got out of one of those old-time gospel camp meetings I used to go to as a kid. This was a message I needed to hear! Thank you, Lance ❤️❤️👍
Those of you in social media contribute to this madness of the barrage of marketing, spend, upgrading etc. what I’d love to see more videos of is exactly what you discuss. You can spend a ton of $’s on equipment you don’t need because you put crap in the hopper. Review how/where we find GREAT roasters and different types of coffee’s. If you coffee preference prefix is “X” then you’ll maybe enjoy this coffee from this roaster. I enjoy these services that send a variety of good roasts that offer different experiences. But I’d love to hear from you guys who have a much better level of knowledge what you enjoy.
I have done and do this all the time.
Exactly the video that I needed to watch! Thank you so much man! Cheers on you
Thank you're making a great point and I could use that reminder!
I totally agree with you and hope others follow this advise.
Luckily I’ve used and perfected my home equipment enough to understand exactly what upgrades I need. I never bought any equipment more than twice (machine, grinder + accessories) and now I’m on my end-game setup.
I buy the best coffee I could find ($15 for 9oz) and use the best water possible having looked at water hardness and TDS of every single 5-gallon water manufacturer and found only a single suitable one.
I love the focus on roasters being transparent on their purchase. So important!
Thanks for the reminder. I only recently decided to upgrade my grinder and immediately became overwhelmed!
I totally understand and agree with your concern. Still, I'd like to add another perspective to this
I have a knack for trying to make cheap coffee taste good so I always wanted to buy the best machine, grinder, and use the best technique. I think it's an interesting and fun way to think about coffee making and you often learn that some cheap beans can actually taste pretty good, though many are not
Financially, machines and grinders are mostly fixed cost with some variable maintenance cost, But beans however are purely variable cost. Overtime, expensive beans will be more expensive than expensive espresso machines and grinders. Bean costs can add up fast
So, unless we keep upgrading like you mentioned of course, expensive machines and cheap beans will be less costly in the long run compare to cheaper machines and expensive beans
But I do agree that producers should get a fair price so we can keep improving this industry and make it work for everyone
Cheers ☕
yeah. fair wages are nonexistent with cheap coffees, which is why i was intent on more expensive coffees. But I understand there are budget differences around the world!
Thanks for the reply.
Fair point. I usually buy local and I'm actually in Thailand, a coffee producing country. I wonder if the economics are different for coffee that is produced and roasted in the same country. I'll have to do some research on that
Thanks for another great video. I never thought of it this way before. Great insight
I'm bringing my friend into the fold and trying to find The most information filled yet entertaining videos for him to start accruing some of his own Base knowledge and I had no idea I didn't like this video When it came out! sorry about that I'll like it now
Nail it! After two years I still have the same grinder (1zpresso) and my coffee is way way better than two years ago... Thanks to knowledge, practise, playing with water recipes (makes a big difference) and buying good coffee
I can't believe you just tricked me into an intervention, but I am thankful that you felt strongly enough to make this its own video.
As a Lido ET owner, and lover, I'm exceedingly happy that it managed exclusion from this lineup (!). Using a Hario Switch instead of a standard V60 dramatically changed my game considerably. And I agree with you, Lance, that finding great coffees is the most challenging part. Getting a subscription from Sey, Parlour, Velo, etc. is a great beginning but I am more often pausing my subscription to buy individual bags elsewhere.