Does what it's supposed to....

Author's Rating:

Pros: Freshly ground coffee, good coarse/fine grind settings.

Cons: Bit of dust, bit loud

The Bottom Line: 
Don't overlook this grinder, it does its basic job well enough, but consider other grinders too.

Author's Review
Let me first start off by stating that this is one of only two consumer-grade burr grinders I have experience with, and it's worth stating that this one is my preferred of the two. Another relevant point is that I like to enjoy my coffee straight. No cream. No sugar. Just a tasty beverage that is pure and showcases the bean, the roast, and the art used to brew it.

I like coffee. I don't think I'm a coffee snob, I'll drink "gourmet" coffees and I'll drink Folger's. But just because I drink a wide range of coffees doesn't mean I don't notice a difference among the variety of brews. Some I definitely enjoy more than others.

For the best cup of Joe, these are some common recommendations that I've seen from the coffee connoisseurs:

* fresh beans
* freshly roasted
* freshly ground, using a burr grinder (more on this)
* pressed (French press) or cold-brewed

I haven't gotten into roasting yet, so I don't have control over the first two variables. However I do have control over the second two.

Why use a burr grinder?

There are arguments that are made by people who know a lot more about coffee than I do that the burr grinder doesn't release the oils that cause bitterness, whereas a typical chopping-type grinder does. Honestly, I can't claim to be an expert on that, so do more research if you think this is significant for your case.

The big reason to use a burr grinder is consistency! Without consistency, it's hard to tinker with other brewing techniques to get that perfect brew (perfect to you, everybody's tastes are different). Chopping-style grinders produce low consistency with coarse grinds, and increase in consistency the finer a grind you go. That's great if you always want to brew espresso, but doesn't help you much with a French press.

Different brewing techniques require different grinds. Espresso -> fine. French press -> coarse. "Standard" drip-coffee -> somewhere between fine & coarse. With a burr grinder you get a more consistent grind of whatever setting you use, allowing you to focus on things like amount of coffee to use, water temperature, brewing time, etc.

If you want to know more, there's a wealth of information out there and I recommend more research.

Now on to the talk about this particular grinder

What to like about it:

* It looks decent enough.
* It has plenty of settings for the grind, coarse to fine.
* It has a hopper to hold some coffee and a setting dial to control how much coffee to grind. Well...it's convenient for some. I actually don't like it.

What I don't like about it:

* The on/off switch doesn't offer much feedback and feels flimsy.
* The "amount to grind" dial is set to someone's preferences, but NOT mine. I measure my coffee, put it in the hopper, and have to turn off the grinder manually when it's done grinding. Otherwise it'll keep running, and at a high speed after the beans are all done grinding, or it'll stop before all of mine are ground. I measure my beans every time to get consistent results.
* It's not the easiest to clean, basically the bottom of the burr is tough to get to and I always end up with some coffee dust on my counter.
* It produces more coffee dust than I'd like for a coarse setting.
* It's kinda loud.
* When almost all the beans are ground, some of them pop around in the hopper.
UPDATE * Sometimes the beans in the hopper get stuck and stop feeding into the grinder, so it requires attention during grinding to ensure trouble-free operation.

I think that it might've been designed to have the burrs spin at too high a rate, thus generating lots of dust and popping my beans around like little jumping beans.

It does a good-enough job to keep my satisfied and I use it regularly. I haven't had any real problems with it, just minor annoyances such as coffee dust on the counter. But that's easy enough to clean, and it's worth the effort for freshly ground coffee.

It's also not the most expensive grinder, which is always nice. I'm sure there are much better grinders out there, and there are definitely worse. I'd say this is a bit over-priced for what it is, but not too far off the mark.