Coffee/Espresso hipsters

[Chewbacca 7827]

A friend of mine had a similar Breville with the built in burr grinder.  It was very good as were the shots from the machine.  I have a Gaggia Brera and the built in burr grinder is every bit as good as my old Gaggia MDF grinder.  The Rocky is a great grinder, but saving space with a good built in isn't the worst thing.

Our Breville has a built in burr grinder and pulls a very nice shot.

[RichUT 1922]

My bonavita drip coffee maker died last week after only 7 years of use. I loved the quality of coffee it produced, but the new ones seem to get terrible reviews. Any recs for a new machine? Looking for something simple with at least 8 cup capacity, thermal carafe, and preferably a timer that can be set for autobrewing in the morning. 

We replaced our Bonavita with a Technovorm Moccamaster and we are loving it. It has a physical on/off switch, which lends itself to connecting to a smart plug. I ask Alexa to turn off the coffee pot as soon as I wake up and the pot is ready by the time I make it to the kitchen.

Like the Bonavita, it’s certified by the SCAA and makes a pour over like pot of coffee in a thermal carafe that stays hot for hours.

[Johnny Chimpo 489]

Came here just to post that I bought a technivorm moccamaster yesterday. Pretty stoked on it. Been using an aeropress or french press but I’m stepping the game up now. 

[Anastasis 23699]

Is there a surly approved superautomatic?

[sidis 9990]

5 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Is there a surly approved superautomatic?

when i put that question to AOC a couple of years ago for home use, he recommended the nuova simonelli oscar ii.

[dcbc 14643]

On 6/15/2020 at 5:27 PM, G650 said:

Gotcha. I may just give it a miss then. I have an espresso machine, a Nespresso and a press. Was trying to get something easier to deal with than the press for just brewing a cup.

Mocha pot?  I don't love them.  But it's about as simple as a press if you're looking for something different.

/edit I now see it was a post from June.

Edited December 18, 2020 by dcbc

[G650 14422]

2 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Mocha pot?

I actually just got the wife a Technivorm for Xmas, she has be wearing me out for a drip machine so that appears to be the go for now. Or at least from next Friday on.

Edited December 18, 2020 by G650

[Anastasis 23699]

3 hours ago, sidis said:

when i put that question to AOC a couple of years ago for home use, he recommended the nuova simonelli oscar ii.

Doesn't appear to be an automatic.  I already have an espresso machine and my wife has mounted a mini revolt.  She want's to press a button and have stuff come out the other side. Looking at the saeco's but not sure what the landscape really is here with shit ranging from 1k to 15k.  

[dcbc 14643]

37 minutes ago, G650 said:

I actually just got the wife a Technivorm for Xmas, she has be wearing me out for a drip machine so that appears to be the go for now. Or at least from next Friday on.

Nice.

[dcbc 14643]

13 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Doesn't appear to be an automatic.  I already have an espresso machine and my wife has mounted a mini revolt.  She want's to press a button and have stuff come out the other side. Looking at the saeco's but not sure what the landscape really is here with shit ranging from 1k to 15k.  

I've had one of these for eight or so years.  It's good.  It's been reliable.  Is there better?  Sure.  But for $460, you could do a lot worse.

Edit to say:  The grinder went out under warranty.  It was fixed and has been a tank ever since.  One thing about these is that you want to use no more than a medium roast bean or the grinders tend to get gummed up over time and are a real pain (expensive) to get working again. There's a bypass filter if you want to use something a bit darker.  Still, for the price, it's worth a try (and in my case, I've been happy).

https://www.wholelattelove.com/products/gaggia-brera-espresso-machine-in-silver?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Jn-y6jW7QIVBOPACh3oZQj6EAAYASAAEgJW1PD_BwE

Edited December 18, 2020 by dcbc

[sidis 9990]

5 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Doesn't appear to be an automatic.  I already have an espresso machine and my wife has mounted a mini revolt.  She want's to press a button and have stuff come out the other side. Looking at the saeco's but not sure what the landscape really is here with shit ranging from 1k to 15k.  

Wait, what? I obviously misinterpreted what you meant by automatic. I would call that an automatic. I see what you’re talking about though.

May want just get divorced instead. A friend of mine got the $2,500 version of the jura (Swiss company) and seems really happy with it.

 

[Anastasis 23699]

2 minutes ago, sidis said:

May want just get divorced instead. A friend of mine got the $2,500 version of the jura (Swiss company) and seems really happy with it.

But

 

My dad has a jura superauto somewhere above that range and it is awesome.  I ain't going there though. 

Here is an example of what I am looking at as a class:

https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/saeco-picobaristo-carafe-superautomatic-espresso-machine

[Anastasis 23699]

11 minutes ago, sidis said:

Wait, what? I obviously misinterpreted what you meant by automatic.

Oh, and SUPERautomatic. LOL. 

[dcbc 14643]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

But

 

My dad has a jura superauto somewhere above that range and it is awesome.  I ain't going there though. 

Here is an example of what I am looking at as a class:

https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/saeco-picobaristo-carafe-superautomatic-espresso-machine

That's nice, but the built in milk machine tends to be the weak link (reliabilitywise) not tastewise.  Side note:  One of those little $25 frother kettles does pretty well (or just get one with a wand that you can attache an external autofrother to.  If I'm in a hurry or don't care about froth, I just microwave the milk and drop in the coffee. 

[sidis 9990]

6 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Oh, and SUPERautomatic. LOL. 

Reading is for nerds and squares. 

[Anastasis 23699]

13 minutes ago, dcbc said:

That's nice, but the built in milk machine tends to be the weak link (reliabilitywise) not tastewise.  Side note:  One of those little $25 frother kettles does pretty well (or just get one with a wand that you can attache an external autofrother to.  If I'm in a hurry or don't care about froth, I just microwave the milk and drop in the coffee. 

This looks like the gaggia version of the saeco.

 

https://www.wholelattelove.com/collections/super-automatic-espresso-machines/products/gaggia-anima-prestige-super-automatic-espresso-machine

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by Anastasis

[dcbc 14643]

51 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

This looks like the gaggia version of the saeco.

 

https://www.wholelattelove.com/collections/super-automatic-espresso-machines/products/gaggia-anima-prestige-super-automatic-espresso-machine

 

Saeco owns Gaggia now.  So that seems to fit.  All you really have to do with these machines is fill the water, empty the pucks, fill the beans, rinse the group head out (easy), and lubricate the moving parts and replace the gasket every blue moon.  It tells you when to descale, which is kind of a process on mine).   

I had a semi automatic for years and when I stood on my left foot just so (all other elements being mastered), I could pull a halfway decent shot out of it.  But it was such a to-do that I sold it and the grinder, etc. for this, which I use way more often.  Again, the autofrother (built in sort) is a common point of failure in the higher $$$ machines (sorry to keep harping on reliability, but it's a pain when they break).  I barely use the wand on mine for milk because it needs a regular, more thorough cleaning.  Got one of those all in one electric frothers and it does fine.  Mine does a rinse down when it gets turned off.  So I only have to pull the group head out to rinse once every few days of regular use.

Edited December 18, 2020 by dcbc

[J-Mart 60]

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

But

 

My dad has a jura superauto somewhere above that range and it is awesome.  I ain't going there though. 

Here is an example of what I am looking at as a class:

https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/saeco-picobaristo-carafe-superautomatic-espresso-machine

My brother and his wife have a Saeco, and they really enjoy it, so I shopped around for a similar machine for myself.  I finally bought the Saeco PicoBaristo this summer directly from Philips.  It's a fun machine to have in the house.  And since I work from home now thanks to the pandemic, it's nice to be able to have great coffee or the occasional milk drink without having to go out.

One thing the PicoBaristo doesn't have is a regular coffee button.  I emailed the folks at Seattle Coffee Gear before I bought the machine, and asked how I make a regular cup of coffee even though there's no regular coffee button.  They responded you use the Caffe Crema function, which turns out a long espresso shot with a little extra water and a natural foam (crema) on top.  It makes for a strong but not overwhelming or overly bitter cup of coffee.  I really enjoy it.

I had a little trouble inserting the hot water spout when I first got the machine.  The spout wouldn't seat properly in its port.  I contacted Philips, and they had their customer service folks respond right away with a call.  While on the phone, they had me send video of me trying to seat the spout in its port so they could see exactly what the problem was.  I had a new spout a couple days later.  Good service!  But you should get that when you spend as much as you have to to get a machine like this.

One thing to be mindful of is the replacement of the AquaClean filter.  You must replace the filter before the life of the filter runs to 0% life.  I made that mistake and had to descale the machine before it allowed me to replace the filter.  So, I bought a bottle of descaling solution ($20 maybe, on Amazon), ran the descaling function, and was then able to replace the filter.  Check the price of the AquaClean filters, and just know that will be an ongoing expense.  I bought a pack of 4 filters, and they run about $20/each (buy more to save a few bucks, of course).  I think my first filter lasted about 3 months.

Other maintenance includes dumping spent grounds and accumulated water from under the machine every few days.  Not a big deal at all.  Also, the brew group needs to be cleaned weekly, but that's just a rinse under the tap plus an air dry.

Another thing to know is that you can't use oily coffee beans.  Apparently the oils can really gunk up the grinder.  Good medium roast beans are what you want.  I noticed the Seattle Coffee Gear folks label some of their beans as non-oily and appropriate for superautomatics.  I think they even had a sale this fall on their non-oily beans.

I would certainly buy the PicoBaristo  again.  I would also consider the Philips 3200 with LatteGo.  It appears to be close to the same machine, but a few hundred less.  I believe it has a regular coffee button, but it doesn't have a Flat White function, which I thought would be cool to have (I've barely used that function, ha!).  Definitely consider a machine with the automatic milk frother (like LatteGo on the Philips branded machines) instead of the steam wand that you manually dip into the container of cold milk to get your hot milk and froth.  That function on the PicoBaristo is really convenient and seems much less messy than having to screw with the wand.

If you want to spend an extra $1000 or so, the Saeco Xelsis and GranBaristo Avanti look pretty, pretty nice.

 

 

[J-Mart 60]

Reading other comments above about the auto milk frothers being unreliable, FWIW, mine on the PicoBaristo has performed very well in the time I've had it.  No problems with it so far.

[dcbc 14643]

2 minutes ago, J-Mart said:

Reading other comments above about the auto milk frothers being unreliable, FWIW, mine on the PicoBaristo has performed very well in the time I've had it.  No problems with it so far.

I am the one that mentioned that.  Does the machine do any sort of cleaning cycle on it or do you have to clean it.  There's an autofroth attachment for my wand that's pretty cheap, but I always wonder if it just results in another cleaning cycle.

For those without wands or frothers, this is pretty good, cheap alternative.

https://www.target.com/p/bodum-electric-milk-frother-black/-/A-53664346?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000012806756&CPNG=PLA_Appliances%2BShopping_Local&adgroup=SC_Appliances&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c&location=9027088&targetid=pla-874408828303&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1247068&ds_rl=1248099&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw4C_l8jW7QIVzP3jBx3VbQrUEAQYAiABEgLPlvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[J-Mart 60]

8 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Does the machine do any sort of cleaning cycle on it or do you have to clean it.

If you're talking about the auto milk frother, there's a self-cleaning on the PicoBaristo.  Every time you make a milk drink, it asks it you want to do an auto cleanse when the brew is complete.  I always do the cleanse.  It shoots hot water through the frother spout so nothing gets gummed up.  After the auto cleanse, just detach the carafe from the machine, and put the carafe in the fridge if there's still milk in it.

The manual does recommend a weekly cleaning of the carafe.  But that's pretty easy.  Pull off the tubing and flush it and the other pieces of the carafe with hot water.

[dcbc 14643]

17 minutes ago, J-Mart said:

If you're talking about the auto milk frother, there's a self-cleaning on the PicoBaristo.  Every time you make a milk drink, it asks it you want to do an auto cleanse when the brew is complete.  I always do the cleanse.  It shoots hot water through the frother spout so nothing gets gummed up.  After the auto cleanse, just detach the carafe from the machine, and put the carafe in the fridge if there's still milk in it.

The manual does recommend a weekly cleaning of the carafe.  But that's pretty easy.  Pull off the tubing and flush it and the other pieces of the carafe with hot water.

Yes, that was my question.  Thanks for the explanation.  Always was curious about that.

[sidis 9990]

after a few years with the breville, decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more prosumer.  snagged a rocket mozzafiato and the faustino grinder which fit well on counter.  time to relearn everything.

 

 

[Dutch 4533]

Beautiful looking machine. Report back with how it works and some coffee pron. 

[CycleTex87 3003]

I've lusted after one of these prosumer espresso machines for a few years.  Not really the cost in $$ (but kinda is, since I'm the only one that would ever use it), but really the counter space premium in my kitchen.  I'm sure it would pay for itself in fewer starbucks/specialty coffee house charges in a year or so.

[sidis 9990]

50 minutes ago, Dutch said:

Beautiful looking machine. Report back with how it works and some coffee pron. 

Here is some cappuccino pr0n that seems to be the best I could do with the relatively weak breville steam wand. No hate on the breville...it is an awesome starting machine with a ton of underrated features but it certainly has its weaknesses. 

swan:

Maelstrom:

 

screwed up heart:

 

tulip:

[dcbc 14643]

About fifteen years ago, we were having trouble with our fairly pedestrian espresso machine.  One morning, a business associate of mine was over at the house and my wife was going to pull him a shot when it went belly up on her.  He was polite and even declined when she offered him a cup of drip.  I'd been having some trust issues with this guy.  He'd worked in our family business for a long time, even before I took over, but he's got some weird ticks and I suspect he's been talking to competitors about some things he shouldn't have been.  A few days later, on a trip to Florida, he and I chartered a boat to do some fishing before we headed back home.  I really was considering cutting him loose, but I ultimately decided against it.  A couple of days after we got back, a delivery shows up.  The guy bought us an Elektra Microcasa Semiautomatica!  My wife thought the gift was way too expensive, but I guess he sensed that we might be on the outs and made an overture to stay in the game.  Well, it worked.  He's among the few of my associates from back then who's still around.  Anyway, here's the machine.

Edited February 11, 2021 by dcbc

[Chopper 17429]

On 2/10/2021 at 5:16 PM, dcbc said:

About fifteen years ago, we were having trouble with our fairly pedestrian espresso machine.  One morning, a business associate of mine was over at the house and my wife was going to pull him a shot when it went belly up on her.  He was polite and even declined when she offered him a cup of drip.  I'd been having some trust issues with this guy.  He'd worked in our family business for a long time, even before I took over, but he's got some weird ticks and I suspect he's been talking to competitors about some things he shouldn't have been.  A few days later, on a trip to Florida, he and I chartered a boat to do some fishing before we headed back home.  I really was considering cutting him loose, but I ultimately decided against it.  A couple of days after we got back, a delivery shows up.  The guy bought us an Elektra Microcasa Semiautomatica!  My wife thought the gift was way too expensive, but I guess he sensed that we might be on the outs and made an overture to stay in the game.  Well, it worked.  He's among the few of my associates from back then who's still around.  Anyway, here's the machine.

What am I missing - this kitchen site has it listed for $9. 

https://xalakitchen.com/collections/tools-accessories/products/elektra-sxc-microcasa-semiautomatica-commercial-espresso-machine-chrome-55948249?_pos=2&_sid=619917b6a&_ss=r

$1900 on amazon and establised coffee machine sites http://www.coffeegeek.com/proreviews/detailed/microcasaautomatica

[RMac5 1552]

I just ordered the $9 one from the link. I’m sure I will now get the internet aids or worse. 
 

[CycleTex87 3003]

I did the same thing.  $9 PayPal to some random dude.  Interested to see what shows up. 

Edited February 16, 2021 by CycleTex87

[HornOnTheBayou 9056]

On 2/10/2021 at 6:16 PM, dcbc said:

I'd been having some trust issues with this guy.  He'd worked in our family business for a long time, even before I took over, but he's got some weird ticks and I suspect he's been talking to competitors about some things he shouldn't have been.  A few days later, on a trip to Florida, he and I chartered a boat to do some fishing before we headed back home.  I really was considering cutting him loose, but I ultimately decided against it.  

 

Uh, is your family in the olive oil business?

 

[MajorMajor 109]

I did the same thing.  $9 PayPal to some random dude.  Interested to see what shows up. 

I did as well, not expecting much...

Cmon Little Joe from Kokomo!

[dcbc 14643]

On 2/16/2021 at 7:15 AM, HornOnTheBayou said:

Uh, is your family in the olive oil business?

 

Close.  Waste Management.

 

Edited February 23, 2021 by dcbc

[sidis 9990]

On 2/15/2021 at 1:54 PM, Chopper said:

What am I missing - this kitchen site has it listed for $9. 

https://xalakitchen.com/collections/tools-accessories/products/elektra-sxc-microcasa-semiautomatica-commercial-espresso-machine-chrome-55948249?_pos=2&_sid=619917b6a&_ss=r

$1900 on amazon and establised coffee machine sites http://www.coffeegeek.com/proreviews/detailed/microcasaautomatica

 

On 2/15/2021 at 3:36 PM, RMac5 said:

I just ordered the $9 one from the link. I’m sure I will now get the internet aids or worse. 
 

 

On 2/15/2021 at 8:59 PM, CycleTex87 said:

I did the same thing.  $9 PayPal to some random dude.  Interested to see what shows up. 

 

On 2/16/2021 at 11:42 AM, MajorMajor said:

I did as well, not expecting much...

Cmon Little Joe from Kokomo!

 

 

so have all of you had your identities stolen yet?

 

she's here, still in the process of dialing everything in (as water restrictions/boil requirements are not the time to dial in an espresso machine).  dosages are right, just have to get the grind right with lots of pulls.

 

[Dutch 4533]

That's a beautiful machine.

[HouTex 1912]

Not hipster worthy, but this little thing (it’s much smaller than it looks) was a life saver last week on a gas stove when the power went out and coffee shops were closed. It really only makes about two double shots.

[Dutch 4533]

Three years into the relationship, I'm still loving my Barista Express but am thinking of upgrading to a dedicated espresso grinder.  I'll posit a few questions to the group, if y'all will allow:

-Worth it? I'm looking at around $500 (the two that I'm narrowing it down to are the Vario and Eureka Mignon). Does a dedicated grinder produce a noticeable improvement in the finished product?

-What are y'all grinding with?  FWIW, this would be strictly for espresso; I have a dedicated one for pour over and French press. 

[Fud 9697]

Do you guys ever use beans that aren't explicitly labeled as espresso beans for espressos? 

[dcbc 14643]

Because I was warned against using any sort of dark roasted beans in my super automatic, I use Lavazza Super Crema.  They aren't explicitly labeled as espresso roast, but close.

Edited March 29, 2021 by dcbc

[Fud 9697]

10 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Because I was warned against using any sort of dark roasted beans in my super automatic, I use Lavazza Super Crema.  They aren't explicitly labeled as espresso roast, but close.

Mostly wondering because sometimes at HEB I struggle to find any local brands that are espresso 

[Dutch 4533]

1 hour ago, Fud said:

Do you guys ever use beans that aren't explicitly labeled as espresso beans for espressos? 

I've used plenty of single-origins and blends not labeled "espresso" with good results. Light to medium roasts seem to work better than dark ones (/no racist) for espresso, though (at least in my experience). 

The great thing about HEB is you can experiment with a little bit of a variety of beans and find which ones work well in your machine and suit your taste.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Dutch

[Dutch 4533]

The best thing is to find a local roaster and buy your beans fresh.  The difference is pronounced.

[Rip76 5009]

Community - black

[sidis 9990]

6 hours ago, Dutch said:

Three years into the relationship, I'm still loving my Barista Express but am thinking of upgrading to a dedicated espresso grinder.  I'll posit a few questions to the group, if y'all will allow:

-Worth it? I'm looking at around $500 (the two that I'm narrowing it down to are the Vario and Eureka Mignon). Does a dedicated grinder produce a noticeable improvement in the finished product?

-What are y'all grinding with?  FWIW, this would be strictly for espresso; I have a dedicated one for pour over and French press. 

as you know, i went from barista express to the mozzafiato which did not have a built-in grinder.  i have some thoughts...  i bought a rancilio rocky prior to the upgrade because my wife wanted to have decaf on hand.  so i got that as the dedicated decaf grinder. once i moved to the rocket machine, i bought the rocket faustino to be the dedicated regular espresso grinder.

one thing to make sure you look at is whether or not you are getting a dosing grinder or not because that will alter your approach obviously.  the rocky is not one, the faustino is.  the dosing is helpful in consistency in my opinion.  the other thing is that the range of coarse to fine on the breville is fairly narrow relative to dedicated grinders.  those things have a much wider band of possibilities.  the movements are far more subtle and they tend to be infinite dials so you have to be careful.  they also make more of a mess than the breville's grinder so i suggest you get a mat for it if you are like me and ocd on cleanliness. 

knowing what i know, if i was extracting espresso with the barista express, i'm not sure it is necessary to spend $500 on an alternative grinder unless there is a compelling reason to do so.  it is not going to make a discernible difference to the extraction on the Breville.  That said, if you just like buying shit like me, you aren't going to go wrong with the eureka mignon.  they make great grinders...and it does have dosing.  but bottom line, until you go full dipshit like me and get a prosumer machine, i feel like it is unnecessary overkill unless there is a practical reason like decaf alternatives or you just like to be able to switch beans intra-day, etc...  the breville grinder is fine for extracting espresso on the barista express.  but if you're asking, you want to do it so let 'er rip.

[sidis 9990]

5 hours ago, Fud said:

Mostly wondering because sometimes at HEB I struggle to find any local brands that are espresso 

HEB carries Little City's Congress Avenue Roast.  Makes a really nice espresso IMO.

edit: actually, i know central market has it but no idea if mainline HEB carries.

Edited March 29, 2021 by sidis

[Chopper 17429]

On 3/29/2021 at 2:46 PM, sidis said:

That said, if you just like buying shit like me, you aren't going to go wrong with the eureka mignon.  they make great grinders...and it does have dosing. 

Is that the single-doser? I bought a eureka zenith a few years ago and it's been phenomenal and convenient but I am tempted to buy a single-doser.

[sidis 9990]

1 hour ago, Chopper said:

Is that the single-doser? I bought a eureka zenith a few years ago and it's been phenomenal and convenient but I am tempted to buy a single-doser.

i believe the mignon has two dosing settings...most use one for a single shot dose (8-11 grams) and one for a double shot dose (18-21 grams). 

[Dutch 4533]

 

Eureka has multiple models of the Mignon, and I've researched pretty heavily what seem to be the most popular two:

1. the Mignon Silenzio (50mm flat burrs) is essentially manual grind with a very generic timing "dial" on the side that most reviewers say is pretty worthless. 

2. The Mignon Specialita (55mm burrs) has an LED screen with two programmable times (you need to figure out how long it takes to grind your desired dose and set that time) down to 0.1s, with one for double and one single doses.

Appreciate the comments, @sidis. I can see myself upgrading to more of a prosumer machine in the future, and I'm probably going to pull the trigger on a Specialita because A: I like buying shit too and B: I'll already have the grinder inplace when I do.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Dutch

[sidis 9990]

39 minutes ago, Dutch said:

 

Eureka has multiple models of the Mignon, and I've researched pretty heavily what seem to be the most popular two:

1. the Mignon Silenzio (50mm flat burrs) is essentially manual grind with a very generic timing "dial" on the side that most reviewers say is pretty worthless. 

2. The Mignon Specialita (55mm burrs) has an LED screen with two programmable times (you need to figure out how long it takes to grind your desired dose and set that time) down to 0.1s, with one for double and one single doses.

Appreciate the comments, @sidis. I can see myself upgrading to more of a prosumer machine in the future, and I'm probably going to pull the trigger on a Specialita because A: I like buying shit too and B: I'll already have the grinder inplace when I do.

nice.

[Chopper 17429]

4 hours ago, sidis said:

i believe the mignon has two dosing settings...most use one for a single shot dose (8-11 grams) and one for a double shot dose (18-21 grams). 

Sorry I used the incorrect term. Was thinking about hopperless prosumer grinder, not doser. I guess the theory is that if you only brew a couple cups of coffee a day, you get a better grind and fresher beans if you don't store the beans in a hopper and instead measure them out separately before grinding.