Customer Reviews

Bodum Antigua Electric Burr Grinder (Black)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

i owned this grinder for 10 years and it always worked perfectly. i believe i tried to grind too much coffee one day, too fast and inadvertantly burned out the motor. the only trouble with my first bodum was that the little cup holding the already ground coffee fit pretty loosely, so i had to hold it closed while the coffee was grinding, or else i would have ground coffee all over the counter. i read the reviews of all the coffee grinders available, and they all seemed somehow even more problematic as far as the hopper size, the shape of the cup holding the ground coffee, etc. i finally decided to spend the extra money and just get another bodum,and was pleasantly surprised to see that improvements had occured in 10 years. the cup holding the ground coffee now has a little tab that keeps it securely in place. there is less vibration while grinding, and while still not whisper quiet, it definitely is not as noisy. the hopper holds about 12 0zs. of beans, the lid fits securely on the hopper, and the switch has a variety of settings depending on how much coffee you want to grind. it has a wide range of grind settings from espresso to french roast that work well. all inall it seems to be as no fuss as a grinder can get without spending the really big money. it ginds the beans easily and reliably, i never had to clean it in 10 years, aside from taking a cloth and wiping out the hopper fromm time to time when it was empty. all the ground coffe goes immediately into the cup, so there never any stale coffee being held in the grinder. my only complaint would be; occasionally, particularly when grinding many ponds of oily beans in a row, unit needs too be shaken a bit to loosen the beans when they get a little stuck. for that reason i give it only a 4 star rating

I purchased this grinder along with a coffee press (the Bodum Chambord 8-Cup Coffee Press) as part of an "upgrade" of my coffee experience.

Overall, I'm not disappointed. The burr grinder does provide a more even grind size, and it does make a positive difference, even for a regular old drip coffee maker. The bean hopper is also pretty handy.

It's a bit tricky to clean, so invest in a pack of pipe cleaners or something to clean around the "intake" and the portions of the grinder that aren't removable.

Noise-wise, it's no louder than my old blade grinder; maybe even a bit quieter. It takes up more counter space, of course. But since moving to a coffee press, the grinder occupies the spot of my old drip maker, so it's not a problem.

The only really annoying thing I've found is the container that holds the ground coffee after its dispensed. It's clear plastic, and as is typical has a mild static electric charge. The ground coffee bits react to this "electric field" and have a tendency to fly around, often onto the counter. So expect to clean up stray coffee grounds after each use.

The only reason not to buy this grinder is because it was specifically designed to fail prematurely. It's spelled out right there in the owner's manual. Quote from manual (grammar and spelling verbatim):

"Warning: In order to prevent the motor from overheating, do not grind more than 1 complete unit (1x40 seconds) in succession. After wait 10 Min. to let the motor cool down befor restart.

After each grinded unit (40 seconds), empty the coffee container. This prevents the motor overheating."

So, you can't safely grind more than 40 seconds without overheating motor, you must wait 10 minutes between grinds and it doesn't grind enough in 40 seconds for a 8 cup pot. You'll get about 40g in the 40 seconds, I use about 55g for a 8 cup pot. So I need to grind some, go do something for 10 minutes then come back to finish grinding?? That's insane, especially for a grinder in this price range.

If running the grinder for 40 seconds pushes it to the margin of failure, that's a poor design and it will likely fail prematurely, maybe 1-3 years. It's Not designed to last.

At this price point I 5-10 years of service for 1 pot a day is a reasonable expectation.
My $25 Melita flat burr grinder is still working after 12 years of daily use (happily spraying dust all over my counter).

I had to return it as I refuse to shell out this kind money for something that won't last. If I have to replace it in 3 years then I'm spending more money then I would on a Kitchenaid, only I'll likely have to buy still yet another one 3 years after that.

Note that they re-designed this grinder in 2007, so any reports of it lasting 10 years are for a different grinder (I believe it had a metal housing and was better built). Still, regardless of which grinder you choose, read the 1 & 2 star reviews and look for common complaints.

Too bad, I *really* liked the grinder, it looks good and works beautifully.

pros:

- electronic timer, set it once then just press the button, timer setting remains for next time. Pressing start again will stop grinding.
- Consistent grind, although even on espresso setting it seems course (I don't make espresso)
- sturdy hopper made of polycarbonate, very durable holds 1/2 pound of beans
- sturdy grind bin also made of polycarbonate, oval shape with no corners has attached lid with lip around perimeter preventing grinds escaping while grinding.

Other than the relilability issue, no real cons, just some minor issues:

- has on/off switch in back with pointless pilot light that you can't see
- easy to accidently hit the start button when moving, should be recessed or have a small shroud around it. Use the on/off switch to prevent this.
- static is an issue, even in my 60% RH climate, but not so bad as there are no talc fine particles from grinding. Just tap the grinder to release grinds from chute and tap receptacle to empty.
- it's loud, about as loud as my old Melita flat burr grinder or a blender.

The size listed is for the box, the actual grinder dimensions are 11H x 6W x 7 1/2D. It's larger than I imagined, about 3/4 the size of my B&D coffee maker.

Cost rationalization tip:
If you think the Kitchenaid is too expensive, just calculate how much you spend on beans each year, don't those beans deserve a decent grinder? We spend over $200 per year for 1 pot a day using Costco beans. Then look at how much time you've spent agonizing over grinder reviews, how much is your time worth? Every sub $100 grinder has issues. Get the Kitchenaid and be done with shopping for grinders.

Added 12-30-09
After viewing a youtube video of the Breville BCG450XL grinder, I'm fairly certain that the "guts" of that grinder are the same as the Bodum. The top burr/clip and center of hopper look identical. The sound is identical and the timer knob and start/stop switch look and operate the same. You can probably apply reviews on either grinder to the other one.

Getting the grind right may take you a few beans but the grind has been consistent. The hopper is large and the output is much cleaner than my last. I don't spill grounds ever time I pull the cup out.

Dear Coffee Comrades . . . . I'm very pleased with the grinding action of the Bodum unit.
Previously I owned a Braun blade grinder which just " hacks away " at the bean. The conical
grinding wheels of the Bodum does a perfect job of breaking & grinding the bean. Now what puzzled me from another reviewer comments, was the stray grinds that are statically charged and fly all over the place. This is a nusiance because the Bodum unit seems so well designed to prevent it - the grinding cup is shielded etc.

Well I discovered it's the beans - not the grinder's fault.

My first bag of beans were too close to the expiration date and had less moisture. Result - fly away grinds. A fresh bag of beans solved the problem. The grind made a neat pile inside the holder cup; and poured cleanly into my expresso holder.

Moreover don't put more than a few days beans in the hopper. Just a slight drop in moisture content affects the static charge on the bean.

Any coffee lover will appreciate the flavour from beans ground an instance before
brewing - the Bodum Grinder is an excellent appliance.

I like the grinder for its dependable grind. It is also pretty straight forward to use. I do not understand why they put the on off switch in a different place from the other controls. I had a moment of panic when I could not get mine to operate, I always leave that switch on, but someone in the family turned it off. In addition the grinder is just plain messy, no matter what you do there are going to be coffee bits around the machine. I think if I were buying again I would check the reviews of other burr grinders and look for one without the mess complaints. But it does grind really consistently.

I purchased this grinder just about 2 years ago and use it almost every day. It's a reliable product and works very well. Good even grind. The adjustments for the various grinds are perfect. There is absolutely nothing I dislike about it.

Love it. I have purchased a second Bodum coffee grinder as a Christmas gift.

While this coffee grinder works very well, my main complaint is that while it does have a setting with a little picture of an espresso vessel, the grind it produces at its finest setting isn't nearly as fine as I would prefer for espresso. If you go buy a can of espresso coffee pre-ground, it is far finer than anything this grinder can produce. If you do not need to grind espresso however, this grinder is great. Its timer setting is no hassle and the design of the receptacle works very well for easy, no spill operation. One other minor gripe is that it has an on-off switch located on the back. This leads me to leave it on all the time since it's a little bit annoying to have to turn the machine around to turn it off. I'm not sure what the point is of the on-off switch anyway besides having a little red light indicating that it's "on" since when it's not grinding, it's pretty much "off".

I've never spent this much on a grinder before. After a $50 Krups lasted about three months, I decided to give this a try. So far, money well spent. Well thought out, with a large easily accessible hopper and a bin that empties easily. Relatively quiet, and the grind is indistinguishable from grind found in a can - but this is fresh!

All around pretty good product. I think this makes a good entry level grinder for anyone interested in starting to grind their own beans at home. Has various settings for fine to coarse grind. The coarse setting works great in my french press.

Cleanup is a little tricky because of how intricate the actual burr is. I've found that a toothbrush and a can of compressed air works well for getting all of the excess coffee grinds out of the grinding area.

I think the price of this grinder is a bit high based on the fact that it's made in China and feels fairly cheap. If it was around $100 I would give it an extra star. As a side note, when I unboxed this item (Sold by DBROTH through Amazon) and inspected it, the actual burr grinding area was covered/coated in dirty black oily specs - almost as if the grinder had been used previously. I was a little disappointed that the grinding area wasn't spotless, but I was able to clean it up and then grind some coffee beans through it as a test to ensure that there was nothing left of whatever was there to begin with.

Bottom line is that this grinder will allow you to experience the delicious taste archived by grinding your own beans.