98 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great coffee!!, February 26, 2004
This review is from: DeLonghi DCG59 Retro Burr Grinder (Kitchen)
My wife and I would probably be considered coffee addicts; over the years we have refined our appreciation for "Heaven's Brew" to focus on quality rather than quantity. We like a rather strong, dark, rich but non-acidic, non-bitter cup to get our hearts started in the a.m., and to get there we found we had to grind our own. The blade grinders were OK, but you had to be careful or the coffee would be too fine, too coarse or just plain bitter from the heat of the blades. This grinder looked cool, so we decided to try it, and here's what we found:
1.) It's easy to get the perfect, uniform grind every time with the adjustable grind selection from superfine to extra coarse.
2.) The automatic timer (based on how many cups you'd like to brew) is absolutely perfect. If you can count up to 10 or know your ABC's and can turn a dial, you'll master this the first time.
3.) The bean reserve container holds a substantial amount of beans; we fill it twice a week and it stays fresh.
4.) The grounds container - with a graphic showing the suggested grind time per cup, in case you forgot - is easy to remove, easy to clean and seems to minimize the "coffee dust flux" we used to get from our blade grinders. You can seal the grounds container to keep some grounds in it, but we grind fresh every time.
5.) The machine seems bombproof. Good quality materials with no apparent weak parts to break off.
OK, is there anything negative? Well, it's kind of noisy. Not as noisy as a blade grinder, but you definitely know it's in operation. Here's a clue: you have very hard materials (beans and grinding stones) being forced together to the point where the harder material crushes the other. Turns out that might make some noise. The wonderful smell emanating from the process more than makes up for any noise you'll have to bear for a minute or so. Hey ... some days you're the bean, some days you're the burr!
Do yourself a favor and buy this machine. You'll like it.
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54 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Burr grinder that more or less does the job, June 7, 2004
This review is from: DeLonghi DCG59 Retro Burr Grinder (Kitchen)
The features of this grinder are:
1. Burr grinder creates a consistent grind with less heat than blade grinders
2. 8 settings, from extra fine to coarse
3.Tablespoon timer grinds exactly the amount of coffee needed
4. Removable holder with lid for storage
Burr grinders are supposed to do a better job than blade chopper style grinders in keeping the delicate oils in the coffee grinds. We did find that the grinds are fluffy, indicating some oils must be on the surface. But "coarse to fine" is misleading; this grinds fine and finer. For press pots like the Bodum Chambord that require a very coarse grind, this grinder is not suitable. And the "tablespoon timer" is a bit silly; it's marked in LETTERS not numbers, which is dumb as you want to measure cups of coffee, not recite the alphabet.
However, for the money, if you want a burr grinder with storage of beans above and a cup for grinds, this really is an excellent price-value. It works fine. Just make sure you know whether you need a coarse or fine grind in your coffee machine of choice.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bad design. Clogs with every use, December 11, 2005
This review is from: DeLonghi DCG59 Retro Burr Grinder (Kitchen)
I purchased this grinder for my first "burr grinder". It didn't take long to see it's flaws. The lid to the grounds container has an insert that lets you close the lid. Unfortunately, during grinding it blows grounds right into this insert and they get jammed in there. It almost seems as if this clogs up the grinder, backs up the grounds and grinds the beans finer than the chosen setting. I had to clean this insert after every use because it was PACKED with coffee powder. I ended up absolutely hating it. I think it's one of the reasons I chose a different coffee maker as the grind was so inconsistent, it clogged up the filter. Too many fines. I thought it was the coffeemaker.
They didn't need that insert as one should only grind as many beans as they want for that use and not save grounds in a container to sit and get ranced. Since the machine will not work without that lid, I have no idea if the burrs work well. And was it noisy! The high pitched noise sound like a plane taking off. I won't even give this grinder away. It would be mean. It doesn't even deserve one star, but that's the lowest allowed.
I purchased a Capresso Infinity as soon as I had a bit more money and was blown away at the difference. The Capresso has extremely consistent grind, did not clog, and made a huge difference in the quality of our coffee regardless of what brewer we use. Just save another $30 and you can get a great grinder that delivers what it promises.
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