Customer Reviews

Rancilio ROCKY Rancilio Burr Grinder with Doser

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I won't rate this product 5 stars because I don't believe it is a good value. At almost [...], this thing should be flawless, and its not. If my only criteria were grading the ground coffee it produces, it would be a 5 though. Let me say though that it does a fantastic job making espresso grounds.

The path I took before I purchased this grinder started with a Black Friday sale at Starbucks where I picked up a Sirena espresso machine for $315. I had been coveting this machine since I had been introduced to espresso a year earlier but couldn't stomach the [...] gut wrenching price for that machine. Box in hand, I headed home to make my first espresso.

Long story short, I spent a few days using my [...] blade grinder to grind the coffee and came to the conclusion that I couldn't get the grounds consistent, even or fine enough. So I spent some time reading the thread on c[...] about my machine and found that most people on there recommended the Rocky. I thought [...]for a coffee grinder was ridiculous (I typically use stronger language but....) so I shopped around and settled on the still expensive (seriously, we're grinding coffee here) but reasonable Breville BCG450XL Conical Burr Grinder. I liked the Breville as it was fast, quiet, clean, small and light. However, its finest setting ("Turkish") wasn't really all that fine. Even on the finest setting, I was pulling triple shots in 8-10 seconds (which is about 2 seconds longer than when not using any coffee!). At that rate the espresso is thin and there is no crema.

Not being the type to give up on anything, I did some more research on the coffee grinders out there and was disappointed to find there was nothing in the $100-200 price range that people had good things to say about. Thus the Rocky was my cheapest "sure thing". I bit the bullet and bought it. To my satisfaction, it arrived later that week.

From the first shot I knew I made the right choice; the coffee was thick and rich, with a frothy and yummy crema. It wasn't perfect, but damn, it was better than anything that had come out of the machine before that! It took a few more adjustments to the grind setting and tamping pressure to pull a 25-30 seconds shot, but I got there pretty quickly. The Rocky has the adjustability to grind so fine that it can completely choke the espresso machine. That's awesome! I've now got the grinder dialed in just perfectly for my beans. The shots pull consistently good with about 2-3mm of silky smooth crema every time.

Now for the bad...
1.) The doser - Inside the doser there is a 6 bladed sweeper that rotates when you pull the lever. However, the sweeper blades aren't quite long enough to reach the rim of the doser and thus don't sweep all of the grounds out. It leaves a substantial amount. I've learned to not use the doser lever anymore, but rather use a brush to sweep and move the doser blades around manually. That cleans it out very well.
(As a side note, I think that the doser is necessary to break up the clumps of ground coffee coming out of the machine.)
2.) The speed - 21 grams of coffee takes about 45 seconds to grind. The beans get stuck in the hopper too so I have to use my brush to sweep them! The Breville processed this much cofee in about 1/3 the time (granted it wasn't as fine, but still).
3.) The weight - At something like 17lbs, it's a beast. With as much coffee as the doser slops out, I need to move it frequently to clean the coffee grounds off the counter. On the flipside though, I am glad I got a lot of metal for my money though as I know this unit is sturdy enough to last a lifetime.
4.) Ergonomics - It's hard to get a grip on this thing to move it. I wish there were small handles on the side of it.
5.) Cleaning - Everything is screwed together and nothing snaps apart. It's sturdy, but it's a pain to clean because you have to get the screw gun out to disassemble it.

Overall I am happy with it as it makes delicious espresso. I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about good espresso.

The Rocky grinder is so incredible. Tons of horse power and a consistent grind. I grind for espresso and I can increment the grind size in slight increments according to how well the espresso is making it through the porta-filter on my espresso machine. Awesome way to fine tune and adjust according to the quality and age of the beans.

Built like a pro grinder - heavy duty!

Regarding the decision of dosser vs. doserless: If you are going to us this as a COMMERCIAL grinder and pour shot after shot - go with a dosser for measuring convenience. But you will always have some of your ground coffee sitting in the hopper.

If you're making your espresso's one at a time - go doserless. Then you're getting your coffee freshly grounded just before you use it.

UPDATE 9/2011: Still running great and creating a perfectly even, fine grind for espresso.

I recently bought this great burr grinder along with the Rancilio Silvia espresso machine. Getting a great home espresso is all about the grind. I didn't know this until just recently. I'd been a dope, using a cheap blade grinder not knowing what a HUGE difference a burr grinder would make.

Now, I have my grind and my tamp dialed in, along with a great espresso machine (The Miss Silvia). I must say my espresso and cappuccinos are as good or better than our local coffee shops. If you are really into your espresso or cappuccinos, you MUST have a burr grinder. This is well made and easy to use. I highly recommend it.

I am a contractor and when I recently remodeled Doug and Susans basement I was eventually shown how to use the grinder to make espresso while on breaks. Unfortunately, I started taking lots of breaks... good espresso! The grinder is quiet, precise,and efficient, like an excellent sub contractor, or a good table saw! The grinder was great. I use a burr grinder at my house but you can't even talk over the thing. This one whirs below a conversation level, then stores the suberbly consistant ground coffee. I then pull the lever a couple times to dispense premeasured amounts into the doser that is resting in its holder on the machine, and there it is break is on!! Thanks for the good times and good espresso. On my way to hawk some of my tools to buy one of these things, it's worth it!

I can say that it has really improved my morning espressos. Having the ability to grind the coffee myself right before I pull a shot has improved the quality and consistency of my lattes. The Rocky does a great job with the grinding and with the doser, I haven't had too much problem with "dust". It's build is of a fairly high quality- plastic could be a bit heftier, but with a little care it should last me many many years, and it turns out great coffee grounds. Well worth the money even though it is not cheap. I use a La Pavoni hand pump machine, and it has never turned out as good a shot as I can now obtain with the combination of it with the Rocky.

I'm really bummed based on the other reviews, because I must have got a lemon. I bought this grinder new about 3-4 years ago as part of a package deal with a Rancilio Silvia espresso machine. I did not buy it from Amazon, but from another retailer. I started out by setting the grind as fine as possible per the instructions by adjusting the wheels until they barely touched and then backing off one notch. Then, for about 2-3 years I struggled with getting much more than about 10 seconds shot time, no matter how hard I tamped the shot, or how much coffee I put in the portafilter. First I bought a nice new heavy tamper, and then a rimless portafilter. Then I thought it was too high shot pressure from the Silvia, so I researched online and found out how to adjust the pressure - I dropped the pressure and got longer shot times, but lost most of the crema. Also, taste was never good with either the higher or lower pressure. I eventually gave up, and started going back to Starbucks. Then I read online that the grinder wheels on the Rocky can get dull and need to be replaced. So I spent about $50 and ordered new replacement grinder wheels. Everything was going good on replacing the wheels until the last screw holding on one of the existing wheels stripped -- I found out online that this is a common problem when replacing the Rocky grinder wheels and the only suggested solution was drilling out the old screw. So I looked into a tap for drilling out the screw, and then just gave up fearing that I would damage the grinder and growing tired of the time and effort I was spending on it. I put the Rocky in the pantry (where it is still sitting with the new unused grinder wheels). I had an old Krups electric hand grinder that I found will grind coffee as fine (or finer than you want) -- all depending on how long you grind it. So, I decided to try this and for the first time got the appropriate shot times (I can easily get 20-25 seconds or more) from my Silvia, even with the Silvia pressure set back up high. Espresso and Americanos now taste great when I get the grind right. The only problem is that the hand grinder is not very precise and I have to re-grind and pull another shot. So, has anyone else had this experience or had success drilling out the Rocky grinder wheel screws? I wonder if mine was misaligned or something from the beginning? Can anyone suggest another good grinder that is reliable and precise?

I never thought that a good grinder would make that much of a difference. I know, I know; I have read all the reviews and researched this purchase to death, and I finally saved my money and got this grinder. I know that it doesn't have stepless grind settings and all the features that make the Mazzer so wonderful, but, I didn't have almost $700 to spend on a grinder, so I knew that I had to find a cheaper alternative.

I had a cheaper grinder a while back, (before purchasing my KA Pro Line dual boiler machine). It was a melitta that was SO LOUD(!!) that you could wake up the neighbors with it!!!!! It also didn't grind fine and consistient enough for espresso, (I was using a mr coffee, (Yeah, I know), and I couldn't use the grinds out of that grinder for espresso, even on that machine, let alone a more expensive machine like my Krups 964, let alone the KA that I have now.

With the Krups, I was having the beans ground at the supermarket and the crema was thin to non-existent at best. I got the KA and saved my money and bought this and a Reg Barber tamper, and HOLY COW(!!), the crema came to life!!!! :-D The grinding was MUCH more consistent than I had before, and I had WONDERFUL crema coming out of my machine!!! :-D

I find that if I use coffee beans from the local roaster here in town, (About a block away from my house, and they roast every day), I get MUCH MUCH better crema than if I buy beans from my supermarket here in town. The grinder is AMAZING when it comes to grinding beans!! Better than I ever had before.

So, why this and not the Mazzer?? I knew that I only had so much to spend, and I wanted to get a SUPERIOR tamper to help me tamp the espresso grinds better, so I wasn't going to get a Mazzer anytime soon. I really like this grinder, and I don't see the need for a mazzer. (Maybe later, if I upgrade my machine, I will go with a mazzer, but I don't know at this point...)

I think this grinder is very well built, and I didn't have to spend the mazzer price, so I will rate this a five....

Vernon

After much research I have found the ideal burr grinder. Just don't put frozen beans in it, they have to thaw or the won't feed. It would be nice if there was a removable tray to catch the drips from a wet grupa and spilled grindings. It sits next to the grand old lady LUCY who just keeps making great espresso and with some finesse micro foam.

This is the best, quietest, coolest and nice looking grinder i've ever had. I love how many levels of grind it has and how sturdy it look and works. I'm happy and feel i'll be happy for years to come using this product.

I went with the doser model thinking it would be less messy, but that was a mistake. The portafilter barely fits so that when the grounds pile up onto it they get scraped off as you remove it. Very messy. Much quieter and more uniform grain size than the $20 Braun that it replaced.