Rancilio ROCKY Rancilio Burr Grinder with Doser

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.

UPDATE TO UPDATE: 11/2012: Still running great and creating a perfectly even, fine grind for espresso. Definitely getting my monies worth out of this one.

Buy Rancilio ROCKY Rancilio Burr Grinder with Doser Now

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.

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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!

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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 qualityplastic 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.

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