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Rant: I thought the burr grinder was the whole game for 4 months, then a roaster in Boise asked when I last cleaned it
I bought a $130 hand grinder back in March and I was so proud of it. Weighed my beans every morning, timed my pour, all of it. But my coffee kept tasting flat and a little dusty no matter what I did. I blamed the beans, blamed my kettle, blamed my tap water.
Last month I was in Boise for work and stopped at a small roaster downtown. I was chatting with the guy behind the bar about my setup and he asked one simple question: when did you last take the burrs out and brush them? I just stared at him. Four months. Never once.
Took it apart that night. There was a layer of old grounds packed in there like mud. Cleaned it all out with a little brush, put it back together, made a cup the next morning, and it was a totally different drink. Sweeter, clearer. All that time I was grinding fresh beans through a layer of stale junk.
The thing that bugs me is how many videos and posts I read about gear and ratios and nobody ever said clean the thing. So now I'm the guy asking everyone. How often do you actually break yours down, and did anybody else go way too long before learning this?
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jamiekim14d ago
Four months is nothing, I went almost a year with my Baratza Encore before I figured it out. What got me was the oily beans. I was buying dark roasts from a local place and those oils just gum up the burrs way faster than a light roast would. Now I pull the hopper off and brush the burrs every two weeks or so, and I do a full breakdown with a little toothbrush maybe once a month. The difference in the cup is real, those old oils go rancid and you are tasting them in every single brew. Set a reminder on your phone, that is the only thing that actually worked for me.
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