Rant: dropped $180 on a hand grinder thinking it was overkill, and now my $15 blade grinder is a paperweight
A barista in Denver let me try her setup side by side and the difference in my morning cup was embarrassing. Anyone else get talked into gear by a stranger and hate how right they were?
How does a random barista in Denver have that much power over your wallet? That side by side test is brutal because once you taste what a good grinder does, you can't untaste it. I went through the same thing with a burr grinder and yeah, it stung to admit the difference was real. The worst part is you know deep down the blade grinder was never giving you a fair shake, it just chops stuff into random chunks. So now you're stuck being the guy who cares about grind evenness, congrats. The real scam is nobody warns you that the upgrade path never actually ends.