Spent 45 minutes dialing in a new burr grinder and still couldn't get a clean shot

I picked up a used Mazzer Super Jolly off Craigslist last weekend for $150. Figured I'd swap the burrs and be pulling great espresso in ten minutes flat. Three hours later I was still choking my machine or getting watery gushers because the alignment was off by a hair. Had to shim the front burr carrier with some aluminum foil just to get a consistent extraction. Has anyone else fought with a used grinder for way longer than they expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery19921d ago

Man, that aluminum foil trick hits home. I spent a whole Saturday last fall on a beat up Baratza Vario I got for 80 bucks. I swear I must have re-aligned those burrs like eight times before I finally pulled a shot that didn't taste like burnt socks. The worst part was when I thought I had it perfect, then the grind setting drifted on me the next morning and I had to start over. It's always something tiny like a single shim or a slightly wobbly burr carrier that turns a quick project into an all-day battle.

the_brian21d ago

Yeah, that grind drift is the real nightmare.

robertb4721d ago

My buddy Mike had a similar saga with a used Mazzer Super Jolly he grabbed off Craigslist for like 50 bucks. He was so proud of it until he tried to dial it in for espresso and got nothing but sour, channeling messes for two weeks straight. He finally figured out the burrs were so far out of alignment you could see the gap with your naked eye, so he spent a whole Sunday shimming it with cut up soda cans. He texted me a picture of his first decent shot, a little blond tiger-striped thing, and said it was the best coffee he'd ever made. Then he texted me again the next morning saying the grinder started making a weird rattling noise and he had to take it all apart again. Isn't that just how it always goes with cheap secondhand gear?