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Comment by Retric | Hacker News Reader

EX: http://www.drbunsen.org/coffee-experiments/ Based on this analysis, subjects did not show a statistically significant preference in coffee brewed from a blade grinder or burr grinder.

First off only ~1/3 of coffee drinkers take it black which masks a lot of taste variation.

Second, taste sensitivity varies widely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster

Put together well under half of coffee drinkers notice subtle differences in grinding methods. Assuming the devices are setup to similar grinding levels and use similar source beans.

Note: You can find examples on both sides of this issue. But, the blind taste tests that repeat over time fail to provide the expected consistency.

PS: There are a few people that both notice and care about these issues, but they really are the minority of coffee drinkers.

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Brewed coffee != espresso. I think that might be the essential piece you are missing. Espresso is brewed at very high pressures and as a result the grind size and consistency has a large impact on the resulting shot. The difference is not at all subtle and is quantified by the extraction time for each shot.

As someone else noted, drip (brewed) coffee is a different beast than espresso. A blade grinder will probably do you just fine for that.

Espresso is brewed under pressure, if you don't have a consistently fine grind then the water will pass straight through without extracting any of the flavor. If your grind is too fine, then it will block the machine and you'll get a bitter extraction.

Again, this isn't a subtle thing. If you've had a real espresso machine (one that has a pump that applies the proper pressure) then it immediately becomes obvious that you need a consistent grind that you can adjust.

The variable you track is generally the length of the extraction, ie, how long it takes to get an ounce or an ounce and a half of espresso for a given amount of time. (aiming for 16-22 seconds or so) Too fine a grind and you'll block it up and you'll never get the oz, too coarse and it will all come out too quickly. You often need to adjust the grind minute amounts every day based on local temperature, humidity and the age of the beans.

This isn't audiophile stuff, it is obvious to anybody who makes espresso and actually wants it to taste good. (ie, isn't drowning it in milk, sugar and syrups)

I'm kinda with you on the ego thing, but I will claim that there is a noticeable difference (in brewed coffee, I'm not an espresso fan) between beans ground with a good burr grinder vs a blade grinder.

I couldn't match the quality of my local Dunn Bros coffeeshop until I started asking them to grind my beans when I bought them. Switching from my cheap blade grinder to their in-shop one made the largest difference in taste.

Your assuming it was using there grinder vs. there grinder settings that was important. In other words proper technique vs. proper device.

Also, time sitting around post grinding is a large factor.

Well, considering that simply by virtue of being completely different types of device, there's no way I could match their settings with my grinder.

Yes, time is a factor, but a week after the beans were ground in store, they still tasted better than mine, so...

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