Small Burr Grinder?

by T C
(Glendale, AZ)

QUESTION:

O.k...I feel kinda silly telling you about this, being a coffee expert and all, but here's how I fix my coffee.

I have a single-cup coffee maker (Senseo). I LOVE coffee, but I don't drink a lot of it....and I want it to taste the way I want it to taste. (Can you tell this is going to be a long, drawn-out question...I'm good at that.)

After I received my coffee maker, I tried several different makers of coffee pods. I didn't like any of them...not strong enough, not that rich roasted flavor I wanted...lots of reasons...but none of them stacked up. I had a cup of coffee at my grandparent's house and it was GREAT! "What IS that coffee?", I asked them. And I found out it was Eight O'Clock 100% Columbian. Perfect! O.k....now what? I have a coffee maker that uses pods and I don't see any Eight O'Clock pods available. So, I found a company in Germany that sold these reusable pods I could use in my Senseo. I bought my Senseo not long after they introduced them to the market and these reuseable pods weren't available in the states (not where I could find them anyway). So I started grinding my Eight O'Clock at the store, bringing it home, and refilling my pods. WOW! PERFECT!

Now comes my problem....

I can't find a GOOD way to store my fresh-ground coffee without it going stale. I've left it in the freezer (no good...gets that "freezer taste"), I've tried about 3 or 4 glass and plastic counter-top containers...one that's supposed to be air-tight. Still no good....

SO...I decided that the best way would be to leave it in bean form, store it in my air-tight counter-top container, then burr-grind a small amount of coffee each time I need it. The problem is, I can't find a "Micro" coffee grinder that will let me grind it fine for the pods.


Does this sound like a lot of effort to get a great cup of coffee? I don't think so... But any suggestions you can make to streamline my process would be GREATLY appreciated. Or, if you could suggest a VERY small burr coffee grinder?

Thanks!


ANSWER:

TC, hi

Your process seems reasonable to me. : )

Instead of a coffee pod brewer, I have a Keurig B60. Like you, I didn’t want to be stuck just with the coffees that were available in K-Cup form. I have found a couple that I like, but also wanted to be able to use coffees I could buy as whole beans.

Step one was to get myself a My K-Cup. This enables me to use any coffee I want for use in the brewer.

Then, as you have discovered for yourself, step two was to get myself a burr grinder. And, like you, I wanted a small grinder, because I have my brewer in my office and there isn't much space available. Right now I have a Black & Decker CBM205 Coffee Bean Mill, which I bought locally. It is small, which is what I wanted, and so far it is doing just fine. I have had it for about six months. This grinder actually has terrible reviews and I am waiting for the day when it dies on me.

When and if that happens I will spend a little more and probably get myself a Capresso Infinity Grinder.

Regardless of the grinder I use, I will always be taking pretty much the same approach as you do...storing whole beans and then grinding small amounts for use when I’m about to brew.