Breville - Smart Grinder Pro

If you just want one, get a decent coffee burr that can do fine & coarse. Might cost more but you won’t hate your first latte or espresso. If I had to pick: Baratza Encore or Breville Smart Grinder Pro.

This is my setup as well. Works great.

Don't forget that there is a huge difference in price between the niche and this smart grinder pro I've been here going on almost 2 years. And the common theme is most people have very inexpensive equipment and would not even afford the niche. I can easily see the SGP Getting recommended more often.

This is the way I look at it. The SGP gave very good results that people here raved about in this subreddit.  And these other breville machines that people rave about have built in SGP or something comparable. Either - the smart grinder pro is a piece of  crap and people just don't know any better and think they have good espresso when their  espresso is actually crap - the smart grind of pro is still a decent grinder for espresso, and people do like the flavor and they know what they're talking about I choose option #2 ad being the most likely explanation:)

I love my Breville - Smart Grinder pro

I use a Breville smart grinder at work and it works great. I have a Mahlkonig at home and it works better. 

The difference in taste between my old Smart Grinder Pro conical and the Niche Zero was night and day to me. I don't foresee me replacing the Niche with another conical grinder, but this upgrade was well worth it to me!

Can't speak to why stuff is expensive or not, but when I did my research, I chose companies with a good customer service track record, machines that did not require tons of ongoing maintenance or manual controls, a fairly low price point, a small footprint and decent reviews on making the actual coffee. I've had a Breville Bambino Plus for almost 4 years, daily use. Needs regular maintenance like descaling and deep cleaning but that's not difficult. I've enjoyed it because it's very user friendly - I can reprogram shot timing and such, but I haven't fiddled much with it and it works. I did dial in the grind on my preferred coffee and have mostly kept with it there. I love the automatic milk frothing for convenience, so I can decide when I want to play with it and when I just want to crank out a good drink. Grinder is also Breville, Smart Grinder Pro. I've had it 3 years and use it for espresso and drip. Very easy to adjust back and forth, pretty easy to swap beans. I've been very happy with these machines as middle-ground - not cheap but not super expensive either. Reasonable learning curve and results.

I agree. I see it as reducing the probability for retaining grind. I bought a single dose attachment with bellow for the Breville Smartgrinder and it has made a difference with retention.

Yes, like others have said I too have multiple grinders for different purposes. Breville Smart Grinder Pro for drip coffee (this was a gift) Baratza Encore for Espresso Hario hand grinder. I usually use this when I want to make coffee early in the morning and don't want to make too much noise. I'll eventually upgrade the Baratza, but I'm getting pretty good results at the moment and feel no reason to change.

If you want the most unhinged answer to this question I can offer it.. Started my coffee journey with a crappy $30 krups grinder and a french press... Grinding your beans per pot of coffee is the first major upgrade. (Total Cost \~$60, you can get a bodum french press from TJ Max for like \~$20-30 depending on size) Next was a Breville Smart Pro Grinder (\~$200), a Bonavita electric kettle from amazon (\~$60), a cheap scale (\~$20), and a Chemex pour over carafe (\~$30). Really love this set up for pour over and getting the most of light roast coffee beans. I did upgrade to a Stagg EKG Pro Studio Kettle (\~$255 MSRP but I got mine for <200) for aesthetics but they're functionally the same. My first foray into espresso was nuclear because I live by "buy it nice or buy it twice" so I have a La Marzocco Linea Mini espresso machine, Eureka Atom 75 Grinder, Eureka Oro Mignon single dose grinder for decaf beans and travel. I have a few accessories like the pulman big step tamper, St Anthony Industries WDT tools, a tamping mat, a bottomless portafilter, Acaia pearl and lunar scales, and an unbranded knock box from Amazon. (This entire set up was easily $10k+ but I have cheap lattes for life so I've move past the initial sticker shock.) My partner and I drink 4 lattes a day at a minimum and they're roughly $1.30/piece using great beans and glass bottle organic milk.

Do not get a hand grinder if ur goal is to stop her from going to pods! Brevilles smart grinder might not be the be all end all but at least its automatic and programmable

I’m surprised to see the sgp recommended at all. It made a ton of sense 5 years ago for someone who primarily did filter coffee and dabbled in espresso at $200. But in 2024 there’s better espresso only options in the price range and even better all around options. My sgp is relegated to filter only because the timed dosing is sufficiently accurate for that.

Smart grinder pro should be avoided if you want to use it for espresso. The motor is weak, and the teeth on the main gear eventually will break if you try to grind anything on the lighter side of medium. Breville don’t sell spares and it’s difficult to replace if you find aftermarket replacements. You can even hear it straining in the video, it’s not strong enough to properly grind for espresso.

I have a breville bambino that I have a nicer portafilter for, a breville smart grinder pro & a moccamaster. 😵‍💫 I think there’s kind of a learning curve, but with a machine like the bambino you only really need to learn how to dial in the coffee grounds since it does the water part for you. There are a lot of people on YouTube that do demos!

I just upgraded from a Breville smart grinder pro to a eureka mignon silenzio 55mm (approx $600 CAD if you shop around), and I’ve noticed a significant difference in the quality of my espressos…. Really good value for money and also just looks really cool imo.  I’m currently using Breville dual boiler espresso machine.  The upgrade from conical burrs in the smart grinder pro to 55mm flat burrs in the silenzio has resulted in noticeably softer/fluffy and uniform grinds.  The adjustment on the silenzio allows you to really dial in your shots, and while the analog timer isn’t the greatest, it saved me ~$150 for the next model up (eureka specialita).  Just make sure you use a scale to measure your grinds and espresso pulls to get the right ratio!   The only real downside with the silenzio is if you want to switch from espresso to a much more coarse grind (ex: French press), it’s a big pain in the a$ with the dial… the Breville smart grinder pro is much easier with its digital display and adjuster.  I’m only making espresso these days though, so I will only make minor adjustments to the silenzio when changing to a different bean. Best of luck!

You could go with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro and get it in a matching color with the Bambino. As a beginner it works good for me.

Yup, that’s almost definitely the reason why it’s getting recommended. And I say that as someone whose SGP is being delivered today, not because I’m a poor(what sub am I on again?), but because it’s literally the only grinder I could find in Brazil.

If you have it and enjoy it, dont upgrade. Only upgrade when YOU find an issue. i used the breville smart grinder for 5-6 years and didnt upgrade till it wouldnt work for what i wanted.

For a business or for personal use? I personally use the Breville Smart Grinder and it's high quality enough to provide the grind sizes you need to make espressos to french press. But if its for business purposes then it might be too small for large batches of orders.

Been very happy with the Breville Smart Pro.

Breville Smart Grinder Pro has been excellent.

I have one for pour over (Smart Grinder Pro) and one for espresso (DF54). The SGP is a decent grinder when you adjust the inner burr, and the DF54 can do pour overs. In other words I could get by with one. However the DF54 was an upgrade and had a noticeable impact on my espresso. It is more convenient to not have to switch between grind settings for pour over and pulling shots. Obviously I still have to dial in new beans, but I like having more than one grinder.

For under $200, Breville Smart Grinder Pro Coffee, works good for me after 8 years.

Well I've had two Smart Grinder Pros (3rd place) and now have a Eureka Mignon Specialita (2nd Place)

So I have the breville pro grinder. Totally new to espresso and curious what a better/higher costing grinder gets me? More finite settings?

That’s my thought for now. Unless I get way more into this I could see myself upgrading for it. Good to know the options and the differences for a small price bump for a grinder

Ive got a Casa brews 4700Gense-02 plus a breville coffee grinder pro plus bottomless porta filter a good tamper and wdt tool. Puck screen or paper filters - atlas coffee subscription for always fresh beans - the 4700 is more automated than my prevous delongi and find it really nice. I usually do americano with touch of almond cream - perfect - and latte on this are perfect as well.

Whole beans, usually purchased locally, grind my own at time of use. I used a $20 hand grinder for years and years before I finally pulled the trigger on a basic Breville electric grinder, but honestly that's just so I can get down to espresso ground fineness easier, it's not necessary for most applications. I tend to try random beans from roasters all over the area or when I travel. If you're not picky or adventurous, Costco often has very paletable Lavaza beans in bulk that you can always freeze to make them last.

Get a used grinder on marketplace for sure. Oxo and Breville are the bare minimum, but if you see a sub-$50 Baratza, that’s even better. If you don’t want to then start buying more beans, just resell it yourself when you finish the bag. Anything lower-end than those and I wouldn’t bother. Blade grinders ruin beans, as do super cheap “burr” grinders like Cuisinart and Shardor. As far as storage, if you brew coffee daily, I’d just keep them in a resealable container (with a “burp” valve if possible; old bags from previous coffee purchases should work) in a cool and dry place.

We got a cheap breville grinder for our decaf that worked perfectly for the like 3-5 shots of decaf pulled a day. That way it’s still freshly ground beans perfectly dialed in to the decaf beans.

Its simply that its a niche interest and people are willing to pay to enjoy their hobbies. Add on top of that the "Apple effect" and you'l find most suggestions to be quite expensive. My suggestion is to just buy used, and if your any good with your hands look into "broken" items on ebay i got my Breville grinder for like 15$ because someone thought it was busted when in reality a bean was stuck in the gears.

I love my Aeropress. It was my main coffee making method for years. My Yama syphon brewer has replaced it for most daily coffees, but I still use it when I want something quick or a little smaller volume of coffee. I just bought my first espresso machine so that’s getting a lot of use currently, but I drink a lot of coffee and don’t want to pull 5 double shots in a row every morning. The tricky part is you need a grinder too. Aeropress and a Breville grinder would work and is less than $100, but you may not have a kettle available. A decent electric kettle is very helpful. It’s less necessary for a Moka pot or syphon brewer, they typically use a gas stove (get a cast iron heat dispersion plate if you go syphon to make sure you don’t overheat the glass with direct flame). My advice boils down to Aeropress if you have a good way to heat water already, Moka pot if you don’t, syphon may be an option too but might go over budget when combined with a grinder. Edit to add: I’m a big fan of lattes when I make them with real espresso, but find that the volume of milk required is too much with the other methods. Try heavy cream instead. You can still whip/froth it before or after adding it to coffee, but you only need a little and it adds a sweetness that is enough for me not to need anything else. I fill a 1.1L thermos every day before work with syphon brewed medium roast Columbia coffee and about 1/4 cup of heavy cream poured in.