DF54. The Smart grinder pro is not worth the money. The grind quality is lacking and it only took 25 months for mine to stop working at all. Conveniently (for Sage) just 1 month after the warranty was up.
I know we just had Halloween, but I'm trying to make sense of Frankenstein's grinder here?
Single dose, but hopper with lots of beans in
Bellows ON TOP of hopper, you blast air through the hopper of beans *and* through burrs/chute each shot
It's certainly an, uh, interesting concept
EDIT: Sorry OP - just to actually answer the question - it's not the greatest grinder (I have one) but you could easily pick up something like a Sage SGP second hand on ebay for £50-100. That's probably your best bet.
I have Sage Smart Grinder Pro and have it set to deliver well-ground coffee in the right dosage into the right volume of coffee (18g:36g). However the shot only takes 5 seconds, and it seems to make no difference if I change my grind to super fine. There's no crema at all unless I grind much coarser, which tastes nice but there's no complexity to the flavour at all. What's going on?!
I also use a wedge distributor and tamp set to the recommended level (I know wedge distribution is not the best but surely I should get better results than this without WDT?)
You need a better grinder.
I’ve just got a DF54 (I have the same machine as you) and it’s really good. Vast improvements on my previous Sage Smart Grinder Pro. I do recommend it.
(There will be a full discussion here about grinders)
Make sure you are using the non-pressurised dual shot basket. The Razor tool is useful but yes, messy.
Which exact brand of beans?
The Sage may not have come top, but it was featured in Hoffmann's grinders for under £250 video on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7xGhGtvYIs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7xGhGtvYIs)
Moreover he doesn't rate it the worst. Also you asked for grinder recommendations under £200, which the Sage falls into. That said so do some of the others.
There is another issue also. We only have James Hoffmann's POV. While not dismissive of Hoffmann's expertise in such matters, taste is subjective. Hoffmann is particularly interested in speciality coffees rather than commercial products such as Lavazza Rossa, which is one of the most popular whole bean products.
Baratza Encore ESP retails at around £140 - Simple but noisy
The Sage/Breville Smart Grinder Pro retails at £190 - Great, not best for filter, and perhaps fidly to change from fine to course settings.
The Fellow Opus retails at between £155 and £195 ! Seems to be Hoffman's favourite for producing grinds for both espresso and filter coffee. But useabilty a headache.
Varia VS3 is some £250+ - Good build but fails to hold grind setting
DF54 is £240 - Simple, but messy, and produces a coffee Hoffman liked, howevever there were fewer settings.
So the choice is a subjective one. The Sage, produced notes that Hoffmann doesn't particularly like, what he describes as chocolatey and 'muddy' notes. But there again there are aspects he was critical of concerning the other grinders. For under £200/£250 you are not going to get the best grinder in the world. And as an entry level grinder any of the above would be better than buying pre-ground coffee.
I bought the Sage for the cost, simplicity and reviews that it received from others as well as Hoffmann. When I purchased it in 2019 it was just £149 and has last well.
While I'm sure a flat burr grinder/doser might be better I could not justify the extra cost at the time. I perhaps agree with Hoffmann that it produces a rich coffee with chocolate overtones but I'm good with that. I am happy with my Lavazza Rossa \[a mixture of Arabica and Robusta\] ground every morning to the following setting of 16.4 seconds 2 shots at a 9 grind size. This I follow up with the so-called Weiss Distribution Technique using a dosing funnel and WDT tool, a firm tamp followed by the pulling of a 15-20 second shot in my 2019 Gaggia Classic with a pouring of around 120 ml of steamed milk. I don't go into the the weighing and measuring, and am generally happy with the results, the result is still better than any coffee I have had at any regular coffee outlet. Yes, it is a little noisy and it does perhaps annoy the other half when I have a 4:30 am start, but 20 seconds of noise is not a deal-breaker for, what is for me at least, a great cup of coffee.
Top Electric Coffee Grinders on Reddit
1
Multiple Brands
DF54 Series
79% positive of 384 users
Great value for espresso, but clogs and poor for pour-over.
False-Raspberry6779
