04-07-2008, 09:06 PM
Regarding burr grinders, Zassenhaus seems to be the standard of the old manual conical burr grinders. This German-made grinder is like the one that Kevin Costner's character, John Dunbar(?), in "Dances with Wolves" used when making coffee for the Souix leaders. "Conical" refers to the cone shape of the grooved grinding surface and "burr" refers to cogs in the moving part of the grinder. Conical burr grinders, motorized or manual, are used for their ability to deliver a consistent grind. A blade grinder will give you fine and coarse grounds. A consistent grind is especially important if you use a French Press which will allow the fine grounds to get past the screen, resulting in muddy coffee. Consistently ground coffee should deliver the most even extraction of coffee out of your grind.
On a side note, I've bought into the AeroPress coffee method (from the Stanford engineer who developed the Aerobie version of the Frisbee). It basically uses water of a lower temp than boiling to make a nice tasting cup of coffee. It keeps fine grounds from your mug by using a circular filter (which can be re-used for at least 30 mugs of coffee). It only makes 1-2 mugs of coffee (depending on how large your mugs are). It cleans up easily which makes it a convenient travel brewer. (I have a portable burr grinder for travel.)
On a side note, I've bought into the AeroPress coffee method (from the Stanford engineer who developed the Aerobie version of the Frisbee). It basically uses water of a lower temp than boiling to make a nice tasting cup of coffee. It keeps fine grounds from your mug by using a circular filter (which can be re-used for at least 30 mugs of coffee). It only makes 1-2 mugs of coffee (depending on how large your mugs are). It cleans up easily which makes it a convenient travel brewer. (I have a portable burr grinder for travel.)