Meet the Staff - The Swiss Miss

In the quest for a great cup of coffee beanheads tend to fixate on the brewing side of the equation at the expense of considering grind quality. This is not a trifling matter though. An inferior grinder can turn that $600/lb auction lot Panama Geisha into Pike's Place. A cheap or poorly maintained grinder will grind beans into a wide range of particle sizes, which in turn extracts unevenly. When brewed, the fine particles are over-extracted and the coarse ones are under-extracted. The resulting cup is a cacophony  of astringent and underdeveloped flavors. Even the highest quality commercial grinder will mash and burn beans if its burrs are dull.

Most commercial bulk grinders meant for drip coffee will do an adequate job if properly maintained. For home use, a decent quality burr grinder, like a Baratza, is the only way to achieve a consistent grind. The trusty $15 Hamilton Beach blade grinder from the hardware store massacres the beans into a disparate mess. Grind particles range from French Press boulders to Turkish powder. Relegate that whiny little guy to spice grinding.

We always advocate grinding yourself just prior to brewing but if you need your coffee ground by us, you're in good hands.With this deck-stacking introduction, I present you our valued team member all the way from Switzerland:

Inge Crushenschmid!

Inge is a Ditting KFA-1203 tower of power and although she's from Switzerland there is nothing neutral about her. She truly is a force of engineering. Tall, heavy and powerful - she chews through coffee beans like they were packing peanuts. Part of her secret is the 1300 Kilowatt motor lurking behind her mustard colored skirt. The 1.8 horsepower unit is a  testament to Swiss precision and craftsmanship. But she's more than just a powerful motor. Her grinding discs are massive. Large discs means more surface area, faster throughput and less heat generation during grinding. Recently we replaced the original discs with a new set imported from Switzerland (via our friend Nancy at Ditting USA). For many years Ditting burrs were cast metal and able to be resharpened by Ditting, but not anymore. Starting about a year ago they only sell new, machined stainless steel discs. They are expensive but they are sharper and more precise. Check out the new disc on the left compared to the old style.

Inge's power and sharpness means she turn coffee beans into very consistently sized particles and the coffee never gets mashed or burned in the grinding process. Your drip coffee, French Press or Cold Brew will taste much better from an even extraction.

Inge spends most of her time grinding 5 pound batches of coffee coarsely for Cold Brew for our cafe customers or at a medium setting for home users' drip machines. We actually use her to grind our 25 grams of coffee for pourovers at the office. It's a bit of overkill but she's good-natured about it and is happy to oblige.  She'll grind coffee at the "espresso" setting when requested but she's not entirely comfortable with it. In her words:

"Espresso machines need coffee ground just prior to extraction for freshness and the operator needs to make precise grind adjustments for proper extraction. This area is not my strength."

When she's not grinding coffee she sits quietly on her stainless steel table next to her co-workers, the scale and the bag sealer. Before Inge came on board we got by with Bunn and Grindmaster grinders for our bulk grinding but now we'll never go back.  She wouldn't toot her own alpine horn but I will. I've never seen a domestic grinder that compares in terms speed and particle consistency. The ultimate pay off is in the cup.

Job well done, Inge!