Last Updated on September 5, 2021 by YourBestCoffeeMachine
For those who are fond of sipping a good hot cup of espresso, the Rancilio Rocky Coffee grinder is a machine that will help you make perfectly made espressos on your own by giving you freshly ground beans on demand. Sometimes it is difficult to find a good coffee shop that offers a strong enough espresso to satisfy our coffee cravings but it’s not easy to make coffee on your own especially when you don’t know how and you don’t have the right equipment. With the Rancilio Rocky Grinder there will be no more need to compromise on the quality of your espressos.
This Rancilio Rocky grinder uses burr grinding wheels to create uniform and consistent sizes of the coffee beans.
Why a good grinder is the key to a quality Espresso
It is important to choose the correct coffee grinder when making your espresso because most of the time the pressure in the espresso machines is not enough to extract the full essence of the coffee bean. If you grind the coffee beans just before using them to a specific uniform size you’ll have better results with extraction. Besides using fresh, good quality coffee beans, the grinder is the other key ingredient used by baristas in making high quality coffee.
Burr grinder ensures uniform size
Now, the Rancilio Rocky Grinder uses a burr grinder which crushes the coffee beans into equal sizes every time. Whereas blade grinders function like the blades in blenders, the burr grinders have two abrasive surfaces where you place the beans in the middle so the coffee beans come out more uniformly. Also, another benefit of having burr grinders is that the distance between the “burrs” are adjustable so you can change the size of the coffee beans depending on your drink preference.
Thanks to Seattle Coffee Gear for this crew review video (7.45 mins) on how the grinder works, which you might find helpful in making your decision.
Dosing hopper ensures you don’t grind too much
The Rancilio Rocky Grinder is also a dosing grinder, it features a dosing hopper with a 7-ounce capacity. The dosing hopper helps in keeping your countertops clean from particle grounds that could spread from the grinding. Basically, the dosing hopper is a temporary container for you to control how much coffee you need for a shot. The Rancilio Rocky’s dosing hopper comes with an easy pull lever to dispose the coffee beans into the filter basket.
This feature allows no wastage and no mess in your kitchen, and gives you just the right dosage of coffee beans to make a perfect cup of espresso. At each pull of the lever, you can have about 6 grams of coffee enough for at least one double shot of espresso.
Durable steel structure – built to last
Moreover, the grinders made by Rancilio Rocky are made of special hardened steel which makes the grinding wheels stronger to produce ground coffee beans finer and faster. Along with its excellent performance in grinding coffee, the hardened steel wheels are much stronger and would last longer compared to other grinding wheels of its kind.
You can also place up to 200 grams of coffee beans in the container which is its maximum capacity, this amount will already make you more than a dozen cups of coffee. It’s especially convenient when you are entertaining guests in your home and you’ll be sure to serve the best espresso your guests have ever received.
Good design – It looks shiny and sleek
The Rancilio Rocky Grinder will also look very attractive in your kitchen with its die-cast aluminium finish on the body, a transparent blue coffee bean container and also a transparent blue dosing hopper.
The dimensions of the grinder also make the Rancilio Rocky sleek due to its long and narrow body that it will be very easy for you to find a place for it in the kitchen. It has an 11.9 cm width, 24.9 cm length, and a height of 35.1 cm. It also weighs only 7 kilograms, perfectly portable at least around the kitchen.
Mid-ranged pricing
The pricing of the Rancilio Rocky is at the mid-range. It is perfectly affordable given all its features and compared to other brands. Also, this coffee grinder can last you more than ten years at best without any changes in performance.
Given that time frame you’re basically paying an amount of a little less than $40 a year. That is 365 days of perfectly made espressos for just $40, making the initial investment worth your while. How’s that for savings?
Cleaning and Maintenance
There are some things that may cause some problems in the coffee making process, like the dosing hopper has to be brushed or cleaned regularly since some of the ground coffee beans get stuck and clog the chute of the dosing hopper preventing coffee beans from flowing. There may also be problems with beans getting stuck on the coffee container.
Some downsides the Rancilio Rocky grinder
Another thing missing from the Rancilio Rocky that more advanced coffee grinders have is the stepped settings which allow you to automatically adjust the particle size of the coffee beans you want. So you have to manually readjust the blades and it will take some trial and error before you get the correct grind size.
Nevertheless, the Rancilio Rocky is very simple and easy to use. For beginners, this the best machine you could start with when you don’t necessarily have to make complicated types of coffee or espressos.
Our Verdict on the Rancilio Rocky Coffee Grinder
Overall, the Rancilio Rocky grinder offers all the necessary features for a coffee grinder but with better quality and has better performance. The coffee bean container has a bigger 200-gram capacity. The burr grinders use hardened steel for optimum grinding. It looks compact, modern, and sleek. More importantly, it is very user-friendly and affordable. It comes highly recommended for the beginners in coffee and espresso making.
The Rancilio Rocky will literally be your espresso maker’s best friend forever because that’s how long it will last, you don’t have to look for anything else or buy anything else for the next 10 to 15 years.