The Grindie Solo grinder: Is this the most intelligent coffee grinder?
It’s time to introduce the Grindie Solo on demand grinder from Grindie. The coffee grinder has almost always had to be a benchwarmer while most of the attention went to the more glamourous coffee machine out in the field. Not any longer! The Grindie Solo has well and truly broken out of the mould and the Italian team behind it are bringing something new and rather exciting to the grinding world.
[Sassy_Social_Share]Back in the day when a coffee grinder was just a coffee grinder, coffee pros have had to pretty much put up with the shortcomings in their grinders. Because, well, a grinder is just a grinder, isn’t it?
Except it seems like someone was out there listening to all the baristas’ grumbles and quietly came up with an answer to all of them in the Solo Grinder.
The Solo Grindie Grinder Review
The Grindie Solo is designed to stick out a bit, and it does. The name “Grindie” is actually a portmanteau word (or a blend of two words to use simple language) and a combination of “grinding” and “indie”.
Indie, a name used for music underground culture was included because it firmly stamped their stance on being a small brand that’s independent from schemes, rules, known paths and large, boring corporate brands.
The Grindie Solo looks amazing too. It has a beautiful wooden face and an unusual octagonal shape which hides a whole host of features.
What’s different about the Grindie Solo Grinder?
Let’s start by introducing the Grindie Solo. Like what is it actually? The Grindie Solo is an on-demand grinder that grinds by weight, with a “double clump crusher” system and temperature control, for a consistent result in every cup.
Here’s a summary of the main features, we’ll delve into them all in more depth later:
- Intelligent weighing system
- Double Clump Crusher system
- Touch screen with user profiles
- Noise absorption system
1: The Grindie Solo Grinder intelligent weighing system – Grind by Weight Grinder
When you’re grinding coffee, there’s only one parameter that guarantees consistency, and it’s not volume. The Grindie has an intelligent, integrated weighing scale with a “self-learning” system (more on this later). Accuracy is now a real thing.
2: The Grindie Double Clump Crusher System
The what? Okay, you know how coffee can clump in the portafilter, causing uneven extraction? The Double Clump Crusher system makes sure that you always get a perfect, uniform ground and portafilter load, solving channelling forever.
3: Solo Grinder Touch screen with user profiles
You know how aggravating it is when a well-meaning but uninformed staff member messes around with the grind settings you’ve worked so hard to get right? With the Grindie, you can lock down all your settings with a personal password. Consistency, consistency, consistency.
4: The Solo Grinder Noise absorption system – no more coffee grinder noise
This doesn’t really need explaining, but here we go anyway. You don’t need a noisy grinder ruining the atmosphere in your shop, the soundproofing makes it quiet, very quiet.
Here’s a video overview of the Grindie Solo coffee grinder:
Let’s delve a bit deeper into coffee preparation
Every day, literally millions of coffees are brewed, and most of them are made without fully expressing the full potential of the coffee. Isn’t that sad?
That’s because of a number of factors, including:
- The raw material (green beans)
- Roasting
- Grinding
- Extraction
- User experience
Within each of these areas, each area has a myriad of variables, for good or bad. We’re just going to focus on grinding for now.
What can you do to get the best results from grinding?
The team at Grindie asked the question, “what can you do to obtain the best result in cup and keep excellence over time?”. The answer was that the more variable that are kept under control, the better and more consistent the results in the cup will be.
This led to them focusing on 4 specific areas which they believed would control the greatest quantity of variables. These 4 things are:
- Technology
- User Experience
- Integration
- Training
Here we’ll go deeper into all these four areas:
1: The Grindie Solo Technical Features
There’s been a heavy focus on technical features to ensure consistency.
Grindie weighing system:
The only consistent measure for ground coffee is weight. Once you’ve set up the desired weight for each portafilter, the grinder then replicates that weight with an accuracy of ± 0.1 grams. That’s accurate. The Grindie weighs the dose during and after grinding for accuracy and consistency. The self-learning system maintains precision over time.
Automatic portafilter recognition:
The Grindie Solo recognises which portafilter you’re using, and as soon as you place the portafilter on the bracket the Grindie senses which one it is and starts dispensing the pre-set dose. No more human error!
Temperature control:
To keep coffee flavours as good as possible, the Grindie has a temperature control system comprising of a series of probes and fans to prevent the ground coffee from overheating and losing flavour and freshness.
Automatic micrometric burr adjustment:
The burrs can be adjusted automatically via the touch screen in increments of 0.01 mm at a time for maximum control. The burrs are coated in titanium for longevity and reliability.
2: The Grindie Solo User Experience
Every part of the Grindie Solo has been designed to make it easy to use and eliminate human error as much as possible.
Quick Start:
Bored of reading badly translated user manuals? The Grindie has a quick-start guide on the screen which pops up when you first switch it on, and automatically runs through the basic setup: Language choice, load cell calibration, filter tare register and password creation.
User profile:
It’s one of the worst things – everybody has an opinion how the grinder should be set up. The Grindie settings can call be password-protected once you’ve got them perfect.
Guided cleaning:
No excuses for not cleaning the grinder. The on-screen guide runs through the cleaning procedure that anyone can follow.
Simple maintenance:
No messing around with tools; the Grindie has been designed to let you do all the routine maintenance jobs without opening the grinder body.
Sound absorption:
No more loud, jarring grinders. The Grindie has very effective sound absorption and has been designed to reduce vibration as much as possible.
Alerts:
The Grindie has over 20 alerts which prevent malfunctions and make sure you do all the right maintenance before it becomes an issue.
3: Grindie Solo On Demand Grinder Integration and Connectivity
Yeah, this is a modern machine, it’s not an old-school piece of machinery.
Solo Grinder USB Port:
The USB port means you can update the firmware, download machine date, export the error log and a few other techie functions.
Firmware configuration for the Grindie Solo Grinder:
The Grindie will actually connect to your coffee machine if your machine’s firmware has the ability. Your machine can “talk” to the grinder and correct any issues during extraction.
4: Grindie Solo Training Area:
Training is vital, and it’s not been overlooked.
User Portal:
When you buy a Grindie grinder you get access to an online training portal which covers all the use and maintenance of the grinder. You’ll also receive all firmware updates and news through the user portal. Exciting stuff.
Solo Grinder Dealer portal:
Yeah, we’re still talking about coffee grinders, folks.
Distributors can log in here and get access to a bunch of tutorials to assist users with any potential issues.
The Grindie Solo Price
There’s no doubt that the Grindie is one heck of a machine, and it’s somewhat reflected in the price, although there’s zero doubt that you’re getting a huge amount for your money. It’s priced at around £2700.
The Solo Coffee Grinder Technical Information
Grindie Solo | |
Coffee grinder type | On demand electronic coffee grinder with integrated weighing system |
Dose precision | ± 0.1 grams |
Coffee bean container capacity | 1.2 kg |
Motor | |
Voltage | 230V 50Hz – 220V 60Hz |
RPM | 900 at 50Hz – 1080 at 60Hz |
Power | 350W |
Drive | Direct |
Power supply | Single phase |
Sound control system | Shock absorbers and antivibration on motor and grinding chamber |
Grind burrs | |
Type | Flat – Hybrid (flat + conical) |
Material | Stainless steel with Red Speed titanium coating |
Diameter | 68mm |
Adjustment | motorised – micrometrical |
Productivity | Hybrid 10Kg/h at 50Hz, Planar 8,5Kg/h at 50Hz (particle size for espresso) |
Dimensions | 240w x 240d x 480h mm |
Weight | 17Kg net |
Portafilter support | Adjustable |
Grindie Solo Photo Gallery
About CoffeeCode
This article was written by Gregg Romano who is the founder of CoffeeCode, the UK’s fastest growing and most exciting coffee blog. CoffeeCode has a focus on great coffee, inspirational design and sustainability.
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