The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting through your nostrils is hands down the best way to wake up.
Yet, over time, we get tired of the usual taste of already ground beans.
What do you do if you want a stronger, more flavor rich cup of coffee?
What do you do if you want to craft specialty cups of coffee that need fresh coffee beans instead of pre-ground beans?
I know exactly how you feel.
It is for this reason that I purchased Bodum coffee grinder and began using the Bodum Bistro Burr Grinder.
Many people ask: Will fresh ground beans from the Bodum Bistro really make a big change to my run of the mill coffee cup?
The Answer Is: Absolutely.
Some coffee drinkers want their cup of joe brewed quickly and the liquid piping hot, and don’t really care overmuch about the taste of the pour as long as caffeine gets into their body as fast as possible.
For some people, all they want is a quick jolt so they can go about their day, and that is completely fine.
However, there are people who want a more flavorful, personalized cup of coffee, and are willing to work a little harder to make their cup of coffee.
I personally don’t mind putting in a little extra effort in order to get what I want out of my morning cup, and if you found this site, chances are you don’t mind a little extra time to get what you want.
First, if you want the best coffee available, you have to grind your own beans; there’s no way around it.
This issue with pre-ground coffee is the fact that the beans become oxidized as soon as the grinding process is complete, so coffee that is pre-ground has been growing staler and staler long before you decided to purchase it.
Even brands that claim to be “luxury” coffee have this same problem. Any kind of pre-ground coffee has already begun the oxidation process long before it can be brewed.
You have to get a grinder if you want to have the freshest cup of coffee possible.
There isn’t another grinder on the market quite like the Bodum Bistro electric burr coffee grinder.
How the Bodum Bistro Electric Burr Coffee Grinder Works
The Bistro is a fairly simple machine to operate. Once you load whole, roasted beans into the hopper, burrs made out of stainless steel whir to crush the beans and make coffee grounds. The Bodum Bistro burr grinder is completely electric, so you won’t have to use your own strength to grind the beans.
In fact, the motor makes it easier for you AND provides ground coffee that will remain at a consistent level, so you can be guaranteed the same quality of ground every time.
Once the Bodum Bistro Grinder has completed its task, simply retrieve the freshly ground coffee form the machine and brew it according to your needs.
That’s it! Easy as pushing a button.
How Do I Operate the Bodum Coffee Grinder?
This machine really is intuitive. You don’t have to dig through a hefty manual or work at a coffee shop to understand how to operate this grinder.
To be perfectly frank, I would go so far as to say that the Bistro is very approachable for the novice barista, as there are only a few settings and buttons that you need to know. Granted, there are ways to operate the advanced settings, but you can simply ignore them until you feel comfortable enough to modify your grinder.
First, there’s the on/off switch. It’s on the side of the Bistro and has a built-in light to indicate when the machine is on. It’s pretty fool-proof.
There are a few more controls on the top of the machine, and they can get a little complicated. Here’s a brief explanation:
- A ring around the hopper has a dozen options for you to adjust the grind of your coffee. The range is from fine to coarse, so feel free to experiment until you find the grind that’s right for you.
- There is a timer that allows you to adjust the duration of the grind. You can choose from one second to twenty seconds, and you can move it easily to suit your needs.
- There’s another button that allows the grind to begin
What does the Bodum Bistro Look Like?
First, the Bistro is fairly small compared to other grinders, so it won’t take up a lot of space in your coffee area. It’s a little over a foot tall and half a foot wide and weighs just above four and a half pounds.
The design is compact so it won’t overwhelm your counter space and nudge into other designated areas in your kitchen. The design itself is a fusion of glass, steel, and a touch of rubber, and the base is designed so the Bodum Bistro won’t start sliding around.
The Bistro comes in a multitude of colors: black, white, copper, chrome, red, and “shiny” copper. This is a nice touch in case you wanted to coordinate your kitchen.
The buttons on the Bistro will always contrast the colors of the machine, so you don’t need to worry about any feature bleeding into the background. For example, if you were to purchase a red Bistro, the button would be black.
This is a nice touch, especially since so many of us aren’t at the highest level of functioning when we need our morning coffee.
How is the Bistro Set Apart from Other Coffee Grinders?
There is a multitude of reason why the Bodum Bistro is different from other grinders, but for the sake of space and time, I have decided to focus on the single biggest reason to purchase a bistro: the catcher.
A “catcher” is the place where freshly ground coffee ends up after it has been whirred, and the Bistro’s catcher is one for the record books.
Comprised of glass made of borosilicate and topped with a silicone lid, the Bistro’s catcher is the perfect way to dispel a lot of static electricity. On the off chance that you didn’t know, static electricity is a fairly common issue with grinders.
As the beans are getting whirred about by the grinder, they can collect a static charge, and if a grinder hasn’t been designed with this issue in mind, when you open the catcher the beans can literally jump out and make quite the mess.
Luckily, the Bistro catcher was designed with this issue in mind. The glass of the catcher dispels a lot of the static, and the tightly sealed lid helps dispel the rest of the static before it becomes an issue.
Let’s break it down
How about we quickly go over the positive and negative aspects of the Bistro?
Positives
- Has advanced control settings, but those are optional until you get the hang of the machine
- A lot of design features and aesthetic design add quite a lot to the value of the machine.
- Simple and intuitive to use as soon as you take it out of the box.
- Coffee grinder static largely becomes a thing of the past
Negatives
- Though it is a great machine, longevity has been a bit of a problem. You will probably get a few years out of the Bistro before some parts need to be replaced. Luckily you can buy them directly from Bodum, the manufacturer
Overall Bodum Coffee Grinder Review
All things being equal, the Bodum Bistro Burr Grinder is well worth the purchase, especially for budding baristas looking for a strong basic machine without a lot of complex settings.
Also, the machine will happily grind down any coffee bean you can find without any issue.
Though there are some drawbacks to the machine, such as its longevity, the Bistro is still worth the purchase for those who don’t mind replacing a few parts in a few years and can remember to clean their grinder.
The Bodum coffee grinder – Bodum Bistro is a welcome addition to those looking for a simple, no frills machine to suit their needs. It definitely works for me!
