When Phil McKnight got here on board at Breville, so much modified throughout the corporate in terms of espresso and coffee. His first primary gadget, the Breville Twin Boiler, now not most effective revolutionized the corporate’s choices and stature throughout the client coffee box, however the gadget itself used to be a significant affect on different producers and their steps to carry coffee gadget era absolutely into the 21rst century.
Breville had a grinder – the Breville Sensible Grinder, type BCL800XL – that McNight wasn’t truly chargeable for. It most effective had 25 grind settings. A 1 2nd answer timer. No timer recollections. A horny deficient burr set. And it used to be truly unhealthy at grinding for coffee.
By way of 2014, Breville changed this grinder with the BSG820XL type, the Breville Sensible Grinder Professional. Presented with a MSRP of round $230 (it’s in truth decrease lately, at $200!), it used to be regularly to be had round $175 or much less. Like many Breville merchandise, it used to be advanced, but easy to function. It had all types of options baked in, together with some undocumented ones. It used to be Breville’s try to be a jack of all trades grinder for other people pursuing higher espresso and coffee in the house.
In some ways they hit the mark. Out of the field, the Sensible Grinder Professional (or SGP as we’ll regularly check with it as) had a zero.2 2nd answer virtual timer. 60 grind settings. Every other complete whack of grind settings to be had should you adjusted the inner burr service workforce. Sensors galore. A lot better burr design and function. Little hidden options just like the magnets constructed into the dosing forks in order that they snap into position with reassurance.
When the SGP used to be presented it used to be, in many ways, elegance main. It nonetheless wasn’t as excellent on output as every other access level grinders, together with the ones by means of Baratza, however the featureset used to be staggering for the cash.
So why don’t espresso influencers in truth communicate extra about this product? Or why, after they do, is it denigrated such a lot? Should you do a seek at the moment for this grinder, you don’t to find many printed critiques, Youtube movies, or the like at the Sensible Grinder Professional, and the few YT espresso influencers you do to find normally pan the grinder.
We’ve been the use of the Sensible Grinder Professional at CoffeeGeek since early 2014, when the corporate despatched us a overdue prototype type to take a look at. We printed our first overview of SGP grinder in 2016 in keeping with an early manufacturing type (which I nonetheless have in use lately!), and up to date that overview in 2017. Unfortunately, the overview didn’t make its excess of to our new web page construct in 2021, and that proved to be a mistake.
As a substitute of simply resurrecting the previous overview, I made up our minds to take a look at the Sensible Grinder Professional from Breville with a contemporary glance and take, reviewing it to 2023 requirements. Does the grinder nonetheless stand out, and even rise up? Is it a grinder you must be taking into consideration should you’re simply entering high quality espresso and coffee in the house? Let’s to find out!
