There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
But it let me just say that if you are serious about your coffee; your beans and your machine do Not matter if you have a crappy grinder. Before you buy that $1200 machine or that $200 electric kettle, or spend $20 on single origin, small batch, responsibly harvested craft beans, do yourself a favor...invest in a great grinder. Not a good one; a great one. And baratza has a new line of vertical drop burr grinders; I'm saving for one of those!
cheers!
When we are on the road and need to grind coffee, I use a Hario Ceramic grinder. I took the handle off, replacing it with a nut. Then I use a rechargeable electric screwdriver fitted with a socket. Doing the grinding by hand is far too much work! Ritual is ok, but tedium isn’t!
But buying unknown coffee beans on the road is something I try to avoid. So much of the coffee we end up with is not fresh, or just poor quality, or we just don’t like it. That’s why I prefer to grind our favorite beans at home, measure and vacuum seal, and freeze.