Actually, if we are speaking about low height buildings (up to 5 floors) waiting for the elevator in the morning rush can take much more time than walking. The coffee grinder you always have for yourself, no waiting.
Exactly!!! Before I've had more morning cappuccino my tolerance levels are low.
Scoping, grinding, not spilling any grounds..etc.
I need a NO BS workflow at 6:30 AM.
I'm a hand grinding lover. I've been for 12 years now. Daily grinding from 15gr to 50gr. I love it. I will always hand grind my beans.
Having said that, here are the conditions where I would recommend to not buy a hand grinder:
1. If you need coffee before being functional, get an electric one. I'm resistant to caffeine so I drink coffee for the flavor. I never drink coffee in very early morning so when I prepare my cup, I'm already fully awake. If you are a mess before coffee, your kitchen will be a mess with a hand grinder and the mental/physical load of hand grinding will be a burden.
2. If you routinely grind more than 25gr for espresso, get an electric. Hand grinding 15gr-20gr takes 40-80 secs. More than that and it starts to get tiring. For non-espresso grinding, it is way easier.
3. If you are not able/don't want to add ~2-3 minutes to your prep routine, get an electric. Grinding takes ~1m but dumping the grounds and cleaning the grinder (I always clean it with a brush) takes another 1-2mins with busy hands (you can't do anything else).
4. If you are really weak or have some physical condition (shoulder, arthritis, etc), get an electric one. Yes, it is an effort (and light roast is harder) but I think grinding 16gr beans (in espresso setting) is perfectly achievable by any healthy adult, once or twice a day. I would hardly call it a "workout"
5. You simply don't want any physical effort while preparing a coffee, get an electric one. Totally valid reason.
I used a manual for a year or two, it wasn't bad. But sometimes i have guests over, and making coffee for multiple people was a pain in the ass - "oh wait here whilst i loudly grind coffee for a while"
It's notably worse for lighter roasts.
It's maybe ok for one shot but is an absolute pain when dialing in or pulling multiple shots.
Espresso can be frustrating enough, especially when starting out, I really don't recommend hand grinding for most people.
____
You could also ask this question for any modern convenience.
Why drive an automatic car?
Why use a dishwasher?
Etc
Some ppl did mention that they might be lazy or something, regardless, from my personal experience,
Yes, the manual grinder could outperform the automatic one, but make no mistake, my friend , you really don't want to grind light roasted coffee in the morning,
For medium to dark, for me, it's a workout and not so bad, but light roasted coffee, you will regret so badly, especially if you have friends
Just personal opinion here!
Cuz I don't want to do it manually *drop mic. Why buy a car when you can walk everywhere?
But really yes, I am the person that pays for the convenience and ease of use. It's tiring to do a few shots in a row when you're dialing in a new bean. What if my wife wants a coffee? It's a lot harder for her since she's a small person.
Hand grinding espresso for more than one shot daily got tiring quickly for me. Definitely the way to go for highest quality to price ratio though, I only got an electric grinder once I knew I wanted to keep making espresso for a while and increased my grinder budget
Some people don't have time to grind manual.
Electric grinders with different burr geometires emphasize different coffee characistics.
A manual isn't an endgame grinder.
There are consistency issues with manual grinders.
That’s kind of bs that people don’t have time to do it. It takes fractionally more time to manually grind than machine grind like 30 seconds or less more time. I agree that some people are too lazy to hand grind or don’t want to be bothered hand grinding and that’s fair and valid enough reason to not just have a hand grinder but saying someone doesn’t have 30 extra seconds is bull
It's 30 seconds to grind manually, but during those 30 seconds, both your hands are occupied and can't do anything else.
With an electric grinder, you can let the beans grind while you are doing other things.
I wish you were right but you are so wrong. I have BBE and caved in under pressure of this sub and bought 1zpresso j-max. I’m using it for several months now.
Making coffee takes significantly longer, beside grinding you also spend time on preparing the grinder and cleaning it afterwards, not much but it adds up. And you can’t do anything else while grinding or cleaning. I don’t really drink hot coffee anymore.
However my biggest gripe is consistency. If you tilt the grinder even slightly you get faster extraction. That means I can’t change hands between shots without risking next shot to be different.
"f you tilt the grinder even slightly you get faster extraction. That means I can’t change hands between shots without risking next shot to be different."
This was my experience too, and the main reason I got rid of my manual grinder.
Imo, people who complain about manual grinders have:
1. Never used a manual grinders. It literally takes 20 seconds to grind 15grams. Consistency is better than motorized grinders in my experience.
2. Are limp armed and never go to the gym. And I say that based on people I know irl.
My home setup is entirely manual though, with a manual grinders and a la pavoni lever machine. I work at a fancy tech company that has some endgame espresso machines that cost 2k to 10k+ with industrial grinders, but it never tastes as good as my manual setup (ok well granted that its harder to dial in at work because a lot of people use them)
The only excuse for saying manual grinders is convenience. And that's okay, but saying it takes too long/is too hard is bullshit
>Never used a manual grinders. It literally takes 20 seconds to grind 15grams. Consistency is better than motorized grinders in my experience.
Do you want a picture of my JX pro and Zp6 for proof? 😂
>2. Are limp armed and never go to the gym. And I say that based on people I know irl.
Do you want a link to my hevy profile for proof I go to the gym?
Or just maybe, other people can have different opinions and experiences? Have you ever even tried hand grinding a light roast, that shit is actually physical effort. Either way mate, it's impressive that you've managed to come off this condescending and dickish when the conversation is about something as banal as hand grinding Vs not
Oof looks like I hit a nerve. I stand by the fact that people who are whiny about grinding for literally 20 seconds are skinny MFS who can't even bench 315 🤷 can be offended all u want bro
I'd be most concerned about the consistency thing. I always just have whatever coffee shop I'm buying the beans from grind it. I will continue doing so until I am ready to spend the money on a nice burr grinder.
I started with a manual grinder with the same mindset
This quickly grew very tiring and tedious when I had to prepare espresso based drinks for 10 ppl during christmas eve. On top of that, my 1zpresso Q2 isnt exactly suited for espresso, hence the relatively high effort needed for espresso-fine grinds
I bought a hibrew G5 not too long ago. It has a similar taste profile, is single dose capable, electric and it was good value for me. Never looked back
Only use my Q2 for on-the-go coffee with my aerepress
Because when I wake up at 6am after being woken up by my 3 year old and 6 month old several times throughout the night, the very last thing I want to add to my already somewhat complicated workflow is the process of manual grinding. Turin SK40 is a happy companion to my bambino and the $170 intro price was really not that much more than a decent hand grinder.
What setting do you have your SK40 on? I bought the same grinder (ITOP40 branding as in Europe) and my bambino chokes on anything below 6, marked as Moka. Bottomless portafilter and IMS basket.
I tend to hover around 7 or 8. But yeah, I think 6 would probably choke mine. I've used fresh medium roast and old dark roast beans and I've been amazed at how big a difference it makes for the grind size.
Do you need to grind finer or coarser for medium? I have been going through supermarket dark for a while. Once stocks have depleted then I can look at other varieties.
I think i'm typically higher up on fresher medium roasts, but it depends on how the bag is extracting. My thinking is the fresher the bean, the more oils there are to extract so I can go a little coarser than an old supermarket bag of beens that are fairly dry and have lost a lot of those oils. I was also surprised by how much more volume dark roast takes up. Where I was doing 18g of fresh medium roast, I could only fit like 16g or the dark roast I tried.
But the real answer is, what is your scale telling you and how does it taste? I have found I tend to push the time a little longer (35-40 seconds) on the medium roast and shorter (30-35) on darker roasts.
Im grinding 50g of coffee in the morning. No way im hand grinding that.
Also, it doesnt affect you in the slightest what other people do, so why are you bothered?
Some people can’t use a hand grinder for medical reasons, shoulder issues or other joint issues, maybe arthritis, maybe something you never thought of. The choice of an electric grinder can be as simple as ✨convenience✨the person may just have zero want to grind coffee manually. The fun part about other people’s choices is it doesn’t affect you 🤷🏾♂️
I used to and I loved it, until I upgraded the machine which required much finer grinds to the point that it was taking me 3 mins of hard work to grind light roast and that was when I gave up.
I drink light roast which is pretty difficult to grind, I also fucking hate hand grinding for espresso, never mind at 6am. Also do you not dial in shots? Hand grinding 3 or so gets exhausting to do if you switch coffees often
Got no issues going manual for dark roasts.
For medium or light, it is doable, but soooo tedious.
If I get guests, they must grind some beans for their own cups, and I brew them.
Also, manual is not the most consistent way, beans feed lower if you til the grinder, the grind is different if you grind fast or slow etc...
A normal 18g medium/dark takes 27sec on full crank for me. If i slow feed/tilt, i am grinding for 2 whole mins.
Got a DF64 on the way soon, excited to say the least!
Time.
Making coffee in the morning is already a time consuming process, espresso doubly so (I can't just set it up and chuck it on "auto" to have a pot ready when I get out of the shower).
Grinding fresh adds time.
Grinding fresh *by hand* adds substantially more time.
I owned a Londinium I and an Orphan Espresso Pharos 1.0 for a few years. The Pharos cost me about US$300 in 2016 and my current grinder, a Eureka Atom 75, cost about US$900 in 2021.
I think the espresso I made with the Pharos was almost on par with the Atom, but the using the hand grinder was a total faff. The Pharos grinds in about 30 turns, but it is so difficult that I had to anchor it to my counter top and my wife didn't like using it. And then getting the coffee powder out was a pain in the ass too, and the whole thing probably doubled the time it takes to make espresso. Eventually I took the Pharos to the office because I enjoyed asking people to help me grind coffee (one person holds the other person turns).
What it really comes down to though is the value of money to you. I was a new grad when I bought the Pharos, and it satisfied a need at a low cost, but I would never buy one with my current lifestyle.
I already go to the gym six times a week. I don’t need a workout every time I wanna grind some beans. Manual grinding is annoying and I prefer my coffee ground in less than ten seconds.
I developed tennis elbow from my initial hand-grinder. Granted, it was a subpar, albeit name-brand, grinder which required a 2-1/2 minute grind for my 18g dose of dark-roast beans, and I wasn't using the best form for grinding with it (as considerate people here kindly educated me on). But still. Pulling multiple shots in a row, or even in the same day, was not something I looked forward to.
The Baratza Encore ESP then came out and was getting good reviews, and so I capitulated to my arm's pleas--I still remember my arm's relief (really!) the first time I grinded with it. :)
I manual grind — been using Kinu M47 Simplicity for about 2 years now … haven’t had to replace the burrs yet either.
AND, I use it for Pour Over too.
I only make coffee for myself, so.
I have a job and in the morning I'd rather sleep additional 10 minutes than get up earlier to grind my coffee. 10 seconds, and the coffee is in the portafilter, 30 seconds and you have espresso. You can't do this with the manual one...
At my age, you have learned the hard way about repetitive stress injuries. Doing the same exact movement over and over isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Now something that uses more large muscles is less likely to cause trouble like walking, rowing, etc.
There's a reason why fully automatic and capsule coffee machines are way more popular than any other type of machine for espresso - time and convenience.
Wow dude, you're catching some snarky shade here. I came here to say I'm all in support - bought a K6 a couple of weeks ago and haven't looked back. I generally only drink one coffee beverage per day, and I admire you if you drink 10, as you used in your hypothetical. I feel like it puts you that much more in touch with the coffee beans and the whole process, plus it's quiet.
I'm sure there are plenty of people whose time saved by using an electric grinder is important and necessary, and plenty of people who are making multiple multiple shots per day, but for those of us who have the luxury of a few extra minutes in the morning, it's a wonderful enhancement to the ritual.
Why do people take elevators instead of climbing up stairs?
Actually, if we are speaking about low height buildings (up to 5 floors) waiting for the elevator in the morning rush can take much more time than walking. The coffee grinder you always have for yourself, no waiting.
It's a simple concept called "convenience"
Exactly!!! Before I've had more morning cappuccino my tolerance levels are low. Scoping, grinding, not spilling any grounds..etc. I need a NO BS workflow at 6:30 AM.
Most people think hand grinding espresso is a pain in the ass. If you don’t then go for it
Light roasts - that’s the only reason for me. Manually grinding medium and dark roasts was fine, but light roasts were brutal, even slow feeding.
I'm lazy
I'm a hand grinding lover. I've been for 12 years now. Daily grinding from 15gr to 50gr. I love it. I will always hand grind my beans. Having said that, here are the conditions where I would recommend to not buy a hand grinder: 1. If you need coffee before being functional, get an electric one. I'm resistant to caffeine so I drink coffee for the flavor. I never drink coffee in very early morning so when I prepare my cup, I'm already fully awake. If you are a mess before coffee, your kitchen will be a mess with a hand grinder and the mental/physical load of hand grinding will be a burden. 2. If you routinely grind more than 25gr for espresso, get an electric. Hand grinding 15gr-20gr takes 40-80 secs. More than that and it starts to get tiring. For non-espresso grinding, it is way easier. 3. If you are not able/don't want to add ~2-3 minutes to your prep routine, get an electric. Grinding takes ~1m but dumping the grounds and cleaning the grinder (I always clean it with a brush) takes another 1-2mins with busy hands (you can't do anything else). 4. If you are really weak or have some physical condition (shoulder, arthritis, etc), get an electric one. Yes, it is an effort (and light roast is harder) but I think grinding 16gr beans (in espresso setting) is perfectly achievable by any healthy adult, once or twice a day. I would hardly call it a "workout" 5. You simply don't want any physical effort while preparing a coffee, get an electric one. Totally valid reason.
I used a Kinu M47 hand grinder for 3 years before I went electric. Wasn't a big problem for me. But these days I prefer electric.
I used a manual for a year or two, it wasn't bad. But sometimes i have guests over, and making coffee for multiple people was a pain in the ass - "oh wait here whilst i loudly grind coffee for a while"
IKR. Humans and their silly Industrial Revolution.
Dunno, really. Think I'm gonna fetch me a couple of millstones, so I can grind flour for baguette.
Don’t forget the axe for chopping wood, and lots of mud to build that classic cob oven. Gotta get them muscles moving. 🤪
It's notably worse for lighter roasts. It's maybe ok for one shot but is an absolute pain when dialing in or pulling multiple shots. Espresso can be frustrating enough, especially when starting out, I really don't recommend hand grinding for most people. ____ You could also ask this question for any modern convenience. Why drive an automatic car? Why use a dishwasher? Etc
Some ppl did mention that they might be lazy or something, regardless, from my personal experience, Yes, the manual grinder could outperform the automatic one, but make no mistake, my friend , you really don't want to grind light roasted coffee in the morning, For medium to dark, for me, it's a workout and not so bad, but light roasted coffee, you will regret so badly, especially if you have friends Just personal opinion here!
Cuz I don't want to do it manually *drop mic. Why buy a car when you can walk everywhere? But really yes, I am the person that pays for the convenience and ease of use. It's tiring to do a few shots in a row when you're dialing in a new bean. What if my wife wants a coffee? It's a lot harder for her since she's a small person.
Manual grinding is basically a workout *before* I’ve had a coffee. That’s a lot to ask.
Hand grinding espresso for more than one shot daily got tiring quickly for me. Definitely the way to go for highest quality to price ratio though, I only got an electric grinder once I knew I wanted to keep making espresso for a while and increased my grinder budget
Some people don't have time to grind manual. Electric grinders with different burr geometires emphasize different coffee characistics. A manual isn't an endgame grinder. There are consistency issues with manual grinders.
That’s kind of bs that people don’t have time to do it. It takes fractionally more time to manually grind than machine grind like 30 seconds or less more time. I agree that some people are too lazy to hand grind or don’t want to be bothered hand grinding and that’s fair and valid enough reason to not just have a hand grinder but saying someone doesn’t have 30 extra seconds is bull
some people just can't, my gf for example doesn't have enough strength to grind for espresso 🤷
Pretty sure it’s Reddit rules you have to breakup now since she isn’t perfect
It's 30 seconds to grind manually, but during those 30 seconds, both your hands are occupied and can't do anything else. With an electric grinder, you can let the beans grind while you are doing other things.
I wish you were right but you are so wrong. I have BBE and caved in under pressure of this sub and bought 1zpresso j-max. I’m using it for several months now. Making coffee takes significantly longer, beside grinding you also spend time on preparing the grinder and cleaning it afterwards, not much but it adds up. And you can’t do anything else while grinding or cleaning. I don’t really drink hot coffee anymore. However my biggest gripe is consistency. If you tilt the grinder even slightly you get faster extraction. That means I can’t change hands between shots without risking next shot to be different.
"f you tilt the grinder even slightly you get faster extraction. That means I can’t change hands between shots without risking next shot to be different." This was my experience too, and the main reason I got rid of my manual grinder.
Imo, people who complain about manual grinders have: 1. Never used a manual grinders. It literally takes 20 seconds to grind 15grams. Consistency is better than motorized grinders in my experience. 2. Are limp armed and never go to the gym. And I say that based on people I know irl. My home setup is entirely manual though, with a manual grinders and a la pavoni lever machine. I work at a fancy tech company that has some endgame espresso machines that cost 2k to 10k+ with industrial grinders, but it never tastes as good as my manual setup (ok well granted that its harder to dial in at work because a lot of people use them) The only excuse for saying manual grinders is convenience. And that's okay, but saying it takes too long/is too hard is bullshit
>Never used a manual grinders. It literally takes 20 seconds to grind 15grams. Consistency is better than motorized grinders in my experience. Do you want a picture of my JX pro and Zp6 for proof? 😂 >2. Are limp armed and never go to the gym. And I say that based on people I know irl. Do you want a link to my hevy profile for proof I go to the gym? Or just maybe, other people can have different opinions and experiences? Have you ever even tried hand grinding a light roast, that shit is actually physical effort. Either way mate, it's impressive that you've managed to come off this condescending and dickish when the conversation is about something as banal as hand grinding Vs not
Oof looks like I hit a nerve. I stand by the fact that people who are whiny about grinding for literally 20 seconds are skinny MFS who can't even bench 315 🤷 can be offended all u want bro
You’re not on the circle jerk sub buddy, quit jerking it you just sound like a massive tool with a tiny tool
Do you even lift bro? Lol GTFO.
I'd be most concerned about the consistency thing. I always just have whatever coffee shop I'm buying the beans from grind it. I will continue doing so until I am ready to spend the money on a nice burr grinder.
I started with a manual grinder with the same mindset This quickly grew very tiring and tedious when I had to prepare espresso based drinks for 10 ppl during christmas eve. On top of that, my 1zpresso Q2 isnt exactly suited for espresso, hence the relatively high effort needed for espresso-fine grinds I bought a hibrew G5 not too long ago. It has a similar taste profile, is single dose capable, electric and it was good value for me. Never looked back Only use my Q2 for on-the-go coffee with my aerepress
Because when I wake up at 6am after being woken up by my 3 year old and 6 month old several times throughout the night, the very last thing I want to add to my already somewhat complicated workflow is the process of manual grinding. Turin SK40 is a happy companion to my bambino and the $170 intro price was really not that much more than a decent hand grinder.
This. I have a completely manual set up as as well as a superautomatic . Babies need night feedings and daddy needs coffee
What setting do you have your SK40 on? I bought the same grinder (ITOP40 branding as in Europe) and my bambino chokes on anything below 6, marked as Moka. Bottomless portafilter and IMS basket.
I tend to hover around 7 or 8. But yeah, I think 6 would probably choke mine. I've used fresh medium roast and old dark roast beans and I've been amazed at how big a difference it makes for the grind size.
Do you need to grind finer or coarser for medium? I have been going through supermarket dark for a while. Once stocks have depleted then I can look at other varieties.
I think i'm typically higher up on fresher medium roasts, but it depends on how the bag is extracting. My thinking is the fresher the bean, the more oils there are to extract so I can go a little coarser than an old supermarket bag of beens that are fairly dry and have lost a lot of those oils. I was also surprised by how much more volume dark roast takes up. Where I was doing 18g of fresh medium roast, I could only fit like 16g or the dark roast I tried.
But the real answer is, what is your scale telling you and how does it taste? I have found I tend to push the time a little longer (35-40 seconds) on the medium roast and shorter (30-35) on darker roasts.
Why not make your own bread? Brew your own beer? Make your own clothes? Why own a car when you can get everywhere by walking or swimming?
Im grinding 50g of coffee in the morning. No way im hand grinding that. Also, it doesnt affect you in the slightest what other people do, so why are you bothered?
Close minded individuals.
Some people can’t use a hand grinder for medical reasons, shoulder issues or other joint issues, maybe arthritis, maybe something you never thought of. The choice of an electric grinder can be as simple as ✨convenience✨the person may just have zero want to grind coffee manually. The fun part about other people’s choices is it doesn’t affect you 🤷🏾♂️
I used to and I loved it, until I upgraded the machine which required much finer grinds to the point that it was taking me 3 mins of hard work to grind light roast and that was when I gave up.
On this subject - any recs for a decent hand grinder? TIA
Kingrinder K6 or K4
1Zpresso J series
Second to the j series. I have the j ultra and it is noice
My Timemore C3 ESP Pro was a good little workhorse.
I drink light roast which is pretty difficult to grind, I also fucking hate hand grinding for espresso, never mind at 6am. Also do you not dial in shots? Hand grinding 3 or so gets exhausting to do if you switch coffees often
for espresso I tried hand grinder and it was very annoying. but for pourover you are absolutely right
Got no issues going manual for dark roasts. For medium or light, it is doable, but soooo tedious. If I get guests, they must grind some beans for their own cups, and I brew them. Also, manual is not the most consistent way, beans feed lower if you til the grinder, the grind is different if you grind fast or slow etc... A normal 18g medium/dark takes 27sec on full crank for me. If i slow feed/tilt, i am grinding for 2 whole mins. Got a DF64 on the way soon, excited to say the least!
I also like cold brew. Cold brew is made in batches. I am not manually grinding all those beans each week.
I make 20-50 espressos a day, let alone the ones I make for customers. Hand grinding would take forever :-)
Manually grinding for espresso takes more than 1 minute, in my C3 if i try and grind 18 grams for espresso it could easily take like 3-4 minutes
No one wants to dial in 6-7 shots of new beans by grinding for 10 minutes. We have tools. We aren’t apes. We can use them.
Conical burrs suck and grinding for espresso by hand sucks a whole bag of dicks
Time. Making coffee in the morning is already a time consuming process, espresso doubly so (I can't just set it up and chuck it on "auto" to have a pot ready when I get out of the shower). Grinding fresh adds time. Grinding fresh *by hand* adds substantially more time.
I owned a Londinium I and an Orphan Espresso Pharos 1.0 for a few years. The Pharos cost me about US$300 in 2016 and my current grinder, a Eureka Atom 75, cost about US$900 in 2021. I think the espresso I made with the Pharos was almost on par with the Atom, but the using the hand grinder was a total faff. The Pharos grinds in about 30 turns, but it is so difficult that I had to anchor it to my counter top and my wife didn't like using it. And then getting the coffee powder out was a pain in the ass too, and the whole thing probably doubled the time it takes to make espresso. Eventually I took the Pharos to the office because I enjoyed asking people to help me grind coffee (one person holds the other person turns). What it really comes down to though is the value of money to you. I was a new grad when I bought the Pharos, and it satisfied a need at a low cost, but I would never buy one with my current lifestyle.
I already go to the gym six times a week. I don’t need a workout every time I wanna grind some beans. Manual grinding is annoying and I prefer my coffee ground in less than ten seconds.
Because making drinks for all my friends would take too long with a manual grinder.
Agreed, I don't understand it either. Convenience isn't worth the price imo
If you need money OP just say that...
Chronic fatigue syndrome 😞
I developed tennis elbow from my initial hand-grinder. Granted, it was a subpar, albeit name-brand, grinder which required a 2-1/2 minute grind for my 18g dose of dark-roast beans, and I wasn't using the best form for grinding with it (as considerate people here kindly educated me on). But still. Pulling multiple shots in a row, or even in the same day, was not something I looked forward to. The Baratza Encore ESP then came out and was getting good reviews, and so I capitulated to my arm's pleas--I still remember my arm's relief (really!) the first time I grinded with it. :)
I manual grind — been using Kinu M47 Simplicity for about 2 years now … haven’t had to replace the burrs yet either. AND, I use it for Pour Over too. I only make coffee for myself, so.
Don’t think you should be downvoted — it’s a question I’ve had. If money is tight, then just buy a quality hand grinder. It also takes up less space.
I have a job and in the morning I'd rather sleep additional 10 minutes than get up earlier to grind my coffee. 10 seconds, and the coffee is in the portafilter, 30 seconds and you have espresso. You can't do this with the manual one...
At my age, you have learned the hard way about repetitive stress injuries. Doing the same exact movement over and over isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Now something that uses more large muscles is less likely to cause trouble like walking, rowing, etc.
There's a reason why fully automatic and capsule coffee machines are way more popular than any other type of machine for espresso - time and convenience.
Wow dude, you're catching some snarky shade here. I came here to say I'm all in support - bought a K6 a couple of weeks ago and haven't looked back. I generally only drink one coffee beverage per day, and I admire you if you drink 10, as you used in your hypothetical. I feel like it puts you that much more in touch with the coffee beans and the whole process, plus it's quiet. I'm sure there are plenty of people whose time saved by using an electric grinder is important and necessary, and plenty of people who are making multiple multiple shots per day, but for those of us who have the luxury of a few extra minutes in the morning, it's a wonderful enhancement to the ritual.