Rancilio (pronounced Ran-Chil-ee-o) is a familiar name to java junkies worldwide. They have made top of the line commercial coffee machines for over ninety years. As coffee became a home staple, Rancilio began developing commercial quality machines built for the home kitchen.
These machines are beloved by espresso aficionados for their durability and consistent results.
The fanciest espresso makers in the world cannot cover up low quality coffee or tap water. As important, the best machines cannot make a good shot of espresso or even a simple cup of drip if the grind is inconsistent or wrong for the style you are brewing.
To get the most consistent, correctly sized grind, a good quality espresso grinder is necessary. The Rancilio Rocky doserless grinder is produced specifically to get the perfect consistency and grain size for your beans.
The Rocky Specs
Best Features of the Rocky rancilio rocky coffee grinder
One of the overlooked aspects of coffee beans is their sensitivity to heat. An inadequately insulated grinder can alter the taste of the resultant coffee through excess heat. As the grinder heats the beans get roasted a second time.
The Rocky rotates the burrs more slowly than most home coffee grinders, protecting the taste of your valuable beans. The motor is also well insulated to keep the beans from getting hot while grinding.
If you ask any serious coffee drinker, they will tell you a grinder that uses blades will give inconsistent results. One of the most important aspects of coffee is the consistency of the grind.
Consistency brings out the more subtle flavors found in different varieties of bean.
The Rocky uses flat steel burrs. This design choice ensures a grind with minimal size differences between individual grains. It should be noted here, that no matter the quality of the equipment, grinds on the coarse end of the spectrum tend to have a wider variety of grain size. This is unavoidable.
Durability is another main feature. The Rocky is beautiful. The Rocky is solid. For a frequent drinker, a cheap grinder just will not cut it. Blades dull more quickly than burrs do.
As they dull, the quality of the grind drops precipitously. Spending more cash up front saves you money in both beans and replacement costs.
The last great feature is the sound. As mentioned earlier, the motor in the Rocky spins the burrs at a slower rate. Not only does this protect the taste of your java, it also keeps the noise level down while in use.
Nobody wants to wake up to the sounds of loud machinery, especially before your first sip of coffee.
The idea of drinking coffee in the morning is to ease you into the day. What is the point of that if your head is already ringing from a grinder that rivals a jet engine?
The hopper is tinted to keep the beans safe from UV rays. This is a controversial idea. Some people swear light affects the quality of the beans, others deny this notion. Sometimes is better to be safe than sorry.
The hopper fits about a half pound of beans. However, it is best not to store your coffee in the hopper, as it does not keep it fresh. Beans degrade in quality quickly even if kept whole.
Aesthetically this is a beautiful machine. If you pair it with the Rancilio Silvia espresso machine, you can buy a stand made for the pair. The stand is chrome and includes drawers to keep your beans or your cleaning tools.
There is a bundle available at a modest discount with all three pieces if you are in the market for a machine as well as a grinder.
To Dose or Not to Dose?
If the topic was dosing caffeine, I think the answer would be a resounding yes from any coffee person.
However a doser on a grinder is a container that catches the beans and can be used for storage.This option is more of a personal preference, as the only difference between the two models is the presence of the doser. All other features are identical.
The biggest decision here is whether you prefer to grind directly into your portafilter. If you do, then go with the doserless model. If you prefer to grind once then scoop the grinds, then the doser can be helpful.
This is true if you also prefer to grind a larger amount for use later. It is important to note here that as soon as coffee beans are ground, they start to go rancid.
This is true even in an airtight container. If a little degradation of taste is not a big deal to you, the doser can be convenient.
If you mostly drink espresso, the doser model is probably your best bet.
Which coffee is best suited for The Rancilio Rocky?
This is where things get personal. Some people want a concentrated, bold shot of espresso. Others want a nice hot serving of drip coffee with a little cream and sugar.
The Rocky is highly adjustable, making it a good choice for those who like to mix up their styles regularly.
This grinder is best suited for finer grinds, but works well for brewing methods that call for a coarser product, such as French Press. It also works well for the mid-range grinds and is good burr grinder for chemex as well.
Personally I prefer espresso and the Rocky works wonderfully for that. In fact, the Rocky is designed specifically for espresso. The grounds produced are perfect for that nice shot of intensity.
One important caveat here is that on its finest setting, the Rocky does not produce grounds fine enough for Turkish coffee.
Tips for Using the Rocky rancilio hSD rOC
Tips specific to the Rocky will be discussed in the following sections.
Drawbacks Of This Automatic Burr Grinder
Cleaning The Rocky Doserless Grinder
This is an important aspect of owning this grinder. As stated above cleaning regularly is important. It keeps older grinds from spoiling your perfectly brewed cup. It also ensures that the grinds are consistent with the settings chosen.
Cleaning it requires pliers, a flathead screwdriver and a firm brush. The burrs must be brushed off. Little crevices in the doser and the hopper must be cleaned as well.
In order to perform maintenance, the hopper must be removed. this can be cleaned with warm soapy water and dried thoroughly.
To clean the burrs, the casing must be removed. This requires removing three screws and lifting the assembly out. Once removed, use the brush to remove grinds and broken beans.
Reassembling the burrs involves slowly rotating the threads into the setting until you hear a click, then carefully rotating until it is snug. When tightening the screws, the burrs must be kept stationary to keep the assembly secure.
The details in this section are light, because a visual illustration has more explanatory power. To that end, I have provided a link to a video that shows step by step how to clean and calibrate your Rocky. I highly recommend watching it prior to maintaining your grinder.
The Final Verdict On rancilio rocky coffee grinder
If you are more than an occasional coffee drinker, this is your grinder. The most beautiful, elegant wine glasses do nothing for a cheap bottle bought at a gas station.
Likewise the carefully grown, perfectly processed coffee variety is ruined by a bad grind. The Rancilio Rocky pairs your costly imported beans with a grind suited specifically to your tastes.
Spending a few hundred dollars on a grinder seems excessive. But if you are in the market for a high end grinder, you probably drink a lot of coffee. If this is the case, the price is worth it.
This is true particularly for espresso drinkers. After all, you get what you pay for. Your valuable coffee deserves the best. You deserve the best morning ritual you can get. Spend a little more cash and get the best on the market.
