Do most of the big names in coffee produce a reliably good roast? Can you tell the difference in raw quality between roasting your own and purchasing somebody else's roast? Who here DIY roasts?
Isabo, your priority list is just for the stuff associated with the grinder, right? It seems that the quality stuff associated with the espresso maker itself are more important than the grind, yes? Thanks again (and in advance, for the uber-elite coffee drinker experts who haven't yet weighed in).
Moses -- that's good to know. I assume that the difference between a good grinder and a cheap one would be the consistency of the grind. A cheap grinder will vary the level of grind from time to time, while an expensive one will always always always provide the same granularity? I concur that the spinning blade grinder is a bit inconsistent -- it's different every morning. But then, I'm not entirely certain that's a bad thing, myself. A little variation keeps things interesting.
Dan