Review of the Redmond CG800 burr coffee grinder

A good coffee grinder is an essential part of any coffee lover's kitchen. Although you can buy pre-ground coffee from roasters, it quickly loses its aroma and flavor. Therefore, the ideal option is to grind the coffee immediately before brewing. Previously, there were few good coffee grinders in the market and finding the right one was not easy. However, the situation has changed now and decent coffee grinders are available at reasonable prices.

Today in our review is the Redmond CG800 coffee grinder with metal millstones and a touch control panel. It offers a choice of 30 grind levels, which should satisfy even the most demanding coffee lovers. Let's try it out and see what it can do.

^* Contrary to popular belief, this is not the time limit after which the device will necessarily break down. However, after this period, the manufacturer ceases to bear any responsibility for its performance and has the right to refuse to repair it, even for a fee.

The coffee grinder comes in a Redmond branded box: a gray background, a simple design, a photograph of the device on the front side, and on the sides — the main technical characteristics and description of the model. Inside, the packaging with contents is protected from impacts by plastic bags and pressed cardboard inserts.

Having opened the box, we found inside:

• the coffee grinder itself, including the bean container
• container for ground coffee
• horn stand
• cleaning brush
• user guide
• warranty card

The body of our coffee maker is made of black plastic. The control panel is glossy, the sides and back are covered with a metal cover.

The device looks stylish and strict. This coffee grinder will look good even next to expensive, semi-professional coffee makers.

The device has a traditional layout: the upper part is designed for a hopper for 390 grams of coffee. The grains fall onto conical millstones, where they are ground into powder and collected in a container located at the front.

The container for ground coffee is made of transparent, slightly darkened plastic. The lid is plastic with a hole in the center. There is no stopper, which means that long-term storage of ground coffee in the container is impossible. If you plan to grind coffee in excess, you must use a different container.

Alternatively, you can grind the coffee directly into the cone. For this purpose, a special plastic holder is provided, which is fixed on the front of the coffee grinder body.

The size of the portfilter holder corresponds to the standard. This means that we can use both standard portfilters with a diameter of 57-58 mm, as well as smaller ones, which are often used in home espresso coffee makers.

There is no separate button to start grinding next to the holder. Therefore, in order to grind the required amount of beans, you need to activate the appropriate mode through the control panel.

The grain tank is easily secured with a latch. To remove and clean it, you must press the button on the left. After this, the tank is automatically released, and special plastic curtains located at the bottom prevent the contents from spilling. The process of installing the tank in its place is also simple: just insert it into the desired position and turn it at a slight angle. The design of the tank is classic, with a central plastic “fungus” to protect the millstones and user safety, as well as a plastic lid on top.

The device offers grind adjustment by rotating the tank to the appropriate angle. There are 30 grinding levels in total, and switching is carried out step by step, without the ability to select intermediate values. The «Coarse», «Medium» and «Fine» labels indicate that «30» is the coarsest grind and «0» is the finest grind.

Now let's look at the millstones. Apparently, here we see the most standard conical millstones with a diameter of 40 mm.

To remove the outer (upper) millstone of this model, you must first empty the working container. Then you should lift the special wire bracket and, using it, turn the cone counterclockwise.

The inner cone cannot be removed during normal use. There is no special screw for this purpose, so if a foreign object gets stuck in the millstones, it may be difficult to remove it. However, this situation occurs rarely or not at all.

The coffee grinder is mounted on four rubber feet that prevent it from sliding on a smooth surface.

On the underside of the coffee grinder there are ventilation holes for cooling the engine, as well as a nameplate with brief technical specifications and a serial number.

The plastic cleaning brush is a standard accessory and does not require additional attention.

The user manual is a 22-page horizontal A5 brochure, printed on high-quality, thick glossy paper and designed in Redmond's signature style.

The user manual is a 22-page horizontal A5 brochure, printed on high-quality, thick glossy paper and designed in Redmond's signature style.

The black plastic control panel is equipped with touch buttons illuminated by LEDs. The markings on the sensors are only visible when touched when the coffee grinder is turned on or in standby mode.

By the way, let’s immediately note that the display of our coffee grinder is nice, the signs are easy to read, but the glossy surface collects both fingerprints and dust particles quite well.

There is a power button in the center of the control panel. To the left of it is a button for selecting the “cup” grinding mode, and to the right is for switching to the timer grinding mode.

The display at the top displays the selected number of cups or seconds, and at the bottom there are minus and plus buttons for changing the values.

The selection range includes from 1 to 12 cups or from 1 to 60 seconds.

A long press on the cup button will put the grinder into portfilter grinding mode, where you can select the number of cups.

After setting the parameters, you need to press the «Power» button to start work. You can also stop grinding by pressing this button.

Operations are accompanied by beeps that apparently cannot be turned off.

The coffee grinder remembers the settings, maintaining them even when going into sleep mode or disconnecting from the network, which makes the process of making coffee more convenient and predictable.

The coffee grinder comes ready to use, requiring no additional assembly. It is recommended to wash lids and containers before first use. The manufacturer warns of possible foreign odors due to factory residues, but we did not detect any.

The device is intended for roasted coffee beans only; seeds, spices or nuts are not recommended.

The grinder's hopper holds up to 390g of coffee, enough for a standard 250g pack and even more.

The grind volume for one “cup” is approximately 10-11 g for a coarse or medium grind and 6.3 g for the finest grind. The grinding degree is adjusted by turning the bean container relative to the coffee grinder body, where marks are marked from 30 (the coarsest grind) to 0 (the finest). It is recommended to select the grind level depending on the coffee maker you are using and personal preference.

The grinding degree adjustment mechanism works clearly and predictably, making it easy to select the appropriate fraction. During operation, we tested different grinding modes and assessed its uniformity.

Use the included brush to clean the burrs and grinding block. Containers and lids can be washed in warm soapy water and dried thoroughly before next use. The manufacturer does not mention the possibility of using a dishwasher, so we recommend refraining from experiments.

The body of the coffee grinder can be wiped with a slightly damp cloth. Do not immerse the device under running water or in liquid.

The use of abrasives and harsh chemicals is prohibited as they are not recommended for cleaning items in contact with food.

It is also important to remember to regularly clean the coffee oils from the grinders using special cleaning tablets.

During the study of the coffee grinder, its energy consumption, productivity and noise level during operation were determined.

The maximum power consumption of the device, according to our measurements, was 155 W.

The noise level during operation of the device does not exceed 76 dBA.

During our hands-on testing, we covered the full range of available grind levels offered by the grinder. We used a Turk, carob and drip coffee makers, as well as a French press, using the coarsest grind.

It was found that the optimal grind for making Turkish coffee is the first, finest grind.

As our observations showed, the coffee grinder was unable to achieve a very fine grind “to dust”. However, the resulting grind is sufficiently suitable for making Turkish coffee. However, we would like to see a finer grind for this preparation method.

Note that the coffee was ground evenly, without large fractions or fragments of beans.

Let's take a look at grind number «5». Here is a coffee that is suitable for making in a coffee machine with a carob filter. To get the perfect drink, we may need to prepare several servings and determine the optimal grind level. We estimate that this could range from 3 to 7 depending on the type of coffee beans.

As the selected grind increases, so does the grain size. The change occurs gradually, without sudden jerks.

Here, too, a fairly homogeneous grind is observed. There are relatively few large fractions that stand out from the total mass. We can use this grinding degree, for example, to make coffee in a geyser coffee maker.

Coarser grinds, in the 20-25 range, are suitable for coffee made in funnels and drip coffee makers. In the photo we are starting to notice some large particles, but the overall quality of grinding remains quite acceptable.

Finally, the coarsest grind is 30. Judging by the photo, the uniformity of the grind is rapidly decreasing here. We see small, medium and large particles.

Fortunately, we are not going to use this mode in real life, so we will assume that the upper grinding values of our coffee grinder are simply not needed. In reality, we will use not 30, but somewhere around 25 of the available degrees.

The Redmond CG800 burr coffee grinder occupies an intermediate position between the most affordable models and advanced options for home coffee enthusiasts. It is distinguished by the uniformity of coffee grinding, the presence of stepwise grinding adjustment, a timer and the ability to remember the last selected mode.

The only small details we were missing to be completely satisfied were the ability to mute the beeps and the presence of a physical button next to the horn holder. Espresso drinkers would probably want more fine-grained adjustments in the «espresso zone» (grind size 3-7), but that would require a grinder with more expensive options. However, these shortcomings are not critical.

As a result, we can say that the Redmond CG800 is a good device for its price. It is suitable for use at home or in a small office, regardless of your coffee preference: be it espresso, drip coffee or French press. This coffee grinder will easily satisfy the needs of a novice coffee lover. If you're planning on upgrading to a more professional level in the future, the next device you're interested in will probably cost a lot more.

Pros:

• steel conical millstones
• 30 grinding levels, step adjustment
• Wide range of serving size options
• remembering the last selected mode
• Possibility to grind coffee directly into a cone

Minuses:

• there is no separate button for grinding into a horn
• non-switchable sound signals