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Manufacturer: Solis Crema
List Price: $129.00
Lowest Price: $109.00
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Buy Now: Solis Crema Maestro G 285 Conical Burr Grinder
Solis Crema Maestro G 285 Conical Burr Grinder
The Maestro Conical Burr Grinder has distinguished itself a top performer in its price range. We love this grinder for its ability to produce a consistent grind across a wide range of grind size (fine to coarse) and with minimal static. A beautifully crafted coffee grinder that produces the perfect grind for any type of coffee. The Maestro is designed and assembled in the USA, and has a lot of innovative features built in, including a list of unique features most requested by some of America’s most respected coffee experts. Some of the most requested features include a smooth, quiet operation which is the result from motor isolation; conical burrs that give a fine grind critical for perfect espresso extraction; over 50% greater grind adjustment compared to other grinders in its class, ranging from a fine Turkish grind capable of choking even the most expensive commercial espresso machines to a nice even pebbly press pot grind; and a special gear reduction for slow rotation, ensuring the retention of the aroma and flavor of the freshly ground beans. Additional features include:
Slow rotation insures extremely low static electricity issues
Large ground-coffee bin as well as the ability to grind directly into espresso porta-filters and drip coffee filters
A rotating timer switch provides automatically repeatable coffee powder dosing.
A momentary push-button switch, prominent on the nose of the grinder, allows for precise custom coffee powder dosing.
Ground coffee drops vertically into the tightly fitting coffee bin, insuring dust free operation.
Bin area is large enough to accomodate even commercial sized portafilters for grinding directly into them, without the bin.
Plus free sample of our freshly roasted gourmet coffee!*
Solis Crema Maestro G 285 Conical Burr Grinder Features:
- Anti Static Design
- Grind Coffee For Any Brewing Method
- Automatic & Manual Operation
- Swiss Made Grinding Wheels
- Easy to Clean
Solis Crema Maestro G 285 Conical Burr Grinder Reviews
Premium Price Produces Poor Performance
What a failed design. I never thought grinding my own coffee could bring so much despair and frustration, but truly it has. One must stand watch over this grinder as if it were a stubborn, disobedient child.
Imagine this: You’ve turned the timer knob as far as it allows. The grinder whirs loudly as no beans are ground. At first, you shake the grinder to coax beans into the burrs, but it doesn’t help. Next, you manually shove beans down in the hopper with a small spatula. Coffee dust quickly spreads across your counter, creating a mess. Suddenly, the timer stops. You find you’re left enough grinds for three-to-four scoops. You feel defeated, but you soldier on. Repeat this procedure three times until you have enough grinds for a full pot of coffee. Now wait, you’re almost done! Finish your task by vacuuming the counter, grinder and floor below you with a DustBuster.
Without one iota of exaggeration, and I swear by the God who guides me, this is the most aggravating kitchen appliance I have ever owned. And I paid upwards of $100 for it!
Bottom line: If you love coffee and wish to protect your sanity, look elsewhere for a grinder. This is NOT what you want. As one human trying earnest to help another, I beg of you to heed my warning.
Hasn’t worked well since it came out of the box 
My husband bought this for me about 4 years ago – and every time we have used it, regardless of the size or roast of the beans – it needs to be fiddled with and jiggled and have a spoon pushed down into the hopper in order for the beans to feed without jamming.
This takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes to get enough for a pot.
I called Solis immediately afterwards, thinking our unit was defective, and was told that it was a problem that they were aware of, and if I shipped the unit back to them they would fix it. Postage and insurance paid by ME. Not to mention the 3-5 week turnaround time that I would be without a coffee grinder.
Poor customer service, poorly designed product – I’ll never buy a Solis again.
ETA: When it *does* grind beans it produces a nice grind for both espresso and drip coffee makers.
FATAL design problem
THE GOOD: I have used the Solis Maestro daily for over a year. I’ve gained some serious experience with it. It’s a nice, slick machine that produces a good, even, fine grind for espresso (about all we ever grind around here). It runs quietly and doesn’t have static electricity problems. The lower hopper fits well so it seals tightly. And it has a self-timer – which is useless. Why useless?
THE BAD: This thing has INEXCUSABLE feed problems. Beans will slide smoothly into the grinding “burrs” for only a few seconds without assistance. It’s bad enough that my wife gets frustrated and abusive with the machine, so I have assumed the bean-grinding responsibility.
I have found NO beans that will simply feed into the burrs without constant help: rocking, banging, poking with spoon or chopstick, etc. I’ve heard that “oily beans” or “large beans” may have a problem: but in a year I have found NO beans, none – not oily, not dry, not big, not small – that feed without constant attention.
Rocking or banging the machine keeps the beans moving, but knocks the burrs together when on the finest settings – this causes burr damage! I’ve found that a bamboo chopstick is the best feed-assist tool; if it is nicked by the rotating burr, it causes no damage. Best approach is a gentle poking and sweeping motion through a half-filled hopper.
THE UGLY TRUTH: you must figure that EACH time you use the machine, you will give it FULL-time attention, feeding the beans down the hopper.
ENGINEERING: As a mechanical engineer, I think the problem should (and could) be addressed by the manufacturer. I believe they had to have discovered this in development and pre-release testing, but released it anyway. I think this is reprehensible.
The machine runs smoothly and quietly and doesn’t vibrate like cheaper grinders; but probably this smoothness exacerbates the problem. Perhaps a bump, or bumps, on top of the rotating burr would “cam” the descending beans with each rotation, and keep them disturbed and moving. Or perhaps a central polyethylene or Teflon plug above the rotating central burr would occupy that space and keep beans from interlocking and packing there, and “bridging” the burr-set. Perhaps some combination, with a rotating central Teflon plug which is cammed toward the top, and relieved toward the bottom… anyway, I’ve intended to try some experiments, but haven’t yet. Has anyone else?
The Fix it Again Tony of espresso grinders
This is machine is recomended for someone who likes high maintenace products. The recomended procedure by the Solis repair people is to clean it a couple of times a week, if you use it for espresso. The machine has plenty of setting but it you go past the middle setting between espresso and drip grind it will jam if you use oily beans, like most espresso rosts. It does give you a sense of what a good grinder will do and encourage one to make enough money to get one. The grinding straight into the filter holder is a great feature, two bad it is so high maintenance. And once you take it apart it is little tricky to get everything aligned right to get it back together , can take several tries. If you are getting it to grind coffee for espresso, think twice before you get this machine, and only buy it if you can’t afford something better like a Rocky.
Solis Crema Maestro G 285, Excellent!
The grinder is all I expected it to be and more. It’s very quiet, consistant in the grind quality, and doesn’t throw coffee all over like my previous grinder. In fact, it doesn’t leak at all and there is little, if any static electricity.
Great little grinder.
N Feero
Half Moon Bay, CA
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