Rocket Faustino Grinder Review
Louise Woffindin loves a high spec gadget and loves her coffee – so there was no-one better to choose to carry out this test of one of the most luxury coffee grinders on the market in this Rocket Faustino Grinder review… find out how she got on with it below…
Coffee grinders, they’re reserved for the elite coffee maker and coffee shops, right? Wrong! Lots of coffee aficionados around the world swear by having their own grinder at home to make the freshest coffee right in their own kitchen.
Now, if you love coffee, you’ll agree that the freshest coffee is always the best. When coffee manufacturers grind coffee beans, the increased surface area means that some of the delicious aromas and flavours are lost in the surroundings. The best way to avoid that is to grind the beans yourself. When you grind fresh beans and make a coffee straight away, you’ll never go back to buying ground coffee again.
It’s hard to know where to begin when looking for a decent coffee grinder so we’ve done all the hard work for you. Today we’re focusing on the new Rocket Faustino Grinder – here’s what we thought after testing it for a month…
Rocket Faustino Specifications & Features
The Rocket Faustino Grinder is produced by Rocket Espresso Milano, a company that produces premium machines for both commercial and domestic use. The company is the brainchild of a partnership between Daniele Berenbruch and Andrew Meo, who 
design and make their machines in Milan.
The Rocket Faustino is the company’s latest domestic grinder – it’s the home barista version of the commercial Fausto grinder and is compact and small enough for all your home coffee needs
Before we look at its functionality, we’ll talk about its looks. The Rocket Faustino fits perfectly in any kitchen and would complement any coffee machine, though it does look particularly nice paired with a Rocket Espresso coffee machine such as the Rocket Espresso Appartamento!
The design is stylish and modern with a digital display, making it ideal for any high-tech kitchen gadget lover. It comes in four different colours: chrome, copper, white, and black.
In terms of its size, it’s pretty compact and measures 385 mm high x 229 mm deep x 162 mm wide, including the hopper and it weighs 7.6kg. This makes it ideal for your kitchen counter but also small enough to fit inside a cupboard should you wish to put it away.
The hopper itself is large and can hold 320g of beans. The casing is UV resistant and tinted to avoid the beans degrading.
The Faustino has 50mm flat burrs in hardened steel. Using a burr grinder means you’re going to get a consistent and reliable grind every time and as such, a better and stronger-tasting coffee. You’ll also notice that the end result is clump-free so whether you prefer espresso or French press coffee, you’ll be able to make the perfect grind.
This is a technical piece of kit with a digital, touchscreen display. You can programme your grind using the top-mounted touchscreen and can choose single, double or continuous grinding. There’s even the option to pause halfway through to check on its distribution.
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What It’s Like To Use The Rocket Faustino Grinder
Setting up the Rocket Faustino is straightforward enough. We were pleased with how sturdy and robust the model felt. The cast aluminium case is great, and the hopper size is pleasing considering this is for domestic use.
The portafilter holder impressed me. This is where many machines let themselves down, but the Rocket Faustino cradle is polished cast aluminium, and it fits a wide range of portafilters. You can adjust its height by a couple of centimetres if you need to.
After plugging the Rocket Faustino in and pressing the power button (located on the back, right-hand side), the screen comes to life. It’s a simple digital display that offers single-dose, double-dose or continuous grinding.
The single-dose and double-dose options are based on grind time and are programmable. Pressing either the single-dose button or the double-dose button will activate grinding straight away. To pause the grind, press either button again. You can restart by pressing the same button. The + and – buttons are used to reduce or increase the dose time.
If you press both the single-dose and the double-dose buttons together, you’ll activate the continuous grind mode. You’ll see both buttons light up and a circular arrow symbol will appear. The continuous dispensing mode only works when the buttons are pressed and will stop as soon as you release them.
The Faustino comes with 50mm burrs, which is expected for a grinder of this price. The larger the burrs are, the more consistent the grind will be. Larger burrs also have better retention and improved flexibility in the grind. It perhaps would have been better to have 55mm burrs, but we’re still pleased with its value for money despite this.
The Rocket Faustino has the advantage of step-less adjustment, which means you can fine-tune the grind depending on the beans, temperature and humidity. You can adjust the grind with the gear knob and so you’re not limited to pre-set grinding options. For a finer grind, turn it clockwise and for a coarser grind, anti-clockwise.
The knob has numbered notches and each one increases the extraction time by about 3 seconds. It’s also worth mentioning that this system only moves the bottom burr and so even when you’re cleaning the burrs, you won’t mess with the adjustments you’ve previously created!
There are also other special features, including Rocket Espresso Milano’s anti-vibration technology, which reduces the noise produced by the grinder by around 20dB. You can also adjust the display contrast.
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Rocket Faustino Taste Test
To make a decent cup of coffee, you need three things: good coffee beans, a decent grinder, and your preferred brewing method. There’s no point spending £500 on the best coffee grinder going if you’re going to use the cheapest coffee beans around. Sure, you’ll get your caffeine fix, but you won’t get the quality and taste like specialist coffee.
Thankfully, things are looking up for coffee lovers and you can find decent coffee beans in most places if you know where to look. A lot of local coffee shops will sell you the beans they use too. Don’t be afraid to source beans online too. You’ll find thousands of independent companies that will post their beans to you.
When you’ve sourced the best beans, you’ll notice the difference as soon as you open the packet – but the real test comes when you taste the end result.
When testing the Rocket Faustino, we made two drinks. Firstly, we ground the beans to make an espresso then we adjusted the grind to be coarser for a French press brew. Both were perfect with no clumping at all.
It’s true, the Rocket Faustino offers excellent value for money. Of course, it doesn’t have all the features of its big brother Fausto (more on this below), but the build quality and technology are the same.
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Should you upgrade to the Fausto?
The Faustino’s big brother, the Fausto, is a larger model with 65mm burrs. Its larger size and higher spec mean you’re likely to get a more consistent grind and better grind retention. It’s easier to produce a coarser grind on the Fausto compared to the Faustino so for those who like a different coffee and not just espresso, you might want to invest. This doesn’t mean the Faustino doesn’t produce a coarse grind, it’s just that the Fausto’s is more consistent at this level.
Both the Faustino and the Fausto have two programmable, electronic dosing options, heavy-duty cast aluminium casing, and flat steel burrs (though different sizes).
The differences are in the size of the burrs (50mm for the Faustino and 65mm for the Fausto), the capacity of the hopper (the Fausto holds twice as much), the RPM of the burrs (1350 RPM for the Faustino and 1650 RPM for the Fausto), and the physical dimensions. You’re also going to pay 50% more for the Fausto.
Verdict
The Rocket Faustino certainly offers value for money while still being compact enough for your kitchen worktop. It produces an excellent grind that’s smooth and clump-free. Whilst being good at what it does, it also looks great too.
Its height means it will fit nicely under overhanging cabinets, yet it will still hold a decent amount of coffee beans and won’t need refilling as often as other countertop coffee grinders. It’s also a really accessible machine with an easy-to-use touchscreen interface. Even the least tech-savvy coffee enthusiasts can learn how to use this machine quickly.
You can choose a single dose, double dose or continuous dosing. It’s also possible to pause the grind too.
Another thing that’s great about this machine is that it has step less micrometric adjustment, which means you can tweak the grind to perfection.
Finally, Rocket Espresso’s anti-vibration technology means you get a quieter grind and so won’t wake up the whole household when you make your morning cup of coffee!