Wilfa Svart Grinder Review
There is something incredibly satisfying about using a coffee grinder and in this post I am going to be reviewing one of the more expensive options on the market. Read on to find out what I thought of this model by Wilfa in our Wilfa Svart Grinder review.
Now, let’s set aside the practical benefits of a coffee grinder for one second – there is just something enjoyable about taking a handful of coffee beans, and within a few minutes, having a delicious drink in your cup. Seeing the whole process through from bean to cup is incredibly gratifying.
Of course, this is the thin end of the wedge when it comes to the benefits of owning a coffee grinder – the true benefits lie in the more tangible results.
I’m not sure I have written a review for any coffee-related product without mentioning freshness. It is so important to the taste of your drink – you can always taste when your coffee is fresh and of course the opposite is true – and there really is nothing worse than coffee that isn’t fresh.
Well, in order to get the freshest possible coffee in your home, you need to be grinding the beans yourself, right before you make your drink. This gives the air very little chance to ‘get at’ the grounds, and therefore all the taste and aroma stays locked into your drink.
So, we’ve agreed that you need a coffee grinder, yes? Great! Now all we need to do is establish which one to get. There are so many on the market, do you go for burr or blade? Perhaps a manual?
It all comes down to your budget and requirements, but we are here to help guide you. Let’s have a look at the Wilfa Svart Grinder – certainly not the most expensive grinder available, but one at the higher priced end of the market. Does it live up to the price tag?
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Wilfa Svart Grinder Specifications
Before I get into what it can do, I need to mention what it looks like – largely because I don’t think this looks like a coffee grinder…
It’s a black box. Measuring 15.5 x 20 x 31.2 cm, it’s quite tall, but doesn’t take up too much kitchen ‘real estate’, it’s rather unassuming. I guarantee that when you have people over, they will ask what it is. You can’t even see the beans very clearly when it’s fully loaded.
It’s strange for a coffee grinder to be so inconspicuous – but this is not an unpleasant machine. It would look at home in any kitchen, and like I say, it is a great conversation starter!
In terms of the actual grind, this uses burr grinding plates. These give you much more consistent results than rotating blades, as they ‘crush’ the coffee beans as they pass through, rather than relying on the random nature of the blades.
It can hold up to 250g of beans, which is more than I can imagine you’ll ever need. I prefer to grind before each time I make coffee anyway, as this all helps get the freshest coffee. You place them into the top of the machine, and you can rotate the hopper to whichever setting you need to vary the grind.
There are 5 settings marked on to help guide you, from the larger grind like french press, all the way through to the finer grinds like espresso. Obviously, as the container rotates around, you don’t have to settle for one of these five sizes, you can go in between to get your preferred grain size.
Both of the containers (the one that the beans go in and that the coffee grind comes out) are made with special UV plastic, which protects against sunlight. This, again, helps to keep the coffee as fresh as possible.
There is also a timer, which you can adjust, so that you grind the beans for exactly the right amount of time, ensuring that you get the perfect results.
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What It’s Like To Use The Wilfa Svart Grinder
The beauty of this machine is how easy it is to use.
First, you need to pour your beans into the top of the machine. I would recommend measuring out how many beans you would like to grind at this point, which you can do with a scoop. It won’t take you long to work out how many ‘scoops’ you need to make your ideal grind. There is a max line on the container so that you don’t overload it.
Once you have loaded your beans, you need to decide what sort of grind you would like. The markings on the machine will guide you here, but I would have a play around with them yourself. Generally, you want a larger, coarse grind to make drinks in a french press or filter coffee machine, and a much finer grind for an espresso or Turkish coffee.
You simply rotate the container around until you reach your preferred setting. This is incredibly easy to do and you will quickly find your desired setting.
Next, you will want to set the timer. How long you want to grind for will depend on how much coffee you are grinding, and how coarse you would like your grains. Once again, you will probably want to experiment with this to find out how to get the best results for you and your coffee machines.
Once you have those elements sorted (and that will take less time to do than it did for you to read those short paragraphs), all you need to do is press the ‘Grind’ button.
And that’s it!
In as little as five seconds, your coffee will be deposited into the small container at the bottom of the machine, which easily slots out for you to put your coffee into whatever contraption you are going to use to make it.
That’s all there is to it. The timer means that you don’t need to worry about switching it off, and unlike with a blade grinder, you know that the grains will always be the correct size after that time. If you find your favourite and want the same every time, you can just leave the settings so that very time you use the grinder, you only need to press one button!
It is loud when it is in action, but all coffee grinders are, and if anything, the Wilfa Svart Grinder is a bit quieter than lots of the competition. You should expect a fair amount of noise no matter what coffee grinder you use though so be prepared for that.
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Svart Grinder Taste Test
Whenever I review a coffee grinder, I have to put a massive caveat in when it comes to this part. However good a grinder may be, you will only have a drink as good as the coffee you buy.
One of the indirect perks of owning a coffee grinder is that you suddenly realise how many brilliant, independent, coffee producers there are out there. Most of the time, they will offer ground coffee as well as whole beans, but as beans are less commonly found in supermarkets, you will find yourself discovering all these weird and wonderful little coffee companies. My advice is to try as many of these as you can – you will find some absolute gems in the small batch market.
Getting back to the Wilfa Svart Grinder, we tried it with all of the five main settings available, and found it performed brilliantly for each – from french press to espresso. As you would expect with a burr grinder, it is the consistency of the grind that really impresses. You can trust that you will get the right grind for your drink every single time.
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Our Verdict
The Svart Grinder by Wilfa is a fantastic coffee grinder.
I started this review by highlighting the virtues of coffee grinders in general – how they are enjoyable to use and how they give you a much better tasting, and fresher, cup of coffee.
Well the Wilfa Svart Grinder does all of that, and it’s all so easy. There is very little you need to know in order to use it, and then it’s all about having fun and experimenting with the various different ways to grind your coffee beans.
While it edges towards the higher end of the price scale, you won’t find many machines that will do the job as effectively as this one. I personally think that if you are making the step to using a coffee grinder at home, you should get one that can do everything you could possibly want a grinder to do, and this certainly ticks all of those boxes.
Is it a big investment? Yes, it is. But I genuinely believe you won’t regret buying this machine – you will find your coffee tastes better and you will get a lot of enjoyment playing around with the different settings to find your perfect cup of coffee.