Burr grinders - flat versus conical

Just to make things a little more complex, there are not only two types of grinders - blade and burr - there are two types of burr grinders - conical and flat. There is some evidence to suggest that conical burr grinders are superior, they work more slowly and can provide a more even grind. Conical burr grinders used to be only used in high volume cafés but now they are also used domestically. This where it gets a little confusing, a good flat burr grinder will produce a better grind than a poor conical grinder. This is because prices and quality vary so much between manufacturers and models. As a rough guide expect to pay at least $500- for a good quality electric conical grinder to grind coffee to home espresso standard. If you do not need such a fine grind a cheaper grinder can produce good results for plunger coffee. An industry benchmark for high volume cafés is the Mazzer Robur grinder, at $3400 they are not often used domestically but I have seen one in an office. Recently I have been using a Kyocera (Japanese) hand grinder for espresso coffee with very good results. Don't know the exact retail price yet as this was suppled as a sample for us to try, but I expect it to be about $100- . It does great espresso and the exercise is free!