I’ve been looking into buying a nicer coffee grinder (I’ve got a $10 cheap-o special) now that I’m making a cup or two a day, and in trying to find a good one to buy, I found myself in a world as silly as the planet of audiophiles.

Here’s the problem with audio freaks, if I may: up to a certain point, I believe you can hear improvements in equipment, and beyond that, I’m perfectly willing to believe that people can hear differences. I’m extremely picky about doing MP3 rips of my CDs, so I can buy that people are similarly particular about speakers.

But at a certain point, they’re making shit up. They want (they have) to believe that they’re making progress, that there’s something to the superconducting interconnectors or whatever that makes obsession worthwhile, or that obsession makes worthwhile.

Anyway. I came across this in an article on the KitchenAid ProLine Grinder comparing cups of coffee made from it and the Solis Maestro Pro:

I asked one of my regular testers to sample, and they did notice a subtle difference, but only after I pointed out a specific flavour (apricot in the finish, which was not apparent from the Solis cup.

It’s a leading question, the reviewing equivalent of the push poll. Of course once you’ve suggested a particular hint of flavor someone’s more likely to taste it. This isn’t even worth writing up.