Hi everyone, I have done about 2 months of research. It has come the time to decide. I need help though, while I have narrowed it down with reviews and videos to a final 3. I need help to decide which is the best 'fit' for my workflow. Here are the factors that have to be considered. 1. Has to be easily dialled in for multiple brew types - V60/French press/Aeropress as this is what myself and the wife like to drink and I'm a novice in the hobby. 2. Has to be portable as I want to take it with me to family/friends and when I go away. 3. While I enjoy the workflow idea of grinding single dosers (or 30-40g for 2 people) I don't want it to be a chore to do a coffee for up to 4 people. 4. Can be upgraded or capable out of the box for Moka/Espresso in the future as I plan on buying a Flair, as I love the aesthetic. 5. Roast types preferred are medium to light, single origin, washed/natural usually from South America (have 4 currently all from there) 6. Budget £350 with any accessories needed Feel free to vote away. If you think I'm missing a trick and you have another solution please vote other and state what it is. Appreciate all the help, as it's a big leap for me from a cheap blade grinder (currently getting my roastery to grind for me) ❤️

JX Pro is what I have. I use it for espressos and pour overs.

I think my grinder is the K plus or K pro, never quite sure. I just use it, and it works for everything.

Decision time - Hand grinder

Frothbewithyou

Lots of 1ezpresso fans. Thanks for all the comments so far 🙌

MWJB

To be honest, grinding 60-80g of coffee on a hand grinder is going to be a chore, whatever you buy. Maybe an occasional chore you can live with from time to time? As far as I know, only the Lido/LidoE/ET will hold 60g plus in one go. Physically large, but light enough to be portable. Not best suited to constant grind size adjustments.

LMSC

If you are going to restrict your hand grinding to brews,
you might be ok. But, I still won’t grind for 4-5 people
at a time. I will always distribute the task to 2-3 people.

I have been hand grinding for espressos and brews for the last 9 months; I make 6 cups a day and make 1 clever brew a day. All of them are espresso grinds and won’t grind for more than 2 cups. This is ok as long as the beans are not medium light and light, which are my favourites. Hand grinding these two roasts types can be painful and boring if yon don’t enjoy them. It’s harder even if you like the hand-grinding workflow.
I no longer like medium dark and dark roasts. These roasts types are easier to hand grind.

I still like hand grinding, but MWJB is correct. I understand why he says it can be a chore.

Frothbewithyou

I think these are fair points by you both. I was merely thinking for when friends visit they are all coffee drinkers.

I travel for work, seeing family so I thought portability would be good, as I enjoy aeropress and v60 (both very portable).

I think when I upgrade to espresso workflows with a flair, I’ll just get a dedicated single dose grinder as well. Seems the dialing in for multiple brew types is going to be fiddly with a hand grinder, unless I get a stepped grinder I can note the different settings for (commandante etc).

Or just get an Baratza Encore/Virtuaso for home and a MBK Aegrind/Kinu Phoenix for travelling 🤔

hornbyben

Don’t underestimate the chore aspect. My first proper grinder was an aergrind. It’s a good little grinder and I never minded it when doing v60 or aeropress for 1, but it was a bit tedious for more than one.

I then got an espresso machine and it was tedious for one and a pain for more than one. I powered it with a drill for a bit, and then got a niche and haven’t looked back since.

I still like the aergrind to take away with me, but not for everyday.

I don’t want to put you off a hand grinder, but don’t underestimate the work, and I think it not being a chore for 4 people is unlikely. If I was you I’d consider going for a more moderate price hand grinder to see how you get on and for portable use, and save some of your budget to go towards a motorised option in the future if you do find it a chore.

Frothbewithyou

This is really good information and I’m highly considering my options, I think the ‘allure’ of the manual process might be giving me rose tinted glasses on the actual practicality of it after the novelty has worn off.

Ok total tangent question but I’m hoping the regulars save me starting a new thread.

Why is the Niche considered superior to the Solo? Is it down to the country it’s manufactured in rather than technical superiority? They seem very similar performance wise in video reviews and one is significantly cheaper than the other (£100 is a big chunk for me…an aergrind difference 😜)

Eiffel

Both the Niche and Solo are manufactured in the Far East, as I understand it. While the Solo has the advantage of interchangeable burrs, availability and a slightly lower price (depending on where you are), the Niche seems to win on workflow, refinement and build quality.

For more, you may want to watch James Hoffmann’s Solo review which will give you some additional clues. Of course there is also DavecUK’s review of both grinders (https://sway.office.com/1GYioFUva9vnZaRL?ref=Link for the DF64/Solo).

Rob1

How about the Lagom mini? Can’t attest to its quality but I’d imagine it does a good job. Other than that I had good results with a Lido E, can’t see a reason any of the other well-built hand grinders of similar spec would be any different and would probably go for one of the JX grinders now. Bigger burrs are on a different level though i.e. Pharos and Niche.

I saw a review recently (appears to be indirectly paid for) comparing the Lagom to the Niche. All I can say is if the two are truly so comparable then the Niche isn’t dialled in properly or the reviewer doesn’t have a good enough palate to distinguish the differences.

Frothbewithyou

Rob1 it’s compelling that a grinder has such rave reviews and it might just be that the Niche hits all the highs.

I’ll definitely give the solo review a watch.

While I may be swaying a little from my original thoughts I think alot of the users have presented first hand why I should consider all my options.

I think my biggest aim is to try and find a grinder sufficiently convenient to change brew types with as I love variety (it is the spice of life), but not at the cost of workflow if that makes sense.

I completely understand in an ideal world you have two separate grinders. I was just hoping a premium hand grinder or (newly suggested) dose grinder ticked all those boxes.

LMSC

Frothbewithyou What’s your roasts preference?

Frothbewithyou

Medium to light roasts, washed/natural/honey process.
Love variety, though I seem to have a huge fondness for Columbian/South American washed beans.
Usually avoid bitter/robusta flavours and go for more acidic/floral single origins.
I started with French press then moved to V60 and now loving my Aeropress, varying between inverted longer brew times and normal Hoffman technique dependant on bean.
Hugely limited though as I have to get the bags pre ground for each method, leads to wastage and little to no experimentation as it’s all ground so can only mess with the brew time/dosage.

Hope that helps I’m a bit of a novice still so just given you everything I think might be useful 😅😅

LMSC

Frothbewithyou As we said before, JX, Feld, Comandante, …. will all do a good job. You are ok as long as you do not pull more than 2 cups. You need to decide if you will enjoy hand grinding.

If you think you will have more of light and medium light than medium roasts, you need a plenty of

Giphy - Cleaning Mrshinch GIF by Elbow Grease

I enjoy hand grinding. I would get Niche if I am starting on a clean slate. I might get this eventually for convenience, if I am sick of waiting for a new flat grinder in that price range matching Niche’s standard.

You may eventually get bored of hand grinding. I’m not there yet.

Grif

bought a c40 a couple of months ago and it is very good, best v60 brews I’ve ever had at home, 30g beans at around 30 clicks is pretty easy going, no problem 2or 3 times a day (although my wife won’t use it) . I have just bought a robot though and espresso grinding gets old quick even though the commandante can do it very well, my Niche will hopefully be arriving early Jan 😉.

tompoland

When I travel I use a Kinu M47 Classic (paired with a Flair). 18 grams in and 30 seconds of grinding is easy. Three per day and adding a couple more for visitors is no biggie. The Kinu is pretty fast. But that’s maybe a week at a time every few months and I might tire of it if it was my daily routine at home. Still, I love it when I use it.

phildawes

I have a c40 and a jx pro. I personally prefer the c40, though the jxpro grinds quicker. For me the c40 gives me a clearer cup, I prefer the dial in mechanism and it’s nice owning the ‘benchmark’ grinder. I also have a niche, but I use the c40 in preference for brewing, v60, aeropress etc. - c40 allows me to grind finer before hitting harshness, which is great for high extraction.

(c40 lives at home and I use the jx pro in the office)

N.B. if you do get the C40, be aware that the number of clicks isn’t from ‘as tight as it goes’. It is from ‘just touching/holding’: is the first click where if you hold the grinder horizonally with the handle on, the handle won’t drop. I suspect a bunch of websites/videos have this wrong

Frothbewithyou

phildawes thanks for that, Myself and the wife are currently debating what we want to do.

The spanner in the works is whether or not the hand grinding will wear off quickly and we will regret not splashing out for one of the mid range flat burr grinders.

I sense this is a common position alot of people have ended up in 🤣

DavecUK

Frothbewithyou The spanner in the works is whether or not the hand grinding will wear off quickly and we will regret not splashing out for one of the mid range flat burr grinders.

I sense this is a common position alot of people have ended up in 🤣

It can be a bit like a gym membership…..

Amberale

I have just purchased a Kingrinder K6 on special for $200aud.

I want it for power outages and travel and hope that it out performs my 35 year old hand grinder which takes me about 10 minutes to grind 18 grams of medium roast for espresso.

Frothbewithyou

Hi just an update, I um’d and ah’d for days and decided to push the boat out for a Mahlkonig X54, My reasoning was that as a predominantly filter/v60/aeropress user I wanted that flexibility and the option to go espresso later on in my journey.

I was worried about the hand grinding becoming tiresome as well.

I’ve had it for a day, seasoned the burrs and calibrated the grind setting and I have to say its such an amazing experience grinding your own beans and it tasting good!! I still think I can get the grind size a little more ‘dialled in’ for a pour over but its been a great user experience so far for a novice.

Thanks again for all your advice it really did help guide me through the decision.

Now the learning process starts for the elusive “right grind size” for each method though I will only be switching methods when one bag of beans is finished with.

tompoland

The X54 is a brilliant machine. Aptly named the “allrounder”. Relatively quiet and with quite low retention too. Should give you many years of delicious coffee.

Frothbewithyou

tompoland it has been a revelation in the last few days.

So the biggest thing is the company sent me some espresso blend beans (shown in the pic)

I ground it medium fine and made an aeropress with it. 12g - 180g water / 2min brew time. Diluted it up to 280g and it was the smoothest, cleanest cup.

I’m so confused!!! I have been buying medium/light roasts and always got a sour aftertaste (pre ground in v60 or aeropress)…this is the first one without any of that.

Can this really be down to just the grind or have I discovered I like darker roasts?! Sorry it’s a bit mindblowing to start 2022 and think you’ve been drinking the ‘wrong’ coffee for ages 😅😅

Coffee afficiendos help me out! Explain it like I’m 5 years old haha