Okay so today is the day for comparisons. I have never compared grinders, and never burr types.
I have settled on 16g in 40g out in 40s inc 7s at 4bar. This is balanced for me as espresso.
On the Duo this is setting 4
On the Zero this is setting 12 - which is about as fine as I would get.
Both pours were bang on. No discernible difference.
The following now seems like a cut and paste…
The Zero is syrupy in texture, and broad range of flavour. The Duo by comparison is noticeably thinner in texture but the flavour notes are far more pronounced. So the Zero can be described as more rounded in comparison. You could say it was muted, but it would not be fair to describe it in that way on its own, only in comparison.
It really is horses for courses to me. Both are great. This is coffee number 1 though so it’s early days for the Duo, and I can’t comment much on workflow.
Some other notes. The Zero chews threw beans. This is really apparent when going back to it. The Zero I would happily give a rock to get that last few grinds from the exit chute. The Duo is far heavier and I don’t fancy rocking that so much - it will break the worktop. It doesn’t seem to need it either so far which is good.
The on off switch of the Duo is a bit wobbly for my liking. The Zero is similar but less so. The Duo has more space for the grind cup. On the Zero it was easy to mark the main body of the grinder when putting the cup back.
I will keep running them side by side for a while to see how other beans fare.
Here is a photo of two espressos which look similar.
