Love my c40, its been a joy to sue and build quality is amazing. You can tell the impact in it because I haven’t ‘wanted’ for anything more since I got it and paired it with x54 for all my needs.
I think though any of those choices you are going to be at the top of the manual grinding game.
We do enjoy the 1zpresso J-Max I bought last year for our cafetière and V60 when travelling and sometimes at home. Arguably I didn’t need its finer micron adjustment and would find the smaller one of the two I know DC has to serve the purpose but I liked the longer throw lever, external markers, magnetic cup and travel case.
I’ve no comparison with other hand grinders, for me it has been one of those products you buy and take to and don’t think about anything else.
I have had the J-Max for seven months and am fairly happy with it. Although i have no experience with any other grinder (manual or electric), there are a few things that i have noticed:
I hadn’t seen the Mazzer before. Wow! Looks incredible. Wonder if the two different burr sets on offer taste different?
I had a portaspresso Rosco, which was really (really!) great, but which sadly got destroyed in my last move (along with a whole box of my better half’s favourite china 😢). I replaced it with a Kinu Phoenix & it’s generally good, but lately getting on my nerves as I feel it could be a little more precise (in the past 6 months all coffees I’ve bought are within 0.9-1.0).
I’ve seen the J-Max online, which might address the problem. Is it really that precise?
Just dropped the idea of getting the Mazzer Omega hand grinder when I saw a Helor 106 with Mazzer 71mm conical burrs. Managed to score one near new (1kg through it, according to the owner) from Canada. It will take a couple of weeks to get to Australia but I’ll let you know what I think once it’s here and I’ve had a play.
https://www.helor.com/product/helor-106-hand-coffee-grinder/
I still think the Mazzer Omega is the bees knees, just couldn’t help myself in regard to the trying the Helor.
I don’t have a C40 or JX but i can compare the Helor to the Kinu M47 Classic. What may be of interest also (for me at least) is comparing back to back shot with the 63mm Mazzers in the Niche, the 71mm Mazzers in the Helor and the 83mm Mazzers in the Malwani Livi.
I’ll bet dollars to donuts I won’t be able to tell the difference 🙃 - any takers?
(To be clear, I’m talking US dollars and French donuts)
tompoland I’ll bet dollars to donuts I won’t be able to tell the difference 🙃 - any takers?
I think you would be hard pushed to tell any difference, although the larger burrset will make a small difference due to the larger grinding area.
I’ve had the Helor 106 for a year or so now and it’s a great solid grinder. Much prefer the flavour profile for filter to that of the Niche but that could be down to burr rpm not size. Niche at 330 v 20 on the Helor. Tastes a cleaner cup. Not as much difference compared to the Comandante tbh.
I’m just carrying out the mod to use 83mm conical in the Helor. These are the Mazzer burrs not the Italmill ones in the Malwani. I’ve done a revised design compare to the one I saw on YouTube as his files only have 9 magnets, mine has 12 on the cup, plus did not like how the outer burr attaches. I’ve inserted an embedded hex nut in the print so it’s solid and secure. Version 2 will use an embedded square nut as this will resist twisting even more although the hex shows no sign of an issue.
Should be interesting to taste 83mm conical running at really low rpms - I know the marketing blurb for the Weber Key sells it lower rpm as a positive - we’ll see
Not quite adding to the comparisons, but… any recommendations for a manual grinder that can do Turkish and espresso (no worries about filter)?
On the one hand, I’m tempted to spend £50 on a Sözen, and use that for my Turkish addiction; on the other, having a nice hand grinder to do one-off/true single dose with different beans will allow us to use the Ceado more ‘as it is meant to be used’ and dial it in precisely for the “house espresso”. Suddenly £300 for an Omega/Kinu/Comandante aren’t as preposterous…
CoyoteOldMan Sozen certainly do fine Turkish grind, but be aware they’re pretty agricultural, a fair bit of variation from one to another in terms of finish. Setting can drift with use too. Plus the brass smell can be hard for some to get past.
What about a Feldgrind/Aergrind? (Might take a bit longer to grind).
MWJB Will add the Feldgrind/Aergrind to the list of possibilities! Thank you for the suggestion, and for the info on Sözen; I suppose one largely gets what one pays for…
A couple of photos showing the mod to change the Helor 106 to 83mm Mazzer burrs. Totally reversible in a couple of minutes. Takes 45 seconds to dial in 21g for a Decent lever profile which needs a fine grind. Similar effort to the 71mm burrs. I think I grind at around 120 rpm which means the burrs are grinding at 30 rpm. Does increase the weight to 6g short of 2 kg but the body is narrower than say a Commandante so is comfortable to hold whilst grinding. Same burr set as the Weber Key, without the coating, I’m a 2.0 on the dial for espresso. My first attempt was at 1.1 - 90 seconds and not even a drip out and took an age to grind, way too fine. Compare to a Pharos it’s a joy to turn.
Looking forward to trying for pourover now as will be interesting to see any flavour difference between my Niche or Compak E10
Don’t forget the Aerspeed. It has more aggressive burrs than the Aergrind so takes less time to grind, you can really feel it chomping through the beans. The trade off is that it has less adjustment for espresso but is still capable. I bought mine as I was fed up with the time taken to grind for the Aeroperess when camping with a Rhinowares, I chose it over the Aergrind and I’m still happy with that choice.
Enea_… long story short, yes. I’ve owned mine for at least 6 months now (Time passes very quickly, can’t be more precise)
I use it about 3 times a day, 2 weeks out of 3 working on a remote site with my Flair. It is just so much better for espresso than my Feld2 in precision and general handling. The crank arm makes the 48mm burrs less of a challenge than I’d expected….not saying it’s that easy for lighter roasts but well manageable.
I haven’t noticed the same issue about adjustment after cleaning, just appreciate the repeatability and build qualify, it’s designed and built by engineers and I feel it shows.
Feld2 and Aergrind get the brewing gigs these days.
Quick (non-)update. Got an unexpected small job paying just enough to cover an Omega. So, guess what is awaiting for me with a friend in Italy? (Cheaper and easier to pay for 22% Italian VAT and courier than risking shipping to the UK with random duties applied…)
CoyoteOldMan Be interested to hear what you think. I saw one at the show and it looked very good.
DavecUK Will do a mini-review once the grinder is in the UK in early August - we will be using it as a ‘travel grinder’ during our vacation too (but not for espresso - moka and Turkish only; I’m not travelling with the Leva!)
Stevebee How are the 83mm compared to the original 71mm Steve?
I did my first back to back comparisons last weekend (83mm Mazzer Robur in the Malwani versus 71mm Mazzer Robur in the Helor) and to me they tasted so similar that I’m certain that I would not be able to pick the difference in a blind taste test.
I never used it much recently with the 71mm burrs as I tend to use the 98 flats in the Ultra for espresso. Used it more recently with the 83mm but not back to back like you so difficult to say. Do prefer it to the Niche as it seems to produce a clearer cup at filter grind. Might be grind speed rather than burr size tbh but haven’t done enough testing
