Thinking about upping my grinder game for non-espresso, including: Cupping; Pour-over; FP; and Siphon.

The budget is $1000 or less for a new grinders. So far, the three grinders which look best to me in my current state of ignorance bliss are the Forte, G1 and G2 Trifecta (unsurprising, considering the eponymous title of the thread).

I've never used a Forte; and although I might have used a Bunn G type somewhere or another, have no particular recollection of it. But I have used a Vario and a Guatemala Lab which are presumably pretty much like the Forte and G, respectively.

The Forte appeals to me largely for the convenience of its built in scale.

The G1 is $200 less expensive; looks as though it will last forever, suiting our industrial aesthetic; has 81cm dia burrs; can be ordered in red; and -- God knows -- we have enough scales around here.

For a hundred bucks more than the G1, the G2 Trifecta is a G1 alla time same same but with a larger hopper (who needs it?), and different chute assembly. I wonder if the Trifecta chute might make the grinder more convenient for dosing, as opposed to grinding into a bag.

Your thoughts on the relative performance and convenience issues of these three, as well as other suitable grinders priced less than $1000 new, will be appreciated.

BDL

What about the Bunn G2 Trifecta instead of the G1? It has far more grind settings, which would prove especially helpful for single cup brewing.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/bunn-tr ... RIFCT.html

You certainly don't need a hopper larger then what comes on the G1 & from what I was told by a Bunn rep last year all the G series grinders now come with the Trifecta selector plate installed. If not it only costs a couple bucks & takes a few minutes to install. For about the same price as a new G1 (or less) you could go the Bunnzilla route with a used G1/2/3.

mbenedet wrote:What about the Bunn G2 Trifecta instead of the G1? It has far more grind settings, which would prove especially helpful for single cup brewing.

Definitely considering it.

JohnB wrote:You certainly don't need a hopper larger then what comes on the G1 & from what I was told by a Bunn rep last year all the G series grinders come with the Trifecta selector plate installed. If not it only costs a couple bucks & takes a few minutes to install. For about the same price as a new G1 (or less) you could go the Bunnzilla route with a used G1/2/3.

I'm not sure how many good points you made here, but more than the number of sentences, certainly.

It's very likely the grinder will mostly be used single dose. So you can look at a 1lb hopper as overkill, or consider the grinder in (humongous) gestalt and regard anything larger than 1lb as a journey from the ridiculous to the sublime.

I generally prefer to buy new over used. But that's a preference, not a fetish.

If I understand you correctly from previous posts here and in other fora, Bunnzillaness is defined as modding the grind selector to stepless, and swapping out the stock Bunn burrs for Ditting. Given that a wide range of selection and best possible burrs are good things, it's an appealing thought.

Five Bunnzilla questions:

• 1. Does the grind selector on the stock Trifecta grinder do sufficiently fine gradation that it might as well be stepless? Afterall, the brew methods we're talking about aren't terribly demanding in that sense.
  2. What's involved in converting to stepless?
  3. Assuming parts are involved, how much do they cost?
  4. How much do the Ditting burrs cost? And
  5. Are Ditting burrs really that much better than new, stock Bunn burrs?

I'll call Bunn to get their advice as to whether or not a Trifecta chute is (a) a good thing for my uses, and (b) what's involved in changing a G1 chute to a Trifecta if I do go G1 and/or Bunnzilla.

The lowest street price for a stock, new, black G1 is $710 (katom), it might be impossible to stay near that price buying something extra. So far, I don't know for sure whether the conversion kit is stock in the box for any G grinder; nor have I yet been able to find a standalone conversion kit online to get a price.

The lowest street price for a stock, new, gray (stainless?) G2 Trifecta is $810 (also katom).

BDL

With the Trifecta plate installed you are basically stepless. The plate has 27 detents but the adjuster will stay set between those. Ditting KF804 burrs were $300 a pair last I heard. The standard G chute works just fine if you grind into a small bowl.

Start here: Why do bulk grinders produce a superior grind for non espresso preparation? Read all my posts on the next couple pages of that thread for details on the swap.

Bunnzilla is the best of both worlds, and since the burrs will be new, you can buy a used G series (since the motor will essentially last forever) you don't need to worry about any other part of the grinder being used. You can build the best non espresso grinder for around $500. The G series regularly pop up on Craigslist in large urban areas for around $200 +/-. I'd personally rather buy it used, clean up the coffee powder and oils that have caked up inside the burr mount, swap out the burrs with new ones, and have basically a brand new Ditting class grinder for around $500. It's a win/win as well, because the auger and front facing burrs completely eliminate popcorning.

I don't know what the 804 burrs would create at a fine grind, but my 1203 is now my go to espresso grinder as well. So, in the long run, I've come full circle, my brew grinder now is my everything grinder, and it does a better job at both espresso and drip, than anything I've ever seen or tested.

TomC wrote: So, in the long run, I've come full circle, my brew grinder now is my everything grinder, and it does a better job at both espresso and drip, than anything I've ever seen or tested.

Better at an espresso grind then your HG-One??

Yep! You called me out, but I think Kaminski was right. I'll likely sell the HG-One. The big @ss 120mm machined burrs on the Ditting just make better espresso. Greater depth of all flavor notes, less harshness, more sweetness, etc. I just sold the Duetto a few minutes ago, maybe I should buy a VST refractometer now, and play with extraction measurements. I know on the EK-43, it was 98mm turkish burrs, not their standard burrs, and I have no comparison to make since I haven't tried a shot from the 98mm turkish, but the 120 flat's from Ditting do the job so phenomenally well, I'm content to use it as my grinder for both tasks. The step-less rotation of the 1203 makes switching between the two very quick and painless.

From a purely taste standpoint, why do you prefer the Ditting to the stock burrs?

BDL

It's a bit hard for me to make a fair comparison, since I owned both a brand new G1 with obviously brand new burrs, and also the Ditting 1203 with brand new machined burrs, but the machined burrs came at a separate time. I sold the G1 before I bought the new machined burrs for the Ditting, but when I had the Ditting with the cast burrs that were well broken in and the G1 side by side, I did some blind tests, and the Ditting was my clear favorite, with the few coffees I tested. Later, after replacing the burrs on the Ditting, I noticed more grind consistency, at all ranges, with a slightly brighter cup characteristic, but overall, the grind consistency was the most noticeable difference. I think these big flat burrs are just better designed at making unimodal grind particles. I don't think there's a commonly sold grinder out there with burrs bigger than 120mm, at least not one that you could place in a kitchen.