I am looking at purchasing a ditting kr804, and was wondering what peoples experience have been with them? I would be using it primarily for brewed and filtered coffee, and in particular it was claims to greater particle consistency that have drawn me towards it, especially for pour over.

How does it compare to the ek43? Certainly has a more kitchen friendly footprint

Maybe 4 brew grinders ago I had a KF804. I'm using an EK at the moment. Are you buying used or new? There isn't much difference price wise when buying new, in which case I like the EK if you have the space. Used, I would say 804 hands down, all the easier given that used EKs are few and far between. A new EK will double the price of a used 804, but will only present a incremental difference in your brewing if you leave everything else as is.

I've found the EK to be more focused than other grinders. I use it to isolate a narrow range of flavores, and then select a brew method that balances the rest of the cup out. If you aren't going to use the EK for espresso/coffee shot shenanigans, I wouldn't find it that much more interesting than the Ditting.

I don't know where you are with brew skills, and I'm not going to claim to be a competitive brewer. However, feeling like a broken record, I'll say that there is a whole lot more that can be achieved by the brewer than there is to be achieved by moving from one high quality grinder to another. If you're dropping 2K+ on a brew grinder and want to talk cup quality differences, you owe it to yourself to be proficient with as many different brew techniques as you can get you hands on. I apologize for being lecture-y, but this kind of question is often asked without any nod to the context in which it is posed (i.e. the skill level and taste preferences of the brewer).

I am looking at a used KR804, if I could afford new and had the bench space I too would opt for the ek43. My brew skills aren't particularly good yet, but coffee is a passion and I will no doubt learn. I wouldn't be using it for espresso as I already have outstanding grinders for that purpose, but hope to get the most out of my filter.

Even allowing for the purchase of new burrs it comes in at about a third the cost of a new ek43, and it certainly is a lot more kitchen friendly.

So while by no means an experienced brewer yet, I hope to be, and if I consider espresso a learning experience I might as well start at the top end rather than upgrading numerous times to get ther

stilloutthere wrote:So while by no means an experienced brewer yet, I hope to be, and if I consider espresso a learning experience I might as well start at the top end rather than upgrading numerous times to get ther

I think this is very much true for espresso grinders, a $1500 K10PB is all a committed home user would ever need (some might want more). Brewing isn't the same. There is a lot more space for the brewer's hand and palate to effect what ends up in the cup. Huge $2000 grinders are not even remotely necessary, and there is no big conical bump to be had. Given a couple $100 worth of brew grinder, anything you aren't getting out of your brew is either your fault, your beans', or the fault of your water. The best brew I get is from a place with a gas flame heated siphon and a sub $300 Kalita Nice Cut style grinder w/ regular flat burrs. It's the owners ability to pick the right beans and use his kit to get what he wants from them that yields such great cups.

That being said, if you have to go big, I think a used 804 is an excellent value under $750 USD. Compact, convenient to use (single dosing only), great for cupping, insanely durable, and the folks at Ditting are as nice as they come. A Bunnzilla probably has it beat on $/cup, but Dittings are a real pleasure to use and own.

Also, I think it needs to be said that the EK isn't a kingmaker. It's a different route that has its own merits and drawbacks. You really have to want to be drinking the coffee that it makes, because it doesn't have a talent for making something else, and it will make you work while trying to do so.

As an EK43 owner, I would just like to say that it's an absolutely lovely drip grinder. It's overkill, and it's huge, but if you want that last bit of performance, it's great. I have no potential for upgrade lust. Versus my old Vario with steel brew burrs, it's a noticeable but not mind-blowing improvement.

I find entry-level burr grinders to be entirely inadequate, for my palate/technique, anyway. Realistically, something like a Lido 2 is the sweet spot (or Preciso/Virtuoso, Forte BG, or Vario w/ steel), even for enthusiasts, but if you want to go all out, the EK is there. The KR804 should be absolutely adequate.

I have very mixed opinions on the EK as an espresso grinder, so I would keep your evaluations based on its drip performance. I thought I might be able to replace my HG One, but, alas, that is not an option if I want to be able to reliably achieve brew ratios above around 40%.

NoStream wrote:The KR804 should be absolutely adequate

I think this is at best an understatement.