The most important aspect for me is the single dose.
I would prefer an electric grinder and was looking at the Versalab M3, but the price seems to have gone up to $1985 on their website and I think I recall reading some recent topics that questioned the quality of the build.

Right now, I'm eyeing the OE Pharos and the HG One. Both of which seem to produce to excellent grinds.
My indecision comes from wanting an electric grinder since I'm not sure I can consciously spin the burrs in the morning hours.

If anyone knows of a happy medium somewhere with single dose in mind and electric powered, I'd be grateful to know what that grinder is.

If there isn't, the current plan is to go for the OE Pharos because the grind quality for value is too good to pass up.
If I manage to miss their stock for several weeks, I'll either go for the HG One or continue to stare at the Versalab site hoping the price goes down.

Thanks.

I have the Pharos, the Lido 2 and a Baratza Vario. The Pharos is great, but I do tire of the manual grinding.

I single dose exclusively with the Baratza Vario and I am very happy with the results. Some may have concerns about popcorning, but it isn't too bad and I don't taste any real difference between filling the hopper and single doses. (Unfortunately there are other prep issues that have a bigger impact on taste... )

If manual isn't your thing, I would recommend the Vario. Otherwise, the Pharos a great grinder, especially considering its cost.

My first question would be how many drinks would you make on a typical week day? How many at most? Then I'd probably vote for the Baratza Vario as well, until the Pharos design gets updated. Or if you can add the Voodoodaddy mods, it's way better to work with. Both of these grinders should make epic coffee and keep you happy for years of experimenting (plenty of time to find that steal-of-a-deal on a K10 WBC).

Honestly, I'm not sure how much I would drink per day.

Maybe twice on average a weekday and five at most on a weekend?

At the moment, I have to go quite a bit out of the way for a good cup of espresso; other nearby places have ended up being quite sour because their primary focus is less on coffee and more on their bakery or whatever shop they might be attached to.

The Vario does seem like it would be the best for single dose, if nothing else comes up, I'll probably make this my purchase.
I think I'll sit on it a bit before I decide, however.

As for the K10, it seems like I would have to lose quite a bit of coffee in the process of using it, doser or no. Would it be practical?

If I get serious upgrade-itis, I might eventually go for the HG One.
I'm getting the impression the the Versalab M3 has potential quality issues, but that could be from people praising Terranova's mods compared to unmodded.

I have a Versalab which I've had since they first came out. I have had no issues with it at all, grinding several shots a day. Single shot, no retention, excellent distribution. It's worked very well for me. Go to the Versalab threads here. You'll find a few dissatisfied users - but mostly people who are pleased with their purchase. I recently had a person offer me almost what I paid for the Versalab originally. I turned it down. There really wasn't a good alternative.

Get a K10, mod it for single-dosing - which is fairly easy. It's the last grinder you'll ever need. Is it perfect? No. But, can you live with the bumping and grinding? YES and, I would say, more easily than living with manually grinding for EVERY espresso.

I'll put in a vote for the HG-one. I got one, thinking I'd use it side-by-side with my Vario, and I ended up selling off the Vario and using the HG-one full-time. Once you get used to it the whole process is very fast, and the taste improvement over the Vario is significant. It is also quieter, prettier, and more satisfying to use (as least for me). I regularly use it to grind out numerous shots for small dinner parties without a problem (with pre-measured doses). I cannot imagine ever wanting to trade it for something with a motor unless I was opening a coffee shop.

I also own a Pharos, and I use it as an office espresso grinder, but I wouldn't want to use it as a daily driver without the VD mods, and even with those, I think the HG-one would still be much more pleasant to use.

I have a stock OE Pharos. It's a fantastic grinder, and at the price they sell it for, it's a steal.

Having said that, getting the grinds out is a pain in the ass. I shake it with a cup over the opening until everything comes out. It takes about 30 seconds of shaking and banging, and grind retention is around 0.2 g which is acceptable, but I am brainstorming a way to handle grinds better without doing something as extreme as the voodoodaddy mod. I'd like to keep it as stock as possible.

If you agree with many HB guys that a conical grinder (i.e Robur, K10 etc) does not need weight from above to get the max taste out of your beans, also if you think that taste does not correlate with extraction yield, which is definitely less (e.y) when single dosing vs filled hopper.

Also, if you are aware that alignment plays the bigger role in getting a bimodul particlesize and distribution than the influence of just burr size and it's geometry to get to this bimodul range.

If you don't like to turn the wheel on a hand grinder, but you are willing to spend a bit more than you would spend on a HG One.

If you don't have 2 left hands and got some friends who might help you and are slightly talented in tinkering.

Having with some pioneer spirit...

Then this kit could be the gadget of your choice. (Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course)


http://www.tidaka.net/de/Kaffeemuehle-CB1.html

Spitz.me wrote:Get a K10, mod it for single-dosing - which is fairly easy. It's the last grinder you'll ever need.

I agree