As hankua said, I have a 600N. I've had it for about 4 or 5 years now.

First off, I don't think it's what the original poster is looking for because it's about one of the fugliest grinders produced anywhere in the world.

As far as grinding goes, the 80:20 ratio Doug talks about for French press seems right to me. I use a fine, mesh sieve to screen my ground coffee, and I get around 11-13% fines with the sieve I use, depending on the coffee. The coffee you make with it will taste just fine. I find all of these within reason for French press. I find all of these famazing for 100USD, as I think it'll outlast anything else on the market at that price point. What I don't know is how it would compare to the Baratza Maestro or Virtuoso, but Baratza is prohibitively expensive in Taiwan, so it isn't even an option for most people here.

It does well for AeroPress grinding as well. It's much better at fine grinding than at coarse grinding. Many small restaurants here use it for their vac pots, but that really doesn't mean anything other than it is at least adequate. Someone else will have to try it out for vac pot and manual pourover as I don't have either of those methods.

Other than the appearance, my main complaint is the static. DON'T grind into the little plastic box it comes with. I hold a stainless steel cup underneath, and that seems to work just fine. Grind retention is ~ 0.1-0.2g at a French press setting, and ~0.3-0.4g at an AeroPress setting.

Having said all that, I use mine only for French press in the winter (I'm having a cup as I type this). I use a Kyocera CM-45 hand grinder for my AeroPress grinding because I feel it's similar enough. I've had one hand grinder do a passable French press grind, but the 600N still tasted better, so that's why I use it. I have an OE PFP bearing kit for my semi-useless Hario Skerton, so I'll have to make some time to assemble that and see if it can turn a dud into a dude.

I think Yang Chia's (Feima) 206N and 207N are the ones with the ghost teeth.

OK. Here's where it stands. After some research, it appeared that the Breville, Baratza were roughly equal contenders. The KitchenAid was excellent, except for its burrs which were soft and sloppy and lack of fine adjustment. Doug's lack of enthusiasm for the Tiamo was infectious.

I couldn't decide between the Breville and Baratza, and since the Royal was and is in no hurry to get here, I put the matter off, telling my wife I couldn't make up my mind and to hell with it. Thinking it was my heart's desire, my wife ordered the KitchenAid without telling me. She unpacked it when it arrived while I was doing something which seemed important at the time.

The KitchenAid is a sexy onyx black, feels solid, looks great in our coffee room, and I'm not man enough to tell my wife she read my mind incorrectly. So far, "Gift of the Magi," right?

Considering its limited purpose and how infrequently it will be used, it could work. Maybe the pre-set click stops will be in the sweet spots. Maybe KA will replace my burrs for free every 8 months, or maybe they'll come out with a harder burr set. Maybe.

Maybe the Fed will extend credit to Europe, the EUB, IMF and various national European banks will get a clue, the Chinese will ease, and the market will go up 490 points.

One never knows, do one?

BDL