I have been using my Hg one now for three months with after market TiN burrs. During the first fortnight that I had it I ran two batches of instant rice through it. Originally as far as I could tell each turn of the handle ground about 400 mg of beans. After the rice treatment it went to about 800 mg per turn. Since then there has been a gradual increase in efficiency. It now grinds most beans quite close to 1 gram per turn. There no longer seems to be any more increase in grinding efficiency in the last month or so.

It grinds large beans like Pacamara slightly less efficiently.

It has always ground with amazing reproducibility. It is still a delight to use.

Thanks for that info. Have you tried any really tough beans and bright roasts (Liberica or others)? I'm very intrigued by this grinder but I pretty much never drink dark roast italian style espresso and I'm told it can be hard to use with my kind of coffee.

I tend never to use dark roast coffee either. It is, of course, easier to turn when the beans are approaching being cremated! My normal roast is what one might call medium.

What I really like about the machine is its quality of construction and lack of low quality parts. Even the handles are made of metal.

It also looks great.

I'm pondering the HG one, but am concerned about workflow efficiency. I pull 4-5 doubles every AM, and make one or two lattes... and get kids to school, dog walked, myself to work, etc...

How do you find the overall efficiency as compared to a motorized grinder? Right now my Vario takes around 10 seconds directly into the portafilter. I really like the simplicity of a the HG one, but am worried my workflow will take a hit. Any thoughts / comments appreciated.

Barry

I switched from a Vario to an HG-one, and I didn't notice that my routine was appreciably slowed down. You might see more of a difference if you dose purely by the automatic time buttons. But if you are single-dosing both the Vario and the HG-one, then the overall time is about the same. Once broken in, it will probably take 10-20 seconds to turn the crank, depending on the dose size you prefer. The HG-one, however, will be far more consistent once you have dialed it in, so you will waste fewer shots on that account. In the entire context of pulling back to back shots and other drinks, I don't find that grinding is my rate-limiting step.

But of course, all of this is relevant to my usage pattern, which involves pulling shots on a lever machine which takes time to depressurize, and being fussy about exact doses. If you are using a pump machine and you want to pull a shot each minute, and you have the workflow skills to make that happen, then you should probably look at a doserless conical, keep the hopper filled up, and purge as needed to deal with retention issues. Personally, even when I have a dinner party and am making shots for 6-8 guests, I enjoy going slowly and talking with them about the coffee while making drinks, so I don't mind taking 3-4 minutes per drink.

Texas_Toast wrote:I'm pondering the HG one, but am concerned about workflow efficiency. I pull 4-5 doubles every AM, and make one or two lattes... and get kids to school, dog walked, myself to work, etc...

How do you find the overall efficiency as compared to a motorized grinder? Right now my Vario takes around 10 seconds directly into the portafilter. I really like the simplicity of a the HG one, but am worried my workflow will take a hit. Any thoughts / comments appreciated.

Barry

As a fellow "waitlister" and fellow Texan with two small kids, this would be of no concern to me. Admittedly, I have been waiting for my HG One and haven't gotten it yet. However, I think that the ceremony/ritual aspect trumps time every time. Just have one fewer shot (if you're pressed for seconds) and enjoy the process (and quality in the cup).