I'm putting the Feldgrind thru its paces. Here's a quick look at Knock's latest addition, a lightweight but solid portable grinder.



It comes well packed and padded, secured well in a cardboard tube (not shown) and then another outer bag as well.



Contents.



I was surprised by just how light weight it actually is.



Hausgrind by comparison.



Great texture on the body for a nice grip, which will likely avoid visible scuffs and abuse as an added measure.



It's easy to see the grind setting, the adjustment is pretty straightforward. Loading the beans is even easier than the Hausgrind, since there is no handle or upper support in the way.




The handle pops on quickly and easily.



When not in use, it slips under the rubber straps for a nice compact package.



Comparison of the knobs.



Size comparison.



The slip fit between the top and bottom isn't as snug as the Hausgrind, but the seat itself is a few mm taller internally, so I doubt it would ever accidentally come off. It made a squeaky chirping sound when it was first separated, a few times but seems to be diminishing. The handle bears a higher degree of polish than the early Hausgrind's, but I was reviewing prototypes then and that might not have translated to the final versions. No breakable glass and a finish that will hide scuffs gives me a lot of confidence in using it for a daily use portable grinder. The weight savings are quite nice too.

Easy to grind with no bracing required. It's just as fast as the Hausgrind (same burr diameter) and produces a consistent grind.

Nice unboxing post, Tom (thanks). I'm looking forward to hearing more.

jbviau wrote:I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Me too. I would especially like to know how the grind and taste in the cup compare with other hand grinders in your collection.

Thanks!

At the moment, I'm sipping on a stellar Kenya Kamwangi from Kuma Coffee that I ground on the Feldgrind a few minutes ago. I noted a few things.

1) It's easier to grind, effort wise than even the Hausgrind, even with a shorter handle. No bracing or weird posturing for either of the Knock grinders. Just grab and grind. I actually like the shorter handle.

2) I had one bean not make it down to the burrs, I just happened to glance back inside and noticed that it was stuck right above the fixed outer burr. This version doesn't have that little bar that the Hausgrind has. That bar was handy, but the risk of it coming dislodged if fiddled with could mean ruined burrs in the hands of someone negligent.

Of note, this isn't a large bean by any means either, and it was roasted very lightly, so there likely isn't much bean expansion. It's only the first time it's happened, but I'll see if it happens again and note it.

3) Flavor separation and clarity are excellent. It's a bit late tonight, but tomorrow I'll do a test with the Hausgrind, the Feldgrind and the Bunnzilla and rank them.


4) The shaft is twice as big (diameter) than the Hausgrind. There isn't even the slightest hint of wiggle. From what I understand (and I could be wrong) there's still two bearings (sealed), and they're mounted close together. It feels like a rollerblade wheel, free spinning, yet locked in place with no play at all.

5) The squealing is already almost entirely gone when separating the catch cup.

How does the handle not come off? Are the adjustment threads any different? How many turns out from 0 to drip/espresso?

Thanks

It just hasn't.

Good question about the threading, I'm not sure of the pitch. I can ask him.


* Edit- the threads are the same pitch, there's just a slightly longer length of them.

You make me want to fire up one of the levers and see. I haven't bothered trying it for espresso, since I have easier options. I did get good shots with the Hausgrind, but they didn't have the clarity and highlights of my other grinders, so I didn't jump on the espresso for the Feldgrind yet. I'll remedy that now.

TomC wrote: 3) Flavor separation and clarity are excellent. It's a bit late tonight, but tomorrow I'll do a test with the Hausgrind, the Feldgrind and the Bunnzilla and rank them.

Looking forward to this

It's espresso capable, with reservations re: bean size mainly.

First shot: Guatemala Geisha 18.5g (home-roasted) Although these beans aren't as big as most Geisha's, they still stuck in the feed path twice. I had to rap the grinder against my tamping stand in order to get the beans back into the grind path. This shot pulled too fast so was tossed.

Second shot: Ethiopia Aricha 18.5g (home roasted,smaller beans and I was almost out of my Geisha) No problems with the beans getting caught, shot was still a bit too fast, but passable. A quick sip and it went into the sink since it's late now.

Third shot: Ethiopia Chelelektu, Kuma Coffee 19g, 6 days post roast and making insanely great coffee, I figured it would be ready for espresso. Flow was initially ok, but maybe a bit too fresh, because I got a spritzer and some channeling.

Fourth shot: Back to the Aricha, 18.5g and a bit finer grind, still flowed fast, tasted bright, unbalanced and thin.

Fifth shot: Aricha 19.5g, (the Strega really needs a big dose with that powerful spring) Bingo. Excellent eye candy extraction, perfect flow. Made an incredible shot, very sweet, viscous and balanced, but flavors are a bit muted compared to the same coffee on the K10 the last few days. I steamed some milk quickly and enjoyed a stellar cappuccino as I typed this.

I'll do more tomorrow. I doubt it would have any problem with smaller spring or no spring levers, at least that was my experience with the same burr when using the Hausgrind on the Cremina. An interesting thing is that the Feldgrind seems to have less popcorning; on the Hausgrind, when it did occasionally have bean fragments hop out, they were larger pieces of bean, but on the Feldgrind, so far, it almost never does. On one shot, I saw a very tiny speck pop out but that was it.

When you hold it to grind at an espresso fineness, the catch cup gives your pinky finger a sensation that it's going to wiggle loose, but it doesn't actually come loose. There is a bit of play in the fitting, but it won't slide off. But I noted when grinding, the slight wiggle feeling made me want to grip tighter, mid-grind.

The range of adjustment is obviously stepless, and the revolution count from burr rub to the coarsest grind I'd use for pour over is exactly 2 revolutions.

My small cocktail whisk fits perfectly inside the aluminum catch cup for a quick stir, then the catch cup is a perfect pouring vessel right into the portafilter, (and Kalita wave brewers) so it's actually a very fast simple method for making espresso. The grinding effort is barely any harder than drip, no stop-starts.

Interesting. How's a burr shape? It looks like Lido's or Baratza?

Identical to the Hausgrind and Lido1. 38mm conical.