peacecup wrote:
But the hausgrind really is top-notch, and I expect these refinements to make it even better. Tom, when you get the chance, can you try the simple blind test of the new hausgrind versus the HG 1? I'd love to see the results.

PC

Funny you mention it Jack. Saturday was supposed to be the day a friend of mine came over and we were going to run simple triangular cupping assessments of grinder capability that then lead towards blind cuppings of various coffees. First to isolate just the grinder, then to assess the quality of the different coffees. But his girlfriends schedule change threw in a last minute monkey wrench and we'll have to reschedule after I get back from the SCAA.

But it was actually going to be the Hausgrind (Clyde) against the Ditting 1203. I lost interest in putting the footwork down on comparing the Hausgrind against a Titan espresso grinder, because it seems so futile. You know before going into it who's going to trample the other.

Late Saturday night ( Im writing this at the crack of dawn Sunday morning) I swapped in the newer upgraded shaft with finer pitched threads for finer control. The fit and tolerances of things are remarkably tighter as well. I then dialed in briefly one espresso blend. The second shot had the temp right on the Strega, and it made a fine americano, but a lot of highlights that are present in the coffee on either the big Ditting or HG-One, are clipped off and missing on the Hausgrind.

The Hausgrind would make perfectly serviceable and delicious espresso on a machine that can excel with a slightly coarser grind and its easy to do, no bracing required; or if you want to drag a small portable lever like a Cremina to a party and be able to provide delicious drinks in a reasonably portable manner, but they're not going to blow your mind if you're comparing them to a Titan grade grinder. I'd bet 9 out of 10 random people would find the shots quite fine if they were served blind. Hand them the same shot ground thru a K10 or equivalent, and the story would no doubt change.

I like having this new finer control knob for more precise control to dial in, but I've only had it for two days, so I haven't mastered anything.

The all aluminum design is robust and impressive. The way the grinds just glide right out of the cup is a pleasure to see.

TomC wrote:The Hausgrind would make perfectly serviceable and delicious espresso on a machine that can excel with a slightly coarser grind and its easy to do, no bracing required; or if you want to drag a small portable lever like a Cremina to a party and be able to provide delicious drinks in a reasonably portable manner, but they're not going to blow your mind if you're comparing them to a Titan grade grinder.

I found the Hausgrind easy to use whether grinding for the Speedster or the Cremina. No stop/start issues even when I ground fine enough to choke the Speedster. Shots produced looked great & had a nice creamy mouthfeel but compared to preparing the same shots using the K10 the distinctive flavors of each blend/Single Origin just weren't there. This isn't surprising; no one should expect 38mm-40mm conical burrs to compare favorably against 68mm & larger conicals in the espresso range. Using a chocolatey comfort food blend I'm sure most owners would be happy with the shots.

All black aluminum with red dial: http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.ph ... post172396

Black widow! I like it--can't wait for the grinders to become available

I just got the batch #3 confirmation of my 2 hausgrind, but I decide not to purchase them since my LIDO 2 was not as good as my expectation and the hausgrind was at about the same level as the LIDO 2 and my Peugeot RIC with some mods made better coffee than my LIDO 2 did. I also purchased a Rosco for espresso, so I don't need hausgrind anymore. Besides, I don't like the bad communications and lack of credit of Madebyknock. I don't even trust the date mentioned in this confirmation.

bakafish wrote:I just got the batch #3 confirmation of my 2 hausgrind, but I decide not to purchase them since my LIDO 2 was not as good as my expectation and the hausgrind was at about the same level as the LIDO 2 and my Peugeot RIC with some mods made better coffee than my LIDO 2 did. I also purchased a Rosco for espresso, so I don't need hausgrind anymore. Besides, I don't like the bad communications and lack of credit of Madebyknock.

The LIDO 2 and Hausgrind are apples and oranges. Each has different, but significant strengths. But if you have a Rosco, it sounds like you're all set for hand grinding at any range.

Too bad about the drop off in communication. I haven't reached out to him since just before the SCAA, and he was insanely busy and dealing with some significant hurdles that could crush any small business. But he's still cranking them out. It's not uncommon for someone to get over their head when it comes to a small scale operation that hand makes a popular gadget, and forget that the lack of communication hurts the brands future, but pretty much every single post I've seen on Facebook and elsewhere, when folks finally get them, they are very happy with them.

I sold my Ditting 1203 last Wednesday and all I'm using for non-espresso is the Hausgrind. I love it, and I'm glad to not have a 3 foot tall 90 pound grinder taking up precious space in my tiny apartment. It's certainly not hurting my brewing experience.

TomC wrote:...
Too bad about the drop off in communication. I haven't reached out to him since just before the SCAA, and he was insanely busy and dealing with some significant hurdles that could crush any small business. But he's still cranking them out. It's not uncommon for someone to get over their head when it comes to a small scale operation that hand makes a popular gadget, and forget that the lack of communication hurts the brands future, but pretty much every single post I've seen on Facebook and elsewhere, when folks finally get them, they are very happy with them.

The communication part sucks at the beginning but when you start learning more about the high end coffee world it is freaking impressive that products like the Hausgrind and Lido2 even exist. I think it is great that both companies shared their product info while it was still being developed and offered pre-orders. However, that opened them up to impatient people with unrealistic expectations. I'd be nice if posters exercised more restraint.

TomC wrote: I sold my Ditting 1203 last Wednesday and all I'm using for non-espresso is the Hausgrind. I love it, and I'm glad to not have a 3 foot tall 90 pound grinder taking up precious space in my tiny apartment. It's certainly not hurting my brewing experience.

Wow! Having my Lideux doesn't make me want to upgrade performance (taste) wise, but I do love the idea of owning another hand made grinder. I also dig the Hausgrind looks. I'll probably order one once they are 'in stock'

beer&mathematics wrote:The communication part sucks at the beginning but when you start learning more about the high end coffee world it is freaking impressive that products like the Hausgrind and Lido2 even exist. I think it is great that both companies shared their product info while it was still being developed and offered pre-orders. However, that opened them up to impatient people with unrealistic expectations. I'd be nice if posters exercised more restraint.

Until today's update, it was more than 2 1/2 months since anyone heard a peep out of Knock online other than a single tweet about a new shed in May. The Facebook wall is full of unanswered complaints and questions about tamper orders being delayed for months. Someone even asked if Knock is still in business last month and got no reply. I think most people have exercised a perfectly normal level of restraint with a company that completely ceased communication for such a long period of time. The only reason we still knew he was making grinders is because of vague second hand reports of conversations at trade shows. Throughout this there has always been an extremely high level of unwavering support for Knock here and especially on UK-based forums.

I had a sole proprietorship business once upon a time, long before internet communication, and even then I found it difficult to meet customer expectations. I've met Peter and I know he's giving it more than 100%, so I'm sure he'll get over this hurdle. The hausgrind is an inspired and very functional product (as are the Lido and Rosco I'm sure). Once Knock gets through these growing pains I think there will be a lot of satisfied customers with hausgrinds in hand. I'm loving mine every day - I've never enjoyed hand grinding more.

PC

TomC wrote:The LIDO 2 and Hausgrind are apples and oranges.

For the design, build quality, and use, absolutely yes. For the grind consistency and taste, I don't know, but only got the information from this forum.