I choose the unusual word intentionally. I cannot fully explain but I can give some details that perhaps will interest others. The purchase of this grinder took a slightly different path from previous upgrades. I moved from a Mazzer Mini to a Fiorenzato Doge 63 (flat burr), after reading the Titan Grinder Project, expecting an improvement in taste and was pleased to experience a clear taste difference. When I added a Doge Conico, again based on the TGP, I expected and tasted a difference. I have used both grinders on alternating 3 month periods for 4 years because I like the different taste each produces. When I read the initial review of the HG one I decided to wait for a second generation which I just purchased. I did not really expect any significant taste change from the Doge Conico. After a week with the HG one I do taste a subtle difference but think it is too early to be come to any conclusion. I have in earlier posts advocated for elegance and clarity in taste and I note a slight improvement in elegance/clarity with the HG one vs. the Conico.

One of the much more noticeable elements of using the HG one is the pleasure of using it. Each time I grind some beans I note the experienceof groinding itself. I think I expected to like grinding by hand on this grinder but I did not imagine how much I would enjoy the process itself. In find the feel of the grinding process very pleasurable as well as informative of the state of the coffee. Using really well-designed and well-made tools has a unique pleasure and the HG one provides this so well.

A third factor that is apparent from the moment I pulled it out of the box is the beauty of the tool itself. I am very much taken with the Bauhaus elegance it exudes. This came as much a surprise as did seeing Vermeer's Milkmaid in person did after having seen pictures of it for years. Being in the presence of some things cannot be captured in photographs.

Mine is due to arrive Monday... I can't wait.

And my name is Karl too! LOL

I have had my Hg one now for around two months. I have the model with the aftermarket TiN burrs. I still have nothing but praise for it. This is a piece of espresso equipment that does not immediately send me to my metal working shop to modify it! It is built the way it should be as it comes from the box. The handles are even metal, not cheap plastic!

Two or three days after I got it I ground 800 grams of instant rice. (If you do this, save the ground rice it makes the most amazingly good breakfast cereal.) This reduced the number of turns required to grind 14 grams from a bit over 30 to about 25. A week or so later I ground another 800 gram batch, that reduced it to about 20 turns. Since then I have only ground coffee. With most roasts I use it takes about 18 to 19 turns now to grind 14 grams. Large beans like Pacamara take only a turn or two extra. For a while the setting for the perfect pull kept shifting slowly to smaller numbers. It seems very stable now.

I mist the beans very lightly to deal with static charge rather than use the little supplied brush. I also use a chopstick to stir the ground coffee before putting it in the filter basket. Because I use La Pavoni machines or an MCAL, I always load the filter basket outside the portafilter.

It grinds amazingly consistently. It does not have an electric motor to burn out! (I have an intensely strong dislike for needlessly electric kitchen devices!!!)

It is also a beautiful thing!

Recommendation: If you should choose to grind instant rice, put the grinder on the floor on a carpet or rug and grind it there. It is FAR easier that way.

Robert,

I am much on the same page as you. I also chose the aftermarket TiN burr set but decided to try the burrs on coffee beans from the start. I was pleasantly surprised to find the grind experience so positive that I felt no need to season the burrs. As I indicated above I find the lived experience of grinding with this machine so enjoyable that I neither count grind revolutions nor time the grinding. Actually the one time component I notice is that compared to both of my Titan grinders the time from dumping beans into the grinder to the tamped basket is clearly less with the HG one. I spend a lot of time cleaning out the chute between the burrs and the doser on the Titans that is unnecessary with the HG one. I frequently change between kinds of beans so my routine may be part of the culprit on the slower Titan times.

I very much agree with your approval of the HG one handles. I have upgraded handles from Les Abjerg (Thor Tampers) and Café Kultur on two Creminas, my Microcasa a leva and Maximatic.

I anticipated wanting wood handles on the HG one but like you find the standard ones really fine.

I too have noted a shifting to finer settings as I use the burrs. The consistency of grind is as good as either of my Titan grinders.

KS

rpavlis wrote: I have the model with the aftermarket TiN burrs. [snip] It is built the way it should be as it comes from the box. The handles are even metal, not cheap plastic!

Two or three days after I got it I ground 800 grams of instant rice. [snip] This reduced the number of turns required to grind 14 grams from a bit over 30 to about 25. [snip] another 800 gram batch, that reduced it to about 20 turns. [snip]. With most roasts I use it takes about 18 to 19 turns now to grind 14 grams. [snip] For a while the setting for the perfect pull kept shifting slowly to smaller numbers. It seems very stable now.

[snip]

It grinds amazingly consistently. [snip].

The ONLY problem I ever had with the Hg one was the one I received had had the handle socket tapped with a tapered tap instead of a bottoming one so it was impossible to screw in the handle. I simply ran the appropriate bottoming tap down the bore and it was fine. (More than fine-perfect!) The fact that a single machine can have an error of this sort is a positive thing. It indicates how these machines are individually built. Fortunately I was the one that got this machine, as most people do not have a metal working setup available to them.

Lever machines, contrary to popular belief, can be absolutely reproducible, and ARE, in fact, if one simply be meticulous. (About EVERYTHING involved!) If one couple an Hg-one with a good lever machine, use consistent beans, and use "compounded" water, everything can be controlled. If the espresso turn out bad it then is the fault of the barista only!

One of the much more noticeable elements of using the HG one is the pleasure of using it. Each time I grind some beans I note the experienceof groinding itself. I think I expected to like grinding by hand on this grinder but I did not imagine how much I would enjoy the process itself. In find the feel of the grinding process very pleasurable as well as informative of the state of the coffee. Using really well-designed and well-made tools has a unique pleasure and the HG one provides this so well.

Welcome back to the fold KS. I get a lot of feedback from the beans during the grinding process using the hausgrind. It too is a fantastic tool and can be held with one hand while grinding with the other. The beechwood version I have feels great, and I find myself wanting to grind coffee. I would also like to try the walnut version - that is a very special wood. Peter Kilpatrick, a lever forum member from the early days, makes these grinders in Scotland from precision cut stainless steel and wood. I have a matching beech tamper, and the pair just make espresso preparation so pleasurable.

PC,

I have looked at those grinders and they seem really special. I am very much with you on the virtues of hand-made espresso. The machine-made can be quite good but nothing compares, in my mind, to hand ground on a fine grinder and lever pulled. It is not about numbers but about feel and taste.

KS

Hi Karl,

Thank you for your kind words. Very high praise coming from a luthier.

Paul of course had to explain the term to me, but of course he would know.

Craig

My Hg one, which I have had now since early July, has always been a pleasure to use. At this point, with some beans, each turn of the handle comes close to grinding a gram of coffee beans! When guests see it sitting on the counter they stop and look at it!

With very lightly misted beans there is practically no retention.

It enhances my belief that high quality manual devices are far better than their junk quality electrical analogues, and beyond that, are generally better than high quality electrical things as well.

rpavlis wrote:It enhances my belief that high quality manual devices are far better than their junk quality electrical analogues, and beyond that, are generally better than high quality electrical things as well.

Amen, Robert! I suppose there is a place for electric grinders etc...if, for example, you have both arms in a cast or something... But in general, the hands-on approach to most things gives me a far more satisfying result than any other practice. As far as I'm concerned, the HG-1 is a perfect grinder and will last many lifetimes.