Hand grinder vs Varia VS3 or Lagom Mini?
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nickwalt
- Posts: 5
- Joined: 1 year ago
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for advice on hand grinder choice to pair with a Breville BES920. Primarily for oat-based espresso using a range of light to medium roasts from high quality local roasteries.
I typically drink double-restretto flat white in 6oz-8oz.
I'll go straight restretto without milk if the roast is sweet.
If I have a choice of dark or milk chocolate I always choose milk.
With this in mind I'm looking for a grinder that doesn't accentuate brightness but rather open lightness with good texture, sweetness and acidity around the edge rather than as a main event, unlike the high clarity (assuming higher acidity, high brightness) what many brewers are chasing.
Not a fan of thick chocolate but do like some beans that have good chocolate with fruity sweetness.
A lot of people who only drink espresso, v60 and filter will prefer grinders and burr sets that produce quite bright cups, so I'm looking for advice on what might fit my bias towards open floral sweet texture.
I'm guessing that something like the Niche might be what I'm after but if I can get close in a hand grinder (or Varia VS3) I'll go that route. However, the VS3 has 38mm burrs which are likely those used in its hand grinder and also used in some other lower midrange hand grinders which will cause it to be uncompetitive with 1Zpresso. Would be great to know more.
Candidates are 1Zpresso J-Max and K-Plus, or maybe BPlus Apollo (although unsure of taste as no-one seems to have reviewed it in-depth even though its design and manufacture is objectively better than Kinu), VS3 or Lagom Mini. Thanks.
I'm looking for advice on hand grinder choice to pair with a Breville BES920. Primarily for oat-based espresso using a range of light to medium roasts from high quality local roasteries.
I typically drink double-restretto flat white in 6oz-8oz.
I'll go straight restretto without milk if the roast is sweet.
If I have a choice of dark or milk chocolate I always choose milk.
With this in mind I'm looking for a grinder that doesn't accentuate brightness but rather open lightness with good texture, sweetness and acidity around the edge rather than as a main event, unlike the high clarity (assuming higher acidity, high brightness) what many brewers are chasing.
Not a fan of thick chocolate but do like some beans that have good chocolate with fruity sweetness.
A lot of people who only drink espresso, v60 and filter will prefer grinders and burr sets that produce quite bright cups, so I'm looking for advice on what might fit my bias towards open floral sweet texture.
I'm guessing that something like the Niche might be what I'm after but if I can get close in a hand grinder (or Varia VS3) I'll go that route. However, the VS3 has 38mm burrs which are likely those used in its hand grinder and also used in some other lower midrange hand grinders which will cause it to be uncompetitive with 1Zpresso. Would be great to know more.
Candidates are 1Zpresso J-Max and K-Plus, or maybe BPlus Apollo (although unsure of taste as no-one seems to have reviewed it in-depth even though its design and manufacture is objectively better than Kinu), VS3 or Lagom Mini. Thanks.
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nickwalt (original poster)
- Posts: 5
- Joined: 1 year ago
Ok, an update:
Decided on the 1Zpresso K-Max because the consensus is that it has a sweeter profile than the the J-Max.
Just as everyone describes, the device is a precision instrument that has an excellent level of engineering and design.
I have a Bosch 10v Brushless electric dill driver with a hex-bit, instead of a regular drill chuck, which fits the K-Max like a glove.
I dropped into Veneziano, a local roaster in West End, Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) and asked if they had any old beans I could use to season a grinder. They came out with 1.5kg (approximately 3.4lbs) - brilliant! Thank you, Venz!
So, here are some images of the grinder with drill attached.
Decided on the 1Zpresso K-Max because the consensus is that it has a sweeter profile than the the J-Max.
Just as everyone describes, the device is a precision instrument that has an excellent level of engineering and design.
I have a Bosch 10v Brushless electric dill driver with a hex-bit, instead of a regular drill chuck, which fits the K-Max like a glove.
I dropped into Veneziano, a local roaster in West End, Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) and asked if they had any old beans I could use to season a grinder. They came out with 1.5kg (approximately 3.4lbs) - brilliant! Thank you, Venz!
So, here are some images of the grinder with drill attached.
