What i look for: Advise to get a new grinder

CONTEXT: So far i had been using a hand grinder (1zpresso JX-Pro) without any issue for everything from espresso (with a cafelat robot) to french press... but some weeks ago i got a temporaty injury on my wrist and i was unable to grind! i needed to be asking people to please grind for me... to i don't get deprivation crisis!

I remember coffee from a flat burr (mine is conical) and i enjoyed it, but i never compared side to side and there must be some bias that push me to look for options for espresso and single dosing.

BUDGET: 1K (i'm really stretching it to 1k, 1.5k is already waaaaaaay too much for me) i would dedicate it just to espresso

OPTIONS I HAD SEEN: First i looked for a Niche Zero, i have seen several bad reviews about QC and awful support, considering i'm in Chile the chance to get support here it's basically zero and shippings aren't cheap and avaliability is crap...

So far i'm thinking about a Kopi Deva (i backed the project and i can retract within a week...) it's about my budget and can get red SSP burrs (high uniformity ones) also batteries... so far there are few reviews, but looks promising.

Would you recommend me a different model? should i just keep the JX-Pro and buy better coffee or invest on an indexed fund instead?

IDK what your level of exacting is for your coffee, but there are plenty of options that will make a great French press under $1,000.

In Chile, I'd stay with big brands, especially ones that have official partners, because it would be near impossible to get support otherwise in case anything goes wrong.

A Baratza Virtuoso will be way under your budget and sells locally (it's actually surprisingly close to US price, I knew Chile was better than Brazil in that regard, I just didn't know that it was that much better!).

https://www.cafestore.cl/products/molin ... virtuoso-1

If you want a flat burr, the same store has the Eureka Mignon Crono. I'm not sure how it will fare for French Press, though.

I misread your post. You need something for both ends (espresso and French press). Even then, if you have the space, getting two specialized grinders under $500 each may give you better results than a single on under $1000.

I love the Baratza Sette 270 for espresso. You can get it for fewer than 400k pesos, 500k for the Wi model (which is worth the difference in price). It's not a single doser, but has really low retention that makes it very adequate for it.

Then a fellow Ode with the original burrs might be perfect for your French press. I just don't know what kind of support you'd get in Chile for it, but it will give great results out of the box and you can experiment with SSP burrs later.

Thanks Luis, Actually i would like to just get grinder for espresso, since i have de hand grinder i could dedicate that one to other methods.

Do you still think the 270Wi could be the best i could get for under 1k?

I have a Sette 270 for several years. I'm happy with it for espresso.

Note that it has had issues

1. a microswitch (the burr carrier twists into the grinder and is supposed to activate the switch to allow grinding)... can also be fixed by putting masking tape on the part of the carrier that bumps the switch

2. plastic gearset wear

In both cases I had the issue fixed at no cost to me regardless of warranty period.

3. noisy (louder and at a higher pitch than my Envore or Bunn G1)

Personally, I single dose all espresso using the 270. I wouldn't bother with paying extra for the weigh scale if you plan on single dosing.

Snidel337 wrote: Do you still think the 270Wi could be the best i could get for under 1k?

I don't know. There are better things under your budget (Eureka Mignon comes to mind, if you want flat, or Niche if you want single dosing). But I used the constraint of being serviceable / having some kind of warranty in Chile (which probably rules the Niche out).

Should i observe a quality improvement going from a manual grinder as the one i have (1zpresso JX-Pro) to any of those options? or it's mostly a convinence thing?

Interested in this question too.

OP understand for every ONE QC or service issue you hear about on Facebook/forums about the Niche, there are a thousand silent owners with perfect grinders and great service. It would be the ideal grinder for your scenario of espresso use or French press use; and the backing is only getting stronger. I would email niche and share your concerns about QC/service since you're in Chile and see what their response is before writing off the Niche

Snidel337 wrote:Should i observe a quality improvement going from a manual grinder as the one i have (1zpresso JX-Pro) to any of those options? or it's mostly a convinence thing?

Convenience probably. But convenience can be pretty important for those days when you've got past your hobby honeymoon and you'd rather spend more energy on other things in life than fussing over coffee making.

Based on reviews here, Sette is known for being more forgiving. Less fine control for the perfectionists, but an easier time to dial in for good results for someone like me. And the fluffy grinds are easy to tamp and go without stirring them around etc.. So for me, it's a tradeoff where I take a reasonably consistent, easy to dial in grinder and give up fine control that might open up something in the coffee but might also cause more channeling issues if not done right.

Same with quality. I accept the tradeoff of the quality problems based on the grinder's low cost plus its free / low cost parts that I can easily get to repair it when it's out of warranty.