Since the Commandante keeps coming up. I currently have a Virtuoso with the M2 burrs. I am looking to upgrade it for my pour overs. I have been considering the Ode w/SSP as it sounds like a great choice and is still electric. But if I were to entertain a hand grinder is the Commandante one of the best and how does it compare to the Ode w/SSP I see some say they are very close and others say the Ode w/SSP is much better? I generally drink medium roast coffee with the occasional medium-light roast. I like a cup that is smooth but flavorful and makes you pick up on the subtle flavor notes. I haven't quite gotten that from my Virtuoso at least not consistently. Also not sold on hand grinding quite yet. I will normally grind about 28g of coffee during the cooler months and then around 34g during the warmer months for iced coffee each day. So hand grinding might get tiring?

My journey in pourover home grinding has beenlike this (since 2012):

Hario Skerton -> Encore > Lido 2 -> Virtuoso -> Helor 101 -> Ode SSP MP

Every step in the progression made an improvement. Really. I haven't tried the commandante myself, but i would gather that getting the Ode SSP MP would be a step up indeed.

I've worked in specialty cafes that used the Guatemala for filter and Peak or Mythos One for espresso. I've also drank a lot of coffees from other cafes with EK43's also...

SSP MP is definitely a step up from what you can get at home. I am unequivocally a fan of the Ode with the SSP MP burrs. It's a huge step up from the virtuoso.

However, the caveat emptor is that I drink mainly super light coffees. Tim Wendelboe, SEY, Coffee Collectif, Passenger, etc...

If you're drinking medium to medium light coffees (think intelligentsia, square mile, stumptown, etc...) then the Virtuoso will be just fine. There just isn't as much acidity in those kinds of coffees to benefit from a more uniform grind profile.

treq10 wrote:If you're drinking medium to medium light coffees (think intelligentsia, square mile, stumptown, etc...) then the Virtuoso will be just fine. There just isn't as much acidity in those kinds of coffees to benefit from a more uniform grind profile.

This has also been my general experience with Aeropress. I have a Virtuoso, an Ode (v1.1 I think) and a K-Pro. All can make very good cups with these sorts of coffees, at least to my taste. I distinguish between them mostly on workflow. The taste differences don't seem large and depend on the coffee.

I think the SSP brew burrs do a good job of mellowing out the bitterness in medium or darker roasts though. If looking for acidity, a conical grinder can be beneficial instead for those roasts, thanks to more boulders.

It sounds like the Ode w/SSP really shines with lighter roasts. I mean to be honest the first light roast I tried I didn't change my brewing parameters at all which is why I probably didn't like it. I might give some light roast coffees a try again. From what I hear of light roasts I might really like them if grind finer and use a bit hotter water.

Hey guys,
Take a look at this V-60 coffee bed from an Ethiopian (natural) ground at setting 4 on the Ode. There is a clear layer of muddy fines but, as I mentioned it has only had about 0.5 of kilo of coffee put through it. Is this normal for unseasoned burrs? Seasoning can't have that much of an impact can it?

hi nick,
when is v2 release and how to identify it ?

Nternal1 wrote:Take a look at this V-60 coffee bed

I wouldn't pay much attention to what the bed looks like. This is two brews using the same beans ground at setting 6 (calibrated to touch) on my well seasoned Ode/SSP brew, 4 pours but with different amount of agitation:



There are actually slightly more fines in the clean looking bed, because in the 'muddy' brew more fines migrated down into the cup and made it a bit cloudy. The fines are just not visible in the same way.

So I'm debating on buying the Ode with the stock V1.1 burrs as that would be in budget right now and then upgrading to the V2.0 or SSP burrs later if needed. I currently use a Baratza Virtuoso and brew V60 mostly. I wish the SSP burrs were in budget but they probably won't be for a few more months at least. So I was thinking of trying the stock burrs as some say they have good results with them. My main recipe is usually 28.5g of coffee to 465g of water. I have been using the 4:6 method lately but also have done other pulse pour methods. I am generally brewing medium roast coffees. I might start trying some light roast coffees but I understand that might be the biggest downside to the stock burrs. I know I could wait and use the Virtuoso but I really want to give the Ode a try but right now it would be with the stock burrs.

Haven't seen any backer updates on catch cup lid or burrs in about 2 months from Fellow. They mentioned it would be ready this summer as they were finishing testing with it (this was in March) hoping to have the prototype done for May and shipping in Summer. Have not seen an update since then. My guess for the v2 burrs would be August to be able to ship with Ode.