Fuji Royal 220: a note on single dosing and cupping - Page 2

#11: Post by **jbviau** » June 30th, 2021, 3:12 pm

another_jim wrote:Yep, that's it. Thanks Alan.

Once the grinder is spinning, for 15 grams, the shutter needs to be opened, then shut instantly (more camera than grinder). The taste is even more vivid than preloading, and then spinning up the burrs. What's left of the Yemen is tasting like an escaped spice market.

^^^ Glad to hear it! Right, like Alan said, starting up the motor before opening the shutter has been my SOP.

You asked about OE's Apex. Don't want to derail the thread, so I'll keep it brief: since I bolted it down early on, it's been great. I only ended up with an R-220 alongside the Apex because my electric grinder was due for an upgrade. I'm kind of all in with the ghost burrs now--no urge whatsoever to upgrade for filter coffee.

June 30th, 2021, 3:28 pm

Thanks guys, live and learn.

#13: Post by **Sib** » July 8th, 2021, 6:46 am

jbviau wrote: I have a newer R-220 and dislike the large stock hopper. I've been using either the Xeoleo mini-hopper, which holds ~40 g. and has a lid, or two stacked metal collars, which together hold about 20 g. (and I'll cover with a coaster or whatever is handy).

I've seen the Xoeleo mini-hopper on Alixpress, but can't find the "two stacked metal collars."
Where did you buy them? Do you have a link, or can you suggest a search term??

Thanks in advance!

Simon

#14: Post by **jbviau** » July 8th, 2021, 9:17 am

Simon, when you buy an R-220 from Fengjen in Taiwan, the grinder comes with one gold collar. It's a safety feature. I ended up buying another from them after taking delivery because I thought I might want to use two collars stacked, as shown in the pic, but actually I almost always use that mini-hopper instead. PM for more details if you're interested in the collar, ok? Cheers, --Josh

#15: Post by **Ad-85** » July 8th, 2021, 5:02 pm

Thank you @Another_Jim and all members who chimed in. Very interesting grinder. I hope you guys talk about it more! I'd like to hear about taste, body and comparisons with other grinders like Comandante...etc.

#16: Post by **STG** » July 9th, 2021, 12:31 am

another_jim wrote:Thanks guys, live and learn.

I also hope this isn't derailing:

I currently own Fortario with brew burrs, Fellow Ode / original SSP unimodals, and an unopened DF64 I was going to try out. I'm trying to pin down the best brew grinder. I find the Ode and Fortario to be similar enough. I don't think I'm even going to bother with the DF64.

Do you think the Fuji would be an upgrade to either of those? I'm still not reaching the cup quality that I'd like. Spending over 2k for a titan class is not an option at the moment.

July 10th, 2021, 12:50 pm

I haven't blind tested it against any of the SSP burrs. I did blind test it against a stock Bunn and Vario with BG burrs, my regular brewing and cupping grinders, where it was easily better. However, the test may not mean much to anyone except me, since both the comparison machines had many years on them.

#18: Post by **Vvei** » August 8th, 2021, 1:33 pm

Just to add my experience with Fuji Royal 220 Ghost Burr,

1) I usually use a rocket Giotto blower to blow on to the bellow/auger parts to get the retention lower. I did this because i often saw lots of crushed retention of beans stuck there on the corner of the bellow below the auger when cleaning the grinder (I clean my grinder every month)

2) It shines at grind settings 4.5 onwards. Lower than that, I find that theres more fines than I care to experience.

3) Theres metallic taste that James Hoffman mentioned in the Xeoleo test (Funny i experienced the same thing with the Fuji Royal 220) before i grinded more and more, then the metallic taste mysteriously disappeared. So, it might be worth seasoning for new burrs.

NB: Mine is the Original Fuji Royal 220 made for China version. Which is the only original version made with 220 Volt designation.
The ones made in Japan and Taiwan are both the 100-110 volt version.
As such, slight variation in motor and therefore grind results might occur.

#19: Post by **Ad-85** » August 8th, 2021, 1:41 pm

Have you tested it with the blue bottle dripper? Any comparisons with your lab sweet? I have a 220v on preorder from HK but I'll get a refund if it's not worth it. Thanks

August 8th, 2021, 2:13 pm

The 804 Lab Sweet is a grinder 6-7 times the price of Fuji 220. So, comparing these two grinder might not be fair.
The 804 Lab Sweet's motor is also much bigger which is good for commercial back to back brewing whilst the Fuji 220 motor is much smaller which is not designed for back to back commercial brewing.

If you have the budget and space though, by all means go with the Ditting Lab Sweet as it really is an excellent all purpose grinder.
But know that it is a beast of a grinder you will not want to move around.
And, at that price, You will also run into choice dilemma with all the other slightly more expensive boutique grinder (EG1, Kafatek, Ultra etc).

For filter brewing though, I can with confidence say that
1) its better than Niche at filter brewing.
2) have absolutely low fines on setting 4.5 and up.
3) at its price, I think it is one of the best true and tried electric grinder options.
4) Fuji Royal is a company that has been in existence for a long time, so, long term service is assured.

My way of brewing these few months, regardless of beans and roast level, is to put 1 to 13.33 ratio on the Clever Dripper or French Press.

The settings I use for Clever Dripper is on ratio of 13.33; Grinder settings 4.5; Steeped for 4-5 minutes Ala Workshop Coffee style as described by James Hoffman on his youtube video. This will usually yield me a TDS of 1.5 - 1.52 on VST refractometer.

The end results, a coffee so good that makes me drink 60 grams of coffee a day.