I'm really eager - and presume that most of us are - to hear how the cup results compare with the other big conical grinders, such as the Nino, Robur, Pharos, K10, Cimballi Max (I know it's a hybrid, anyway ...), etc.

As promised,

My point and shoot died right after turning it on tonight. I was limping thru a dying battery last night taking the earlier pictures. Here's a crappy cell phone picture that I took.

It was not as blonde or pale as seen in the washed out picture, and it turned out what had to be one of the nicest cappuccinos I've had in as long as I can remember.

The water droplet idea is brilliant!

My Versalab and my Pharos will benefit immensely!

Cheers,
Stephen

Hi [anonymized],

Good to hear that you ordered one. I ordered the same. For the WAF I wasn't able to also keep the K30. I really love the design of the HG one. You really have a nice inventory of espresso stuff built up in a short time. The list is getting longer and longer.

For drip coffee, you can pull off the bottom funnel and a Melitta-style filter cone will slide right in--even if you use filters that are too big. [drip coffee for my wife and some guests, not for me ]

Joe, thanks for posting about doing drip grind. How many revolutions did you have to turn on the grind adjuster to go from espresso to regular drip? Is the resistance high or the process cumbersome? I don't remember reading much about how to adjust the grind. Thank you.

I didn't optimize the coarseness for drip--i just optimized for espresso and adjusted the weight of beans for drip to get a strength that suits my wife or guest. In my case, it is 18 grams for my Cremina and 16 grams for drip.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

But to answer your question, it is super easy to adjust the grinder coarseness: just loosen the knob that locks the burrs in position, then an easy twist of the adjuster ring. When I adjust for a new batch of beans, I typically rotate the adjuster ring 1/8" - 1/4" of circumference. No special skill or strength is required.

Thanks, Joe. I guess I was interested in how much you have to turn the adjuster ring to go from espresso to drip. On my Wega conical (Compak K10), it takes about 3/4 to 7/8 of a turn to go to a fine Aeropress grind. The turning action of the Wega has high resistance so I don't do it often.

Here's a suggestion for new HG One owners: position yourself slightly to the left of center when grinding. This will position your hand perpendicular to the grinding handle. If you stand to the right of center, and if you have large hands, the edge of the handle may rub the palm of your hand and irritate it.

BTW, I finally encountered some beans that generated a lot of "static cling". The RDT water droplet trick worked great.

HG-One/83 ordered. Kony-E up 4sail...

Since I have a Pharos which is a 63mm burr (I think)Conical, a VersaLab M3 another conical/flat and a Kony-E another conical(maybe 63mm) , the 83mm HG-One had to be in my stable of grinders.

The Voodoodaddy Mods to the Pharos really make it nice but since it has the lower burr mount/bearing carrier it catches a small amount of grounds on it. Not much but they do need to be jiggled/bumped off into the catch can. The HG-One eliminates the Catch Can and that lower burr carrier.

The HG-One is very much like the VersaLab in use, but easier to clean and much more quiet. Silence is golden at 0430 hrs. The VersaLab is a bit noisy Both the Versalab, Pharos and HG-One are zero grounds retention compared to Robur, Kony or any other setup that has dosers or doserless chutes. The straight through output of these (VL,Pharos & HG-1) are the real bonus.

Looking forward to receiving the 83mm HG-One!