Hello everyone, its been awhile since I posted in this forum, and since I got a couple new coffee toys to play with, I figured I'd let you all know what I thought about them.
As some of you know, I own the Cuisinart DB-8 electric grinder, that I bought back in December of last year.
www.badgerandblade.com
Its a nice entry level grinder, but I got 3 nit picks about it, over my use of it for several months now.
(1) Its super loud, forget using it if somebody is sleeping, or you will wake them, up and put them in a bad mood.
(2) Because it uses an electric motor with a ceramic burr, it heats up, and generates lots of static.
(3) Because it uses a ceramic burr, it doesn't really provide the most uniform grind in the world.
So, with that said, that is what led me to purchase the 1ZPresso K-MAX grinder.
When you look up hand grinders, you learn real quickly, that there are a lot of choices available. Wanting to save a buck, I was looking at the cheapest grinders on Amazon at first. But with help from a friend, and reading reviews, I learned all those grinders are cheap garbage that I should stay away from. Believe it or not, hand grinders really need to be made to super tight tolerances, as any noticeable wobble in the shaft or burr, will cause a non-uniform grind.
With a lower budget provided to my friend, he recommended the the Timemore C2 grinder.
The Timemore C2 grinder is most certainly a higher quality grinder, then the super cheap garbage that I was looking at before. Having said that however, I decided that if I was going to pay a lot of money for a grinder, I wanted a grinder that used all metal construction. While the Timemore C2 uses all metal aluminum shell for its outside casing, it uses plastic for the shaft and burr structural supports. Drawing on previous knowledge, for which I lost a pepper grinder, due to the plastic structural support snapping, there by securing its entry into pepper grinder heaven, I decided to just take a giant leap up in quality.
I was looking for all metal construction, and I was looking for a large 48mm stainless steel burr. I was also looking for at least dual shaft bearings, a permanent burr integrated to the shaft, and a nice wooden handle knob. I realized that I could get all these things with 1ZPresso, now the choice only became, what model to purchase, as they have many themselves! Since I don't do espresso, and I wanted high capacity, the logical choice, was the K-MAX grinder.
The K-MAX with case and all included accessories, weighs 2 pounds and 2.8 ounces. The K-MAX by itself, weighs 1 pound and 9.1 ounces. While the case allows you to be able to travel with this, this may not be the best grinder for travel, based on its size, and its weight. This is more of a, stay at home in your kitchen grinder.
The K-MAX uses a heavy grade aluminum casing, you'd be surprised at the solid weight you feel from it in the hand. The area where the logo is found, is made out of a silicone material, to help aid in hand grip. However, if additional grip is required, they include a thick silicone ring you can attach.
The K-MAX grinders use a magnetic catch up, which allows you to attach this to the bottom of the grinder, without the need for threads. The benefit to this is, you won't get coffee grinds in the threads, which can lock it up, or make it difficult to put on or remove. Magnets are just the way of the future people, slap it on and say goodnight. Additionally, these have a silicone rubber bottom, so that you can use this on a smooth table surface, without worrying about the grinder slipping and moving around. Catch cup has a MAX capacity of 35g to 40g of coffee grounds.
At the top of the grinder, you will find the adjustment ring, which is a super intuitive design, and an improvement over the traditional bottom dial adjustment, or the top dial adjustment, that requires taking off the catch up, or the handle, in order to adjust. Simply rotate the adjustment ring, which makes a very satisfying tactile click sound, until the "RED" dot, is on your desired setting. Your Turkish settings are 1 to 3, Espresso 3 to 4, Aeropress & Moka Pot & Drip 5 to 7, Pour Over 8 to 9, & finally French Press 9 to 10.
Additional information regarding adjustment. The adjustment ring has 9 numbers. There are an available 90-clicks per rotation, 10-clicks per number, and uses 0.022mm-per click. With this information said, this may not be the best grinder for dialing in espresso shots, however the grinder can technically do espresso, you just might have troubles dialing it in. If your somebody who only drinks espresso, you may want to consider purchasing the 1ZPresso JX-PRO instead, as it has a far greater range of adjustment.
The K-MAX comes with a nice long handle, which provides excellent leverage, and the handle knob, is made out of wood. Both the looks of the knob are excellent, and the shape formation, allows for an easy grip hold with my hand. The top half, which I call the hopper, holds the coffee beans. I was able to put 20 grams of beans in there easily without issue, there was definitely room for more beans, if you need to do more then that. The picture shows the excellent construction inside, aluminum supports, stainless steel shaft and burr.
There is not a whole lot to look at, on the bottom of the grinder. You can see the metal receiving magnets for the catch cup, there is a bit of a flange, and you can see the bottom of the burr inside. The burr, shaft, bearings, washers, are removable, if you want to do a deep cleaning. Please note however, if your take the grinder completely apart and put it back together, you will be required to re-calibrate your grinder. Go to 1ZPresso's website, go to their blog page, as they discuss how to calibrate and adjust the grinder.
My experience post using this grinder will come in my next post, and the review for the scale will be last.
As some of you know, I own the Cuisinart DB-8 electric grinder, that I bought back in December of last year.
I Just Ordered A Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill
Well folks, it finally happened. My Black And Decker portable coffee grinder gave me almost 13-years of service, it lived a long life. And while I am sure it wanted to carry me through the Christmas season, it decided in its own strange wisdom, to let out the ozone smoke, indicating and...
www.badgerandblade.com
Its a nice entry level grinder, but I got 3 nit picks about it, over my use of it for several months now.
(1) Its super loud, forget using it if somebody is sleeping, or you will wake them, up and put them in a bad mood.
(2) Because it uses an electric motor with a ceramic burr, it heats up, and generates lots of static.
(3) Because it uses a ceramic burr, it doesn't really provide the most uniform grind in the world.
So, with that said, that is what led me to purchase the 1ZPresso K-MAX grinder.
When you look up hand grinders, you learn real quickly, that there are a lot of choices available. Wanting to save a buck, I was looking at the cheapest grinders on Amazon at first. But with help from a friend, and reading reviews, I learned all those grinders are cheap garbage that I should stay away from. Believe it or not, hand grinders really need to be made to super tight tolerances, as any noticeable wobble in the shaft or burr, will cause a non-uniform grind.
With a lower budget provided to my friend, he recommended the the Timemore C2 grinder.
The Timemore C2 grinder is most certainly a higher quality grinder, then the super cheap garbage that I was looking at before. Having said that however, I decided that if I was going to pay a lot of money for a grinder, I wanted a grinder that used all metal construction. While the Timemore C2 uses all metal aluminum shell for its outside casing, it uses plastic for the shaft and burr structural supports. Drawing on previous knowledge, for which I lost a pepper grinder, due to the plastic structural support snapping, there by securing its entry into pepper grinder heaven, I decided to just take a giant leap up in quality.
I was looking for all metal construction, and I was looking for a large 48mm stainless steel burr. I was also looking for at least dual shaft bearings, a permanent burr integrated to the shaft, and a nice wooden handle knob. I realized that I could get all these things with 1ZPresso, now the choice only became, what model to purchase, as they have many themselves! Since I don't do espresso, and I wanted high capacity, the logical choice, was the K-MAX grinder.
The K-MAX with case and all included accessories, weighs 2 pounds and 2.8 ounces. The K-MAX by itself, weighs 1 pound and 9.1 ounces. While the case allows you to be able to travel with this, this may not be the best grinder for travel, based on its size, and its weight. This is more of a, stay at home in your kitchen grinder.
The K-MAX uses a heavy grade aluminum casing, you'd be surprised at the solid weight you feel from it in the hand. The area where the logo is found, is made out of a silicone material, to help aid in hand grip. However, if additional grip is required, they include a thick silicone ring you can attach.
The K-MAX grinders use a magnetic catch up, which allows you to attach this to the bottom of the grinder, without the need for threads. The benefit to this is, you won't get coffee grinds in the threads, which can lock it up, or make it difficult to put on or remove. Magnets are just the way of the future people, slap it on and say goodnight. Additionally, these have a silicone rubber bottom, so that you can use this on a smooth table surface, without worrying about the grinder slipping and moving around. Catch cup has a MAX capacity of 35g to 40g of coffee grounds.
At the top of the grinder, you will find the adjustment ring, which is a super intuitive design, and an improvement over the traditional bottom dial adjustment, or the top dial adjustment, that requires taking off the catch up, or the handle, in order to adjust. Simply rotate the adjustment ring, which makes a very satisfying tactile click sound, until the "RED" dot, is on your desired setting. Your Turkish settings are 1 to 3, Espresso 3 to 4, Aeropress & Moka Pot & Drip 5 to 7, Pour Over 8 to 9, & finally French Press 9 to 10.
Additional information regarding adjustment. The adjustment ring has 9 numbers. There are an available 90-clicks per rotation, 10-clicks per number, and uses 0.022mm-per click. With this information said, this may not be the best grinder for dialing in espresso shots, however the grinder can technically do espresso, you just might have troubles dialing it in. If your somebody who only drinks espresso, you may want to consider purchasing the 1ZPresso JX-PRO instead, as it has a far greater range of adjustment.
The K-MAX comes with a nice long handle, which provides excellent leverage, and the handle knob, is made out of wood. Both the looks of the knob are excellent, and the shape formation, allows for an easy grip hold with my hand. The top half, which I call the hopper, holds the coffee beans. I was able to put 20 grams of beans in there easily without issue, there was definitely room for more beans, if you need to do more then that. The picture shows the excellent construction inside, aluminum supports, stainless steel shaft and burr.
There is not a whole lot to look at, on the bottom of the grinder. You can see the metal receiving magnets for the catch cup, there is a bit of a flange, and you can see the bottom of the burr inside. The burr, shaft, bearings, washers, are removable, if you want to do a deep cleaning. Please note however, if your take the grinder completely apart and put it back together, you will be required to re-calibrate your grinder. Go to 1ZPresso's website, go to their blog page, as they discuss how to calibrate and adjust the grinder.
My experience post using this grinder will come in my next post, and the review for the scale will be last.
what great skill you have. A life with coffee 
is a life worth living. 
