You could also build the Bunnzilla if you’re looking for a project. Estimated cost on that is $600 to $1,000 depending on how cheaply you can score the grinder and burr selection. Absolute cheapest I’m guessing is ~$200 for the Bunn and $350 for SSP 80mm Red Speed, $30 (?) for the Trifecta adjuster plate parts. More realistic price on a used G1/2/3 is $400, the 804 Lab Sweets are currently $520, and then add the required spacer and detent plate to get to $1k.
The G series Bunns are huge and horrifically ugly though, which could be remedied by chopping it and doing other custom work like this amazing one below, but that’s quite involved. He even made a custom dial to finish it off which is dope AF.
“It’s known that four cups or more of coffee lowers the risk for heart attack, stroke, and diabetes,” says Altschmied. Now, they know the reason why this happens: Caffeine can “push” a protein called p27 into the mitochondria, or energy powerhouses, of heart cells. This, in turn, can help those heart cells function more efficiently.
Here’s another question to consider: Do we think the Ditting 804 is $2,000 better at spinning 80mm burrs than a Bunn G1? Only major design difference here is the Dittings are horizontal mount burrs, but it’s basically the same design on a different orientation. I had to dig a bit to find the motor specs, but they seem to be very close.
Ditting: 1650 RPM / 60 Hz, 500W
Bunn: 1725 RPM / 60 Hz, 560W
I can’t imagine there’s any appreciable difference in torque. Calculator says 2.29 lb-ft for the Bunn and 2.15 lb-ft for the Ditting. Of course, there’s machining tolerances and runout for parts that need to be in spec, but I doubt we could ever get those numbers. New G1 can be had for under $1k, so with the Lab Sweet cast burrs and spacer it should be around $1,500, even less if you choose the SSP, and should also be able to flip the unused Bunn burrs for a few hundred I think.
Having trouble figuring out what to blow more money on next. I scan ebay from time to time for refractometers but haven’t seen any deals in months. Bunnzilla is tempting but I’m running out of space. Might have to sell some of this stuff.
But damn those bunns are ugly. And I’m not handy enough to cut one down and refinish it to look nice.
Interesting those RPMs are so high. Makes sense for commercial applications to handle the volume, but I know Lance Hedrick has mentioned that RPMs impact flavor and lower is better. But maybe that’s a byproduct of the heat generation and handled by the fans/heat sinks that these larger grinders have.
I’m skeptical of lower RPM equals better distribution. The source for that seems to be some Korean article that had to be translated and it doesn’t control for any other factors. For a sanity test, the EK43 spins at 1,760 RPMs @ 120V / 60 Hz. Isn’t that Lance’s favorite grinder? They all spin slower running on 50 Hz power, typically in the 1400 RPM range, but that isn’t going to be an option in North America unless you want to power it from a VFD. However, high RPM motor with low output power means lower torque, so I could see that having an impact. I wrote about this before, but the EK43 delivers an astounding 1300 watts (1.75 HP) at 1,760 RPM for a torque of 5.22 lb-ft.
*Barista Hustle looked into this Korean article claim:
This chart, adapted from an article in Korea’s Blackwater Issue, shows the grind size distribution changing as the burr speed changes, with the higher RPM resulting in a smaller median grind size and more fines. However, this effect appears to be very similar to the effects of simply changing the grind setting as shown in the graph below.
Lol yes they are hideous. The newer Bunn GVH is basically an updated version of the G and not quite as ugly, but there isn’t a ton of information about it, and I haven’t seen anyone swap the burrs yet.
Lance mentioned that he has done taste testing and IIRC that he could taste differences as RPM dropped to around 100 and below that he couldn’t tell much difference.
But I believe this was done with more mid range grinders. The end-game stuff could perform better at higher RPM. I could see heat dispersion being much better and I would bet that larger burrs result in less re-grinding that might produce excess fines.
Somewhat related, my own limited experiments with sifting suggest that we likely don’t want complete uniformity in particle size but rather the “right” distribution. Sifting out all the fines has pretty consistently left me with a really shitty cup. This anecdotal evidence is supported by that Hoffman video with the roller grinder where they make use of their tooling to specify the distribution.
IMO you’re doing something wildly wrong or have some kind of problem with your water or something to get terrible cups out of an aeropress. Aeropress is extremely forgiving.
16 days from roast is definitely not too old.
An alignment issue big enough to cause terrible cups in an aeropress is likely going to be visible to the naked eye but idk.
Anyway if you want insight into what the problem is or fixes to try you need to describe what made the cup terrible and the types of flavors you got as well as your exact brew process.
This might be the most embarrassing post I’ve made to this forum yet, but is anyone familiar with the 1zpresso JX grinder? I cannot for the life of me unscrew the 2nd ring to take it apart and clean. It is frozen solid. I tried tapping it with a crescent wrench and everything else I could think of. It came apart easily when I first bought it, but now that I’ve used it for about 2 months it’s locked. And yes, I know the 2nd ring is designed to be turned clockwise to loosen. I don’t have a ton of tools in my apartment and short of taking it to an automotive shop, I have no idea how I’m ever going to get this thing apart to clean
The coffee has the really acrid taste. It’s around 5K. Which is where I was getting good coffee on the previous two bags.
I’ve gone 2 or three in both directions. I didnt see that clear change is taste you normally get, where it is either going too bitter or too sour. Stayed consistently horrible.
I’ve kept it at 88 Celsius (190 f) for all. Which was the sweet spot previously. Maybe I can try higher.
2 or 3 grind changes you’ve tried we’re they micro (labeled A-Z) or macro (labeled 1-10)?
My forte with steel burrs is calibrated to burrs touch at 2Q (same as factory) and I do most of my pour over grinding between 7 and 9. 4 seems exceptionally fine even for aeropress. That seems like it’s in the espresso or even Turkish range.
I have been finding it difficult to get the fruity tasting notes though so maybe I need to try going finer again.
