Zerno - Z1

Generally id suggest a high quality hand grinder for pour over (as youre already doing) but youre tired of that and wanting to electrify...seems like an 078 or philos would be the middle of the road option (between ode2 and zerno)...but if you really want to spend the money on something cool, a z1 is pretty cool. I own one and love it but i ONLY use it for espresso. I would not own it otherwise, as cool as it is. Id say grab a 078 on sale ($640ish) and spend the rest on nice coffee.

Higher chances of having better alignment, a slow feeder and prebreaker auger and somehow a more robust construction. If your df64v is greatly aligned and you have a slow feeder attached to it you might not get much

Not gonna lie, with this budget I would stick to the 064s and put in SSPs that go well with your taste preferences! Or stretch it a bit (double) and get the Zerno Z1! You will get the best grinder around for around 2k shipping + duty included Under 1k, you could upgrade to the 078, but that's not worth the hassle of resselling + buying again. And you get the same grinder quality, just bigger. So at your place I would keep the 064 and get new burrs if you want to experiment around and unlock "new" (more different) highs.

Ha. Fellow Vivace enthusiast. Was the bean that started it all for me. Here we go: - Niche has great workflow but lamentable for pour over and lighter roasts. Don’t like the Mazzer conical, personally, for much of anything. Bitter, ashy finish and grainy texture. Vivace used to run Niches in shop and I always felt I could do better with a rolling pin and mortar and pestle at home. - Timemore 064s — good build, stock burrs are not bad for espresso and filter. I just spend a coupla months pulling Vivace+Lusso shots with it, alongside H&S ultralight pourovers. Been great. There’s also a plethora of options in 64mm space, sounds like Cast LS v3 might be for you and the wife. Burr swaps not the most straightforward on the 064s, but doable for the slightly mechanically inclined. - 078s is good but I am not a fan of proprietary burr sizes; not a lot of choices yet in 78mm. - DFs are a crap shoot in quality. - Philos - huge, well built. You can replace the burrs, but auger and fixed rpm are tuned for the mazzer i200 and i189 burrs. Which are fine if you like them. - Z1 next best choice in 64mm, but pricey and unobtainium. - Eurekas - avoid like the plague. Antediluvian burr chamber design. High retention. Stupid stupid stupid stupid burr adjustment mechanism, yes even the new one. Dialing in is frustrating, never mind switching between filter and espresso settings. Burrs are proprietary and are ok if you like dark chocolate + nuts. Never mind filter coffee, yikes. Re: used market - usual places. /r/coffeeswap. Home-Barista. FB marketplace. EAF Discord, but you gotta put in frequent flier miles. DM me, I can help you out. Re: Vectis - had a janky early build that needed lots of fixes and some significant modding. - But eventually, made the best coffee for me day to day. Easily preferred it to the LMLM, and even the Slayer, sometimes. Have fun

It was convenient, but I would have occasional inconsistencies that led me to think it was part of the problem. Usually it was pretty accurate, but occasionally the weight would be off just enough to be annoying. Also, the grinder retained a fair amount, which was a slight issue the next morning because you'd get some day old grinds. I don't think it was bad at all, and it certainly was convenient... But in the end I started ignoring the weight function by setting the target weight really high, and then single dosing. It also means I can use a couple sprays of water to reduce friction. That being said, now I have a Zerno Z1 which was a remarkable upgrade, and I wouldn't consider going back. The Vario was great for its price range though. It made some good pour over as well.

I am AuDHD and have this flavour of neurodivergent noise “fun” aka torture. I have a Zerno Z1 and it’s not especially noisy. It’s near silent with AirPods Pro in on noise cancelling mode. I also cannot hear it when I use my custom IEMs. I had the Niche Zero and the Duo. The Zero was pretty quiet. I think flat burr grinders have a higher pitched scream than conical - but the Z1 is fairly quiet to me. I sold the Niche grinders. I also have an “AliExpress copy” of the HG-1 grinder which cost me around £400 a few years back. It is very quiet because you control the speed of the grinding with the wheel. So this is mainly the sound of crunching coffee beans and a low mechanical rumble of intermeshing gears. Do not buy a Mazzer Super Jolly. That thing was loud! I am happy to record the sounds of these machines if you want. Oh and to fully answer your question, the Z1 doesn’t have much in the way of safety features so you can absolutely load the hopper with a measured dose of beans (I use 17.5 or 18g) and leave it switched on…. via a smart switch like a Kasa Smart Plug. I use these for some of my home lights. The smart switch can be operated from your phone or you can ask a home assistant like google home / Alexa or whatever to turn it on/off.

This list seems somehow outdated, and is missing some important items, that are popular and offering a great value. Hand grinders: **Kingrinder K6, K2, K0, Timemore C3S, C2S** Electric: **Zerno Z1**, soon also **Z2** (80mm, now in a prototype stage), **Mazzer Philos, DF64V, Sculptor 078s,064, and Lagom 01** (although grinders with burrs larger than 83 mm is a rather niche ultra-high-end, so not sure really, if EK43, P100 and L01 make sense to be included in such a list) Also: In this list, the **Fellow Ode2** is placed in "budget-friendly", while **Fellow Opus** in "mid-range/prosumer"?? :) Ode costs almost twice as Opus, and while Ode is rather popular for manual brews, Opus is not that popular neither for brew, nor for espresso, although technically "it can do both". (edit to add) Also missing, the **DF54** low-cost electric grinder.

I really enjoy my timemore 78S. I was worried about retention for the exact thing you mentioned. When I opened it up I was very surprised. There was essentially nothing. Have a Z1 too but prefer the 78S. The Z1 has much more retention compared to the 78S for me. As someone else said, lack of bur choices is a downside. Also have a Key Mk1, definitely makes the chocolate side of things more apparent but not as much distinction in flavors. The work flow is also not as straight forward as the 78S, at least for my set up. I have a Z2 on pre order and I am hoping it solves the issues I have with the Z1 and I can downsize my whole set up.

I missed that. Hell. Sorry. You can buy my used Zerno v1 so I can get the v2

I have a Zerno z1 and a Weber eg1 but only because I’m an idiot