Core brewing tools
Racing M1 grinder, Planet kettle, Cube Scale 2.0 Mini and Elf V01 dripper.
Its been a few days since I have been testing this with my flair classic with a range of different coffees from dark to light, washed and processed. For the price, its offering very good clarity and brightness and shine especially when it comes to lighter roasts
While its fun to grind darker roasts with this grinder, Its equally hard to grind lighter roasts for espresso so I recommend just do it in 2 passes unless you've got the forearms like 'The Rock'. The first pass would be super chunky at around 180 clicks, coarse enough to not get caught in the bearings or so but it makes it way easier to grind the 2nd pass at the needed setting.
Just make sure to clean it as the internal regularly (once a week at least) to avoid rusting the internal mechanism overtime
All in all very happy with this one!
How much ever it may sound silly, having a good grinder actually takes your coffee game several notches up.
I have been using cheap grinders for years, until I finally started searching (and searching) for a decent one that wasn’t priced outrageously. I was confused between the Baratza range, the DF54, and the DF64. I picked the latter because of its build quality and what I learned about consistent grind quality. Some of the features experts talked about were going over my head, but they still sounded convincing.
I put my faith in it & I can’t complain. It will take some time to get fully used to it. Maybe I still need to do some tinkering to get that extraction everyone swears by. However, the puck quality is excellent, I am getting better crema, and the extraction time is pretty solid.
Experience with Fix Coffee? No complaints there either. I sent a WhatsApp message, and Mahesh replied within minutes. Had a good conversation, asked for a discount/coupon code, and he shared one. So thank you, Mahesh, for the guidance.
Pro Tip: Did some more research and found another coupon code, which sweetened the deal by another 2%.
Lastly: go for it. I waited long enough; you shouldn’t.
(Not a paid promotion or post.)
Long read - Not a direct review for grinding, but more on upgrade and spare part availability for DF54 grinder, o have been using this grinder since last October it does what it claims to, by 2 months back I decided to upgrade the existing steel burrs to red speed HU burrs purchased from Fix Coffee itself. If you are from Blr there is limited support and service for this grinder (sort of on your own) I ended up replacing myself (basis YouTube help) this is where my trouble started the factory fitted screws are very tight, it easily strips off with pressure, even if you managed to get them out after stripping, finding a replacement is the most difficult/impossible task! Nobody’s has this specification screws - have tried every shop or online marketplace. Identification of the spec right is the most difficult task - it’s an odd size, have wasted more than 20-30 varieties of screw at least. I even went to the extent of reaching out the Manufacturer itself - pleasantly surprised with their speed of response - it was amazing! But they couldn’t ship since it doesn’t make sense of shopping and procedure involved, however managed to get the screw specs M4x9 Pan Head Phillips SUS, Φ6.0-6.2 (same for both the burrs).. Now comes the hard part - this spec is Chinese spec nobody in India has these screws.. Again it took me 1 month to find an alternate replacement to make it work.. long story short any spare parts you have to look at getting from Aus/US/China, finding one in India is a wishful thinking! Safe advise is do not tinker with the machine or have the spare part handy if you are a enthu-cutlet like me! Finally managed to got the grinder working after 2/2.5 months gap with burr upgrade.. grid speed has improved, need to run couple of cycles more to post the review on extraction quality. Suggestion to Fix Coffee India - Other distributors like Turin and MiCoffee outside India do sell spare parts, please do make the spares available here aswell… Manufacturer did point me towards you! And if you import spare screws along with the machine it will not cost you anything extra, but gives peace of mind for the buyers. Posting measurement pictures of burr screws for others reference.
Of course the grinder, and puck prep tools are perfect.
Its hard to access to good prosumer machines in India..
This machine fits the bill perfectly..
Fo for it..
