What's up friends, just wanted to add some perspective with this grinder! Lots of claims about the pointless hopper, but that actually was a big determining factor in me purchasing this over other grinders in the market. My primary daily need is S.D, but I also need a grinder that can bulk grind in the 300g range on occasion for my very small roasting operation. This grinder is the only one at this price point that comes stock with both systems in place and can accomplish both tasks very well. Other grinders either have way too much retention for S.D., don't have a hopper system at all, or become very clunky when trying to bulk grind. So for me, the hopper is a very welcome inclusion with this grinder and I'm very happy with the performance!
So back in UK, opening a coffee shop and continuing UA-cam coffee videos, wow that is some serious news. Congrats and hope you will not miss your beloved Japan :) cheers
Thank you! Of course I miss Japan, but this wouldn't have been possible there, at least not without 20x the money. Though with a cost of living crisis I'm not sure this is the best time to be opening a coffee shop, but I'm gonna give it a go anyway!
@@homecafecharlie sure the cost in Japan are crazy compare to EU but the quality of the service is just so nice and they start to have some really nice coffee here and there (also super expensive). Wish you best luck for your new coffee adventure and hope to see more of your future content on youtube. Cheers
I have this grinder. I'm very happy with it, now, but it took a long time to season the burrs. I replaced the stock burrs with the DLC espresso, and it took a few kilos before it was reliably consistent. I hope the cafe is going well 👍
Yeah most burrs need seasoning, I usually just buy a kilo of cheap coffee from this local place that does it super cheap and then after that it's fine on almost all grinders. At least good enough that I'm not getting wild swings from shot to shot. I closed the cafe last year, making a video about it soon.
Thanks so much for watching! So, is the DF83 on your upgrade list? If you found this review useful, please consider picking up yours from Joe at my link here. It doesn't cost you any extra but it helps me get a little extra money to do more reviews like this one: bit.ly/3UxoxfX
Yeah, after I grind into the cup and once I get the coffee in the portafilter I switch to a different funnel for WDT. It's a little annoying. But that's pretty minor. I love the grinder overall! Congrats on the cafe!
Exactly, small complaint and the dosing funnel is an added extra, not a reason to buy or not buy a grinder. I'll just get a Motta one for £10 and keep the DF83's funnel on the cup 😅
I didn't have an issue with My DF83 v1 stock, but I found opening up the declumper a little had some benefits! The one layer with the door like flap I bent up and outwards a little and the other one that's kinda like a star shape (might be different now on the V2) I cut that open a bit more so it's more like a circular hole. I think because the grinder / stock Italmill burrs grind so fast the declumper acts as a bottleneck and holds a little coffee back, this results in regrinding some coffee and additional fine particles, even though it doesn't seem so obvious because it does flow nicely, with the declumper modified I noticed a reduction in body and increased flavour clarity as well as reduction in retention, I don't bother using the bellows with mine usually, without using the bellows it's probably only got 0.3 or 0.4g retention and not sure if that's even being exchanged or static, but I don't think it's enough to cause any issues either way. Also my grinder is still pretty neat, not messy / staticky. Not sure if I got lucky or what. I enjoyed the grinder before modifying it as well, it just has more fines which didn't seem to be too negative if you want a more traditional lower clarity and higher body grinder it worked well that way.
Congrats on the Shop!…and also the Sanremo YOU. That’s like the perfect machine. Screen and control of the Decent with the paddles and dual boilers that lots of people want. S-Tier.
All single dose grinders are going to be simular in work flow.. maybe alittle better on some but not a deal breaker for me.. i want to know how the espresso tastes from one to another. So niche, eureka oro, df83 or one of the df64 models. Issue is i have to rely on all these reviews... they are great but its not the same as seeing them up close and personal or better yet tasting the coffee they can produce...
Yeah it's really hard, and hard to review as well. Part of it is gonna be the taste, and showing that in a video is impossible. But the feel of using a grinder every day is important. I like the DF83 and it doesn't slow me down or get in the way. Some other grinders might, or might have quirks that make them less comfortable to use.
Thanks for the reply. The niche is hard to get. But i do prefer textire to clarity in saying that the oro sd is good texture with somewhat clarity and issues like vibration and so on but looks great. Have they fixed this? If so it would be on my short list with the df83 how was the coffee taste and texture in your experience with the df 83 compared to others you have tried?
Good question. If you have a hopper in and there is still quite a bit of coffee left in the chamber, and then you don't make a coffee again until next morning, you'll get 1g or so of stale coffee in your first shot. That's around 5% of your espresso, will have an impact on taste, even if it's a small one.
@@jlyt18 Yep for commercial use or serious home use pulling multiple shots 1g retention isn't bad at all. First shot of the day purge like half a second worth of coffee and you probably just ground 3g and eliminated the stale retention.
Just ordered DF83 v2 from espresso outlet. It’s my first serious grinder. I truly appreciate your well thought out review here.
Thank you! I'll be doing an update review of the V2 as I've also got one coming soon!
@@homecafecharlie seriously I can’t wait hear your thoughts!
hey! Are you happy with your v2 and would you buy it again? :)
@@t0bistr Yes and yes! Best for the money grinder out there. Still getting my entire dose back most days.
What's up friends, just wanted to add some perspective with this grinder!
Lots of claims about the pointless hopper, but that actually was a big determining factor in me purchasing this over other grinders in the market.
My primary daily need is S.D, but I also need a grinder that can bulk grind in the 300g range on occasion for my very small roasting operation. This grinder is the only one at this price point that comes stock with both systems in place and can accomplish both tasks very well. Other grinders either have way too much retention for S.D., don't have a hopper system at all, or become very clunky when trying to bulk grind.
So for me, the hopper is a very welcome inclusion with this grinder and I'm very happy with the performance!
Niche requirement, but that's a good point. I didn't think about pre-grinding coffee as I only really do espresso 😅
same here, although i think DF64E has a hopper as well. but its not precise enough for filter coffee
Great video Charlie.
Best of luck with the coffee shop
Thanks so much! I'll keep you updated 😍
Great video! I enjoy my DF83 and I really think that the only use for this hopper is if you grind a large amount of bean for cold brew for instance.
Congratz on the shop Charlie!!!
Thank you!
Congrats on your new coffee shop, Charles!
Thanks!
Congrats on your cafe!
Thank you! Should be open in the next few weeks!
So back in UK, opening a coffee shop and continuing UA-cam coffee videos, wow that is some serious news. Congrats and hope you will not miss your beloved Japan :) cheers
Thank you! Of course I miss Japan, but this wouldn't have been possible there, at least not without 20x the money. Though with a cost of living crisis I'm not sure this is the best time to be opening a coffee shop, but I'm gonna give it a go anyway!
@@homecafecharlie sure the cost in Japan are crazy compare to EU but the quality of the service is just so nice and they start to have some really nice coffee here and there (also super expensive). Wish you best luck for your new coffee adventure and hope to see more of your future content on youtube. Cheers
Best of luck in your new work ! Regards from Chile
Thank you so much! How's the coffee in Chile?
I have this grinder. I'm very happy with it, now, but it took a long time to season the burrs. I replaced the stock burrs with the DLC espresso, and it took a few kilos before it was reliably consistent. I hope the cafe is going well 👍
Yeah most burrs need seasoning, I usually just buy a kilo of cheap coffee from this local place that does it super cheap and then after that it's fine on almost all grinders. At least good enough that I'm not getting wild swings from shot to shot.
I closed the cafe last year, making a video about it soon.
@@homecafecharlie Sorry to hear that, but looking forward to the video.
Thanks so much for watching! So, is the DF83 on your upgrade list? If you found this review useful, please consider picking up yours from Joe at my link here. It doesn't cost you any extra but it helps me get a little extra money to do more reviews like this one: bit.ly/3UxoxfX
Congratulations on the café, very happy for you!
Congrats on the shop Charlie! Looking forward to the vids 🙂
Thank you! 😁
Yeah, after I grind into the cup and once I get the coffee in the portafilter I switch to a different funnel for WDT. It's a little annoying. But that's pretty minor. I love the grinder overall! Congrats on the cafe!
Exactly, small complaint and the dosing funnel is an added extra, not a reason to buy or not buy a grinder. I'll just get a Motta one for £10 and keep the DF83's funnel on the cup 😅
Great video! I'm hoping to get my hands on one soon for a review for my channel. Keep up the great work!
I didn't have an issue with My DF83 v1 stock, but I found opening up the declumper a little had some benefits! The one layer with the door like flap I bent up and outwards a little and the other one that's kinda like a star shape (might be different now on the V2) I cut that open a bit more so it's more like a circular hole. I think because the grinder / stock Italmill burrs grind so fast the declumper acts as a bottleneck and holds a little coffee back, this results in regrinding some coffee and additional fine particles, even though it doesn't seem so obvious because it does flow nicely, with the declumper modified I noticed a reduction in body and increased flavour clarity as well as reduction in retention, I don't bother using the bellows with mine usually, without using the bellows it's probably only got 0.3 or 0.4g retention and not sure if that's even being exchanged or static, but I don't think it's enough to cause any issues either way. Also my grinder is still pretty neat, not messy / staticky. Not sure if I got lucky or what. I enjoyed the grinder before modifying it as well, it just has more fines which didn't seem to be too negative if you want a more traditional lower clarity and higher body grinder it worked well that way.
Congrats on the Shop!…and also the Sanremo YOU. That’s like the perfect machine. Screen and control of the Decent with the paddles and dual boilers that lots of people want. S-Tier.
I wish I could keep it. I only have a few more weeks with it so I'll be making my video about it soon.
The big unanswered (and unasked) question: How does espresso using the DF83 compare to espresso using the DF64?
Hard to say as I didn't test them side by side. They both make great espresso and the DF83 is probably my favourite grinder 😅
All single dose grinders are going to be simular in work flow.. maybe alittle better on some but not a deal breaker for me.. i want to know how the espresso tastes from one to another. So niche, eureka oro, df83 or one of the df64 models. Issue is i have to rely on all these reviews... they are great but its not the same as seeing them up close and personal or better yet tasting the coffee they can produce...
Yeah it's really hard, and hard to review as well. Part of it is gonna be the taste, and showing that in a video is impossible. But the feel of using a grinder every day is important. I like the DF83 and it doesn't slow me down or get in the way. Some other grinders might, or might have quirks that make them less comfortable to use.
Thanks for the reply. The niche is hard to get. But i do prefer textire to clarity in saying that the oro sd is good texture with somewhat clarity and issues like vibration and so on but looks great. Have they fixed this? If so it would be on my short list with the df83 how was the coffee taste and texture in your experience with the df 83 compared to others you have tried?
retention is only a thing to note when single dosing, im not sure why you made note of it for use with a hopper
Good question. If you have a hopper in and there is still quite a bit of coffee left in the chamber, and then you don't make a coffee again until next morning, you'll get 1g or so of stale coffee in your first shot. That's around 5% of your espresso, will have an impact on taste, even if it's a small one.
@@homecafecharlie ah, fair i guess i just assumed a commercial setting with the hopper or hosting where you would be pulling back to backs
@@jlyt18 Yep for commercial use or serious home use pulling multiple shots 1g retention isn't bad at all. First shot of the day purge like half a second worth of coffee and you probably just ground 3g and eliminated the stale retention.
Is this the v2 or the v1 version?
This is the V1 but hopefully I'll have the V2 for a comparison review very soon
I want
😍
@@homecafecharlie I felt on top of the world with my DF64, Now I feel like a small fish in a very big pond 😀
So now you’re “Work Café by Charlie”?
🤣 Yeah that tracks!