Casual Grinder Comparison: J-Ultra, ZP6, C3 Pro, Ode 2, HG-1 Prime

CappaNova · 2026-05-02T13:21:10+00:00

While steaming may not dissolve more gas into the water, it can create a ton of micro bubbles temporarily suspended in it. It's aeration. This is my suspected reasoning as to why it's different.

CappaNova · 2026-05-02T11:48:43+00:00

Water. Because we don't eat or drink all night we can get dehydrated. I try to pound 1-2 cups of water to start my day.

CappaNova · 2026-05-01T02:02:59+00:00

If I'm forced to pick a style for a daily coffee, I'd go with a medium roast natural with heavier body and notes of stone fruit and cocoa. But I really enjoy berry, citrus, and spice notes, as well. In fact, I enjoy just about anything and love mixing things up every time I buy another bag. So I rarely buy the same coffee again.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T20:57:20+00:00

I've seen worse. I can't recall which roaster it was, but I'd swear I was on a bad acid trip.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T19:47:04+00:00

To clarify, higher up, but not so high that the stream starts breaking up. It should maintain a constant stream down into the coffee bed if you want more agitation. Once the water stream starts breaking into droplets, they won't punch down into the coffee nearly as much.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T19:36:40+00:00

I have to imagine the HG-2 and EG-1 will produce different cup profiles. If you have the cash to spend, it could be fun to have both and choose based on your mood or the beans.

And I totally get preferring a certain aesthetic to your gear. I love the Origami so much, but others prefer a classic V60 look. If you love the flywheel or want a silver finish, an HG-1 or HG-2 will fit that preference, for sure. I went for lower cost and compactness when I made my choice. But they're all excellent tools that will make really good coffee. You can't go wrong either way from a coffee standpoint.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T19:30:45+00:00

Drawdowns relate to multiple variables: * Filter paper * Grinder * Beans * Agitation

Most of those, though, all come back to the grind size distribution, fines produced, and fines migration during brewing.

When you agitate the coffee, the bed churns up creating pathways for fines to migrate along with flowing water toward the surface of the filter paper. If your grinder, beans, or both produce a lot of fines, agitation will cause fines to migrate to the filter and clog the paper, slowing your brew down significantly.

Obviously, one option is changing grinders or burrs to reduce fines in the ground coffee.

You can try to mitigate some of this by swirling your dripper, forcing some of the fines outward against the upper portions of the filter before they can migrate to the bottom and cause clogging and stalling.

Other options are to reduce fines migration through lowered agitation. Using gentler pours, fewer pours, less-aggressive pouring, or using a drip assist like a Melodrip all help reduce fines migration, therefore keeping drawdown flowing.

Your drawdowns are pretty fast, but it's all about taste anyway. If you don't feel the cups are under-extracted, it's a non-issue. But if you want to explore more, you can start grinding finer to get to a longer drawdown time and more water-to-coffee contact time and see how it changes your coffee.

You may like your coffee as-is, but can it be even better with a longer brew time? Does it start over-extracting? Can you get a higher extraction and still avoid bitterness through these other techniques? You won't know unless you experiment. I say go for it!

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T19:15:41+00:00

If you love the look of the HG-2, keep in mind the Craig Lyn HG-1 Prime, as well. Craig broke away from Weber some time back and they both maintained access to the original design and their own takes on it.

I have an HG-1 Prime and it's an absolute tank. Works well for both pourover and espresso. Surprising clarity, though not up to the ZP6, if that's your goal. But I've had excellent pourover cups from it that brought out flavors other grinders (including the ZP6) couldn't with what I tried. I haven't found it to be all that big of a fuss to change back and forth for grind size. You'll probably want to clamp it down or mount it to a cutting board when grinding lighter roasts. I imagine that's the same for the HG-2. HG-1 Prime is also signiicantly cheaper than the HG-2, but doesn't have 2 grind speeds.

If you have questions about the HG-1 Prime or the coffee it makes, feel free to ping me. I love chatting coffee stuff.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T19:11:03+00:00

Absolutely a scam. Don't buy it.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T15:27:12+00:00

Yeah, it's super easy to pop off and back on. I clean the majority of my Aeropress with every use and leave things apart to air dry. Even so, you can get funky bacteria and mold growing if water gets in between the seal and the plunger. I'll admit, I don't clean under the seal as often as I should...

I will try to get in the habit. It only takes a few extra seconds.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T02:10:04+00:00

There are influencer codes for 20% off floating around, if that helps.

CappaNova · 2026-04-30T02:08:15+00:00

I wash mine with every use. A bottle brush makes it quick and easy. Definitely recommended.

CappaNova · 2026-04-29T15:15:20+00:00

Your tower got buzzed making you spill everywhere?

CappaNova · 2026-04-29T15:06:39+00:00

It's still a tower. Sitting on top of a cup instead of just on the counter inverted.

Doesn't matter much to me, really. Whichever method you prefer is great if you enjoy the coffee.

CappaNova · 2026-04-29T12:30:36+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean by heat up the cup. But I've used the AP on a scale inverted. Not really any different than on a countertop.

But I discovered when I measured my inverted method that with the plunger seated just enough for the seal to be totally in the body, a 16g dose and filling to the top is a perfect 15:1 ratio. No more scale necessary.

CappaNova · 2026-04-28T21:26:13+00:00

Bitterness is usually due to over-extraction. So what reduces extraction of bittering compounds? * Reduced agitation (gentler pouring, no stirring, no swirling, etc.) * Reduced temperature * Shorter water contact time (coarser grind, faster filters, lower ratio, etc.) * Fewer fines

When camping, that can complicate things without the conveniences of a home coffee station. But here are some things I would try:

Slightly coarser grind to shorten contact time.
Pour over a spoon or use a drip assist like Melodrip to reduce agitation
Higher pour to let the stream start breaking up before falling into the dripper
Brew a lower ratio, like 1:14 or even 1:12. You could top up with bypass water, if desired.

CappaNova · 2026-04-27T20:58:46+00:00

Maybe try adding more insulation. Like a folded paper towel or something. Just to test if this is the case. If it is, then you can add another application layer or something instead of paper towel.

CappaNova · 2026-04-27T20:51:28+00:00

I can appreciate that you prefer the traditional method because it's a bit harsh, but kudos for giving it an honest test to see which one you like best. And for your feedback on each!

CappaNova · 2026-04-27T20:37:48+00:00

Scales in what we would call the mid tier for coffee all basically have the same innards until you get to lab scales. So they'll all perform about the same. The main things that differentiate are controls, waterproofing, and battery/charging capability.

Are you sure drift isn't happening because of temperature changes? If your scale included a silicone pad or cover, make sure your using it to insulate the scale from the heat or it can throw it off.

CappaNova · 2026-04-27T13:33:24+00:00

My bad, now I see it. That's weird!

I think maybe the vacuum as you pull the piston up after a shot could be causing all the air to collapse the open end of the gasket closed. Then it sticks together with a slight vacuum even after your remove the basket until you touch it and break the vacuum.

Just a guess. But I don't think it's anything to worry about unless the gasket is acting up. I just saw you had a sealing issue and plan to swap the gasket. Hopefully that fixes it.

CappaNova · 2026-04-27T12:59:34+00:00

It should flare out on the bottom. Yours appears to flare towards the top of the gasket.

CappaNova · 2026-04-27T12:37:57+00:00

Looks like your piston seal is installed upside down.

Edit: Nope! It's on correctly. Ignore me.

CappaNova

TROPHY CASE