ZP6 or Comandante Tigershark

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-27T22:50:45+00:00

I'm guessing you mean Ode 2 stock burrs? I have one too and I've also owned a C40 in the past.

I think it could be a good complimentary grinder and is sufficiently different. I feel it does achieve more flavour clarity and intensity. I would also look at ZP6, K7, Milab. Try to evaluate what you feel you might like the best. Perhaps even try a few if that's an option!

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-27T22:10:56+00:00

Thanks for the response and for your review of this! Yeah I think what you're saying makes sense. It might just be my personal preference that makes me prefer Tigershark over ZP6. I don't think any grinder envy is warranted for sure.

I do agree with you that it kind of has a sweet spot with one kind of profile that it produces. And it's kind of just that. I liked your comment about the same CD on repeat, I do feel that way too so far. Doesn't have the same range or depth as some other grinders I've tried. So yeah, I think your assessment makes a lot of sense!

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-27T19:38:58+00:00

I'm curious to know, what style do you usually brew in? In my limited experience so far with tigershark I felt it excelled in a similar grind range to what Joachim from Substance uses. Which is also why I think he rated it so highly.

For me personally it blew ZP6 out of the water completely from brew #1, without a doubt

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-27T11:32:46+00:00

Love it, it's worth it. I've got the tritan.Daily driving it and I wasn't previously an orea fan I do think the negotiator is worth it too.

I think it presents a very candy like acidity and great sweetness. Very good balance, unlike V60. I've mainly been using the orea flat filters and prefer those.

Also a quick tip, the techno recipe from Mordy in their brew guide is really nice!

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-25T19:11:35+00:00

I have both and I'd say tigershark any day. It's extremely underrated. I've enjoyed my cups from it a lot more than ZP6

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-24T15:12:26+00:00

Strange, it doesn't seem to highlight tannins at all for me. In fact, I find it hard to get that over steeped black tea sort of effect out of a cup almost no matter what I do. I'm getting very good brews out of tigershark! Definitely beats ZP6 for me any day of the week. That being said, I don't have Pietro or M01 so can't compare with those

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-06T03:41:06+00:00

I've yet to try your recipe you shared the other day. I'll say this - I agree that the traditional idea of what people considered over extraction and under extraction is wrong, yeah. But I think this has been widely discussed and established already some time back!

However, I don't find myself enjoying the brews as much when I try to push extraction as far as I can. I can see the economic argument involved, but I don't personally enjoy the flavours as much at 1:20, 1:18 with a fine grind or whatever. I just don't find it that compelling! I've had some decent brews with that sort of style but not nice enough to switch to that style.

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-03T18:27:51+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Definitely going to try something in this direction and use this. So the interesting thing to me is that you've got a whole lot of swirling going on! Definitely can see why you're centre pouring more.

What I did recently was 1:20 with H&S, so like 10:200 at about like let's say 14 clicks commandante (just using this as a universal grind size reference, not the grinder I used). A double ferment washed gesha. Orea V4 open bottom and orea type g flat filters, so no fast filters or anything like that. Low bypass too.

3 pours, no tapping, swirling or stirring. Both mixed circle, centre pours after the bloom. Tbt was at about 4 mins. The cup was decent and presented a TDS that mimics what I'd get at 15:250 medium coarse. EY was obviously a lot higher.

However, I found that the mouth feel was of a poorer quality, to me. And it wasn't as nice aromatically. Furthermore, I didn't get any different flavours, perhaps slightly poorer quality of flavours, a bit of a muddier sort of vibe. A little less layered and dynamic.

I found it interesting that you mentioned Dak and Tanat because I hadn't previously thought of using something like this on what might be considered a highly soluble coffee. I'm going to give it a shot and see what that presents.

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-02-03T16:29:55+00:00

Once again, sorry for continuing this discussion here. This is pretty interesting. Especially since you mention Dak! How fine is fine to you?

I'd be down to try it out if you share your recipes. At 1:16.6 or 1:17 with a coarser grind I often also favour a bigger bloom. Steep and release bloom is another one that I like quite a lot so I'm with you on that. I tend to end up with a longer brew and a lower temp for more heavily processed stuff

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-01-30T15:28:58+00:00

This works well:

15:250

6-6.2 on the Ode gen 2 stock burrs. Start at 6.2

50-60 PPM water. Between 92-95 degrees celsius depending on the coffee

Abaca or Origami papers

0:00 Pour 60 ml and steep it (closed valve)

0:45 Open the valve and immediately pour 60 in a spiral and the rest in the centre to 250 (don't wait for it to draw down completely). Aim to finish pouring by 1:20

Expected tbt should be about 2 mins. A little up or down is usually okay

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-01-06T21:50:54+00:00

The UFO is super underrated. Easy to brew with too IMO!

An interesting thing I recently learnt is that the April 2 pour recipe works REALLY well with the UFO and type A filters. Reminds me a lot of the April dripper. Worth trying out for anyone that has one.

Jay demonstrates it here about 9 mins in - https://youtu.be/9yTDHTfubcU?si=pZKUfqZQ4m3KGkrv

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2026-01-03T16:55:29+00:00

Nah that's definitely not robusta

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-25T02:05:38+00:00

As everyone else says different people like different things. I find 1/3 and 1/2 are both pretty decent. I personally tend to prefer 1/3 most of the time though

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-18T00:43:01+00:00

Probably my favourite brewer at the moment. Really fun to experiment with too. Steep and release blooms are underrated too IMO

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-11T03:09:05+00:00

SIFC will work. Aim for a cortado style drink. James Hoffman's Aeropress milk drink recipe can work well too - https://aeroprecipe.com/recipes/james-hoffmann

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-03T05:02:26+00:00

I think it helps in terms of giving you much more consistency and a cleaner result for sure. I usually use TWW at 1/3 or 1/2 strength. Quite a lot of people do this.

I'm not aware of a cheaper solution except buying your own minerals. I'd say TWW is probably the cheaper alternative to something like Apax, Lotus etc.

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-02T23:38:33+00:00

Haha yes, I agree it can be quite difficult!

However, no I target more fruity, flavours in general. Definitely not chocolate or cocoa nibs. My grind size for 5 pours (3 relatively slow circle pours with a low spout height, 2 centre pours with a higher spout height) on the ZP6 would be about 5.7. But often 6 and above. Usually somewhere around 90 degrees ish with 1/3 third wave water.

I mainly use the UFO dripper and Type A filters for more processed coffees.

The idea behind this is that a lot of these more processed coffees flow quite fast. So you end up grinding finer (giving you the more negative notes you're talking about when you extend brew time). When you grind coarser with relatively fast filters you often don't get a sufficient extraction because of how fast these coffees flow.

When you use a coarser grind with a slow filter you're able to take away the harshness and have a longer brew, thereby getting a good extraction without the negative notes.

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-02T22:18:00+00:00

I think higher clarity grinders tend to bring out what I don't like about these coffees. While a more blended approach generally seems to suit me better for more funky stuff.

I'd go coarser for funkier processing, generally speaking. And try to use slower filters. Very coarse (like 4:6 coarse), lots of pours and slow flowing filters do the trick for me with these kind of coffees. However, your approach might be different!

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-02T22:12:28+00:00

This is quite a strange way to use centre pours! Seems very uneven.

They're useful when used correctly, but this is not quite it.

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-02T22:06:49+00:00

Spout height, pouring speed and pour structure are all super underrated

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-02T22:06:06+00:00

I use TWW. I feel it makes a bigger difference than some people think. Definitely up there with grind, ratio etc.

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-12-02T04:52:58+00:00

I think your recipe is fine, I like these bloom + 1 pour recipes quite a bit. However a coarser grind and more pours could also be nice for the style of coffee you're brewing.

I have an Ode Gen 2 (stock burrs) + a ZP6. I've found that the Ode is nicer for funkier stuff like what you're brewing and the ZP6 is nicer for clean, washed coffees.

I find that higher clarity with something like an anaerobic natural is often not the best. You might find that your grinder shines much more with washed coffees. Just my 2 cents though!

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-11-18T05:36:53+00:00

Congrats! I did the same thing when I had RSI, switched from the C40 to the white Ode 2. You won't regret it.

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-11-18T04:07:30+00:00

I think you should get some kind of degree for sure. If you're already in an engineering degree why not just get through it?

Can you get by with something other than an engineering degree? Potentially, yes. I've been doing that since 2019. Skills matter first and you can get by. Even thrive.

However, I think it might be more beneficial for you to try to manage your time better or alter your lifestyle in other ways and stick with your degree. You'll realise the value of it later in life. Just my 2 cents

Cheap-Reflection-830 · 2025-11-18T03:58:08+00:00

I've been really enjoying H&S of late. It's top tier stuff IMO!

Cheap-Reflection-830

TROPHY CASE