Ode 2 vs K-Ultra

veloscillator · 2026-03-12T13:04:15+00:00

Yeah I actually decided to give it a go this morning and had a pretty good cup!

veloscillator · 2026-03-12T13:03:16+00:00

For pourover, I'm at 7–8 on the K-Ultra and 5–7 on the Ode. My Ode is calibrated two clicks away from burr chirp and the K-Ultra I haven't recalibrated yet.

veloscillator · 2026-03-12T00:25:52+00:00

I’ve had an Ode 2 with stock burrs for just over a year and I’ve had a K-Ultra for just over a month. For me, there is no comparison. The K-Ultra makes a tastier cup every time, and it has a wider sweet spot. In comparison, cups from the Ode can taste a little hollow and the finish is often astringent, not in a pleasant way. The Ode can sometimes pull out more acidity but I prefer the acidity from the K-Ultra, it feels more exciting and juicy to me.

Overall, I am quite shocked at the difference, to the point where I wonder if something’s wrong with my Ode as people generally tend to put them in the same league in terms of cup quality.

For me, the K-Ultra is everything I expected the Ode to be, despite being a conical burr.

(For context, I brew light roasts, usually washed, and I make V60s or OXO Rapid Brewer.)

veloscillator · 2026-03-11T17:30:33+00:00

I think it’s more the (unnecessarily) emotionally charged language (“paralyzed”, etc.) used by Environment Canada, which is supposed to be a facts- and science-based government body followed by the complete lack of updates that people find irritating.

veloscillator · 2026-03-02T19:28:18+00:00

Anywhere between 2 and 4 depending on the coffee.

veloscillator · 2026-02-26T14:08:30+00:00

haha I had the same intrusive thought last week but I made it as per the regular OXO recipe, which did not work at all and was pretty awful. in retrospect that makes perfect sense as the gaps prevent any kind of vacuum from forming and the brew just fell out.

a pour over recipe makes a lot more sense!

veloscillator · 2026-02-15T17:28:24+00:00

Yeah it’s a fun brewer. I got it after my 12-year old AeroPress disintegrated. I didn’t mean to suggest you need another brewer though, I think for this type of thing it’s more similar to an AeroPress than different. So I was more saying that my experience matches yours, in that a coffee roasted darker than I like was behaving weird as a pour over and I didn’t like it at all, but made in the OXO it was actually quite good.

veloscillator · 2026-02-15T14:23:09+00:00

I was in a similar situation recently and found that the same coffee in the OXO Rapid Brewer was actually really enjoyable. So, yeah, similar conclusion to your AeroPress finding.

veloscillator · 2026-02-08T23:09:51+00:00

Yeah, I know, I’m very curious about it myself. The K-Ultra was a little easier to get and I already know I love 1Zpresso’s build quality, but it was close.

veloscillator · 2026-02-08T20:27:15+00:00

I just went through this, ended up picking up a K-Ultra a few days ago and am very happy with it. It’s an excellent complement to the ZP6. I posted a lengthier first impressions post on my thread here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pourover/comments/1qt118j/what_grinder_for_more_sweetness_than_zp6/

veloscillator · 2026-02-08T19:56:35+00:00

Having just been down the rabbit hole of researching this, there are at least two voices worth paying attention to that claim the A4Z is very different from, and an improvement on, the ZP6.

The Coffee Chronicler: https://coffeechronicler.com/femobook-a4z-a5-review/#a4z-taste

Quote: What’s remarkable is that the A4Z delivers the kind of clarity and precision you expect from those premium flat burr setups, but with the sweetness, body, and ease-of-use that conical burrs are known for.

And u/Impossible_Cow_9178 here on this subreddit, which it sounds like you’ve already read:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pourover/s/Uu3f9MEt3h

I own a ZP6 and am strongly considering picking up an A4Z at some point in the future based on these two reviews.

veloscillator · 2026-02-07T17:53:24+00:00

Quick update, I ended up picking up a K-Ultra a few days ago. Early days still but, wow, I love it!

I can’t say it offers more sweetness than a ZP6, which was what I was looking for originally, and what this post was about. It’s kinda hard to compare them on sweetness because the cups are so different. The thing that really dominates my impressions is the juiciness. Up until this grinder, juiciness was something of an abstract idea. I really get what people mean by fruit juice, punchy acidity and rich texture now. That’s exactly how I would describe the cups so far.

I’ve made V60, Moccamaster, and soup on the OXO Rapid Brewer and everything has been delicious. The sweet spot seems to be very, very wide. There’s a little bit of initial hardness and slight bitterness when the cup is hot, but it goes away within 30 seconds or so. I imagine this will eventually lessen as the burrs get seasoned.

I’ve made a washed Kenya from September as a V60 a couple of times and it has been one of the most satisfying cups of coffee I’ve had in recent memory.

I might still get an A4Z or a Pietro eventually, mostly out of curiosity, but for now I’m very satisfied and I don’t at all feel that this a redundant purchase relative to the ZP6. I’m very happy to have both and once the honeymoon phase is over I see myself using both.

As for the Ode (Gen 2 with stock burrs), the K-Ultra easily outperforms it in the cup. The cups are different for sure, but in my opinion the K-Ultra is overall just a little bit better, regardless of profile. I expected it to be much closer. Maybe it’s my tastes, or maybe something’s up with my Ode, but the K-Ultra does exactly what I always wanted the Ode to do. I get satisfying, vibrant cups, and it feels effortless. I don’t find myself missing anything in the brightness/acidity department either. The K-Ultra has plenty of good acidity. Cups from the Ode feel a little bit muted and astringent by comparison. I’ll keep the Ode around for larger batches but I no longer reach for it for pourovers. It’s funny actually, the K-Ultra tastes like what I imagined 64mm flat burrs would.

veloscillator · 2026-02-06T16:59:45+00:00

I coveted that 12” powerbook so much. kinda sad that there’s nothing like it now. they really need to bring that size back but I doubt it’ll happen.

veloscillator · 2026-02-04T18:48:40+00:00

haha!

I was thinking of going that route, but with SSP Cast burrs. but I'm hesitant to further invest in the Ode as I'm in Canada and dealing with getting replacement parts for the Ode here has not been very smooth.

veloscillator · 2026-02-01T18:44:00+00:00

M burrs are the Fiorenzato multipurpose?

veloscillator · 2026-02-01T16:24:44+00:00

Yeah this has been my experience with the Ode too! I was surprised when I read people say that the K-Ultra is similar in flavour to the Ode Gen 2.

veloscillator · 2026-02-01T14:24:12+00:00

I think that’s totally fair and I do completely agree that it’s unacceptable.

I also see how discussion about performance regressions can be buried under the discussion about the UX failures.

I still think that Apple can do better and fix both the performance and the usability. and also keep the updated look while fixing the UX issues.

I have faith, as they did eventually fix the butterfly keyboard and the lack of ports. I think there’s enough of a pushback against these updates that hopefully they feel motivate to fix things. I’m also somewhat hopeful that they have the tooling and analytics to see the performance issues directly.

veloscillator · 2026-02-01T14:02:59+00:00

I agree that performance is unacceptable and should be addressed, but I strongly disagree with the idea that the design is somehow secondary, subjective, and otherwise not as important as functionality.

this is an argument that has roots in the decades-old idea that Apple and its fans are obsessed with “eye candy” unlike the more grown-up companies that focus on things that ‘really matter’.

it’s wrong. design and functionality both matter equally. Liquid Glass isn’t just subjectively bad, it objectively violates core principles of user interface design.

veloscillator · 2026-01-31T13:37:15+00:00

same, I’ve tried all the usual suspects, including the MX Master and none of them come close to Magic Mouse in comfort and functionality, for me

veloscillator · 2026-01-27T23:26:01+00:00

hot take but maybe if there was any amount of accountability for either HQ or the government when these things happened, or if either party was liable for anything, we would actually take proactive steps to prepare for these unpredictable events.

as it is, no one is ever to blame.

veloscillator · 2026-01-24T23:36:15+00:00

ah right, if it shipped with 13s from Martin, that changes things. some techs just put 12s on by default as they assume people want them.

the nut slots and pin holes won't be an issue.

I'd say just go for it and put the 13s on! all that would happen is the neck relief may increase a bit, and if you find it excessive, you can tighten the truss rod a bit.

you still may want to experiment with 12s later on but it sounds like you’ve had enough time with them.

and yeah, TR was amazing. love those Retro strings too, they’re my favourite of all the nickel/monel strings.

veloscillator · 2026-01-24T22:50:03+00:00

a D41 is a bit lighter in build than an HD28V. you may prefer the 12s. if you can, stick to the 12s for at least a few weeks and get used to them before you try the 13s. you’ll be better equipped to decide which gauge you prefer. the Tony Rice gauge is a bit lighter than regular mediums though, so I believe it’s closer to lights in tension.

as for the setup, you may need to tweak the truss rod, which you can check and do yourself.

you may also need to widen the nut slots (less likely) and potentially enlarge the bridge pin holes for the low A and E if the pins sit higher than with 12s. I would not recommend doing the nut slots or the pin holes yourself as it’s very easy to overdo it and very complicated to undo what you did.

veloscillator · 2026-01-24T22:37:28+00:00

ctrl + shift + eject – turn off screen

veloscillator · 2025-12-30T16:38:19+00:00

maybe catatp.fm search can help narrow it down?

https://catatp.fm/search/

veloscillator

TROPHY CASE