# Chinese spice grinder thing



## Rompie (Apr 18, 2015)

Came across this whilst trawling through ebay on my ongoing quest for a budget grinder for brewed.

Despite the horrible plastic/chrome dial and questionable inner mechanics, the build looks fairly solid. Any ideas how something like this would perform?


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

It's a Mini EK! Wonder what the burrs are?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Does not have burrs. It is a blade grinder


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Its an expensive punt. But you could end up with a grind quality of an EK at the fraction of the price.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

urbanbumpkin said:


> Its an expensive punt. But you could end up with a grind quality of an EK at the fraction of the price.


How can you even remotely suggest that, just because if you close your eyes and squint through your fingers it might just possibly look like the basic shape of an EK. Up until very recently,despite the claims in the advert, these were blade grinders and not burr. I accept that this states it being a burr rider so when I have time I will dig a bit more. I did consider buying one last year until I discovered the blades.


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

100w power figure on the base plate, which if correct, may give an indication of grinding abilty...

John


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

dfk41 said:


> How can you even remotely suggest that, just because if you close your eyes and squint through your fingers it might just possibly look like the basic shape of an EK. Up until very recently,despite the claims in the advert, these were blade grinders and not burr. I accept that this states it being a burr rider so when I have time I will dig a bit more. I did consider buying one last year until I discovered the blades.


The comment was very much tongue in cheek Dave.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Yep and whoosh, the sound of it going right over my head!


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## CamV6 (Feb 7, 2012)

Surely it's shape is more akin to a mincer than an EK?


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

I think with the ones that do have burrs - they are 64mm, going from memory here as I was looking at one of these for a few weeks a long while back.

One thing I know for sure is that they're stepped by quite big increments, potentially moddable to be stepless though.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

OK, heres the eBay advert in the uK

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kalita-Coffee-Cafe-Nice-cut-mill-Coffee-Beans-Grinder-Black-AK0202-/151787737237?hash=item2357411095

Pride of place at position 9 in this review, defy a blade grinder

http://coffee-grinders.co.uk/best-coffee-grinder-top-12-review/


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

"Blade" is sometimes used to describe burrs too, the Kalita Nice Cut is a flat burr grinder, fed by an auger.

Pics of burrs here, and the Fuji Royal...http://kakuheinrich99.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/fuji-royal-kalita-nice-cut-mill.html


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

People use the term blades all the time I ebay/gumtree referring to burrs


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## Rompie (Apr 18, 2015)

Wonder if it's any good then


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> People use the term blades all the time I ebay/gumtree referring to burrs


It is much easier if people read links...

The Kalita is a blade grinder and coffee-grinders.co.uk doesn't feature too many of them as most coffee drinkers like the adjustability, durability and grind quality of a burr grinder. However, this doesn't mean it's not a good grinder. On the contrary, reviews for this one are pretty good and it's a scaled down version of a commercial one which means it's going to be toug


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

dfk41 said:


> It is much easier if people read links...
> 
> The Kalita is a blade grinder and coffee-grinders.co.uk doesn't feature too many of them as most coffee drinkers like the adjustability, durability and grind quality of a burr grinder. However, this doesn't mean it's not a good grinder. On the contrary, reviews for this one are pretty good and it's a scaled down version of a commercial one which means it's going to be toug


What about the pics in mwjb link ?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Mrboots2u said:


> What about the pics in mwjb link ?


Am probably wrong. I do not speak Japanese but I think that is a different grinder to then advertised on Ebay, which only has a 100 watt motor....Presumably the link I sent to the reviews would not make his comments up as to why he does not think it popular.....there again, this is the modern press, of course they are made up, in fact, I doubt he has ever even seen one!

To me, you would be better off sourcing a Kitchenmaid Artisan which is better looking, probably beer functioning, easily available and just as good looking


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

From experience, a lot of reviews are made up. Manufacturers often out-source to a copy-writing company for reviews and articles. The writers probably haven't even handled anything they write about, but take their info from the landing page or other reviews kicking around on the internet.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

MWJB said:


> "Blade" is sometimes used to describe burrs too, the Kalita Nice Cut is a flat burr grinder, fed by an auger.
> 
> Pics of burrs here, and the Fuji Royal...http://kakuheinrich99.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/fuji-royal-kalita-nice-cut-mill.html


Interesting...


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## JKK (Feb 19, 2014)

It looks like a copy of the Fujikoki R220 grinder, which is actually a pretty good grinder for brew.

http://www.fujiko-ki.co.jp/mill/r220.html#

There is a bigger brother R440 which is used extensively in Japanese cafes for brew, and it is

very much a Japanese EK43 ( but with very different style burrs ).

http://www.fujiko-ki.co.jp/mill/r440.html

The R440 show up often 2nd hand in Japan for around £200-300, but they are big and super heavy

just like their German cousin.

The confusion about blade / burr is purely a linguistic translation issue, they are definitely burr grinders.

Both grinders can be fitted with the "Ghost teeth" burrs ( for brew grind ) or more familiar concentric

burrs for espresso and Turkish.

Strangely the R440 always comes with an Egyptian sticker around the base, even since the 1980's

-jkk


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

Speaking of spice grinders, was at Colonna & Smalls in Bath a few days ago and they explain the use of a spice grinder to make a "long black" or americano style coffee - I will post the exact paragraph/leaflet if I can find it, but essentially it explains how they don't normally recommend long blacks, as diluting espressos ruins the flavour, but somehow they've managed to hack this process with the use of a spice grinder. Perhaps this is a common thing and I'm just hearing it for the first time, so I'm not claiming C&S invented this... Interested me; would have tried it if I hadn't already ordered an espresso!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

yerbamate170 said:


> speaking of spice grinders, was at colonna & smalls in bath a few days ago and they explain the use of a spice grinder to make a "long black" or americano style coffee - i will post the exact paragraph/leaflet if i can find it, but essentially it explains how they don't normally recommend long blacks, as diluting espressos ruins the flavour, but somehow they've managed to hack this process with the use of a spice grinder. Perhaps this is a common thing and i'm just hearing it for the first time, so i'm not claiming c&s invented this... Interested me; would have tried it if i hadn't already ordered an espresso!


ek43


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

jeebsy said:


> ek43


They had an EK43 I'm pretty sure, yeah, but is this what they mean? I assumed the "spice grinder" reference suggested they use some other grinder, different from what they use for their regular espressos.


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## Fevmeister (Oct 21, 2013)

that coffee grinders website is an absolute travesty dfk why are you referencing it?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

A grinder is a grinder - a motor & burrs. Different materials to be ground might require differing burrs relative to different spices/seeds/beans and whether they are oily or not.

The EK43 is 30year old grinder, it has burrs for coffee, Turkish coffee & seeds etc. This is the "spice" grinder they refer to, but it is no more/less correct a description than "coffee" grinder, if it has Turkish/coffee burrs installed, then it is as much a "coffee" grinder as any other.


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