# 1ZPresso JX-Pro - buying direct



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Hi all - following my recent post about manual grinders I've taken the plunge and ordered a 1ZPresso JX-Pro. Thought I'd start a thread to update on the buying process and I'll also add in my thoughts on the grinder once it's arrived and I've used it a bit. Hope this might be useful for anyone else considering this grinder and/or buying direct. 🙂

I ordered on Tuesday 15th - in addition to the cost of the grinder (I went for the package with travel case) there's a $30 flat rate shipping fee. Ordering from the 1ZPresso site was dead easy and I paid through PayPal - I wasn't sure if paying through PayPal incurs FX fees so used my Curve card to be on the safe side.

Got an order confirmation email right away and then less than 24 hours later had dispatch notification - very speedy! 1ZPresso use DHL as their courier and provided tracking information telling me the grinder should arrive by end of day on Friday 18th. I was expecting to wait a couple of weeks so pretty impressed at this.

The DHL tracking information is extremely detailed so I've had a certain degree of geeky entertainment following my grinder's journey from Tapei, through Hong Kong, to its latest stopover in Leipzig this afternoon 😂

I've not yet had any requests to pay a customs or duty charge on the delivery - will see what happens next! I saw a few people on previous posts got away without being charged any fee, but others did have to pay a charge...

The cost of the grinder plus shipping worked out about £30 cheaper than the best price I could find elsewhere, so I'm gambling any duty will be less - if not that's a lesson learned. Fingers crossed!

More to follow, hopefully the grinder will be with me tomorrow.


----------



## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

jimmyuk81 said:


> The cost of the grinder plus shipping worked out about £30 cheaper than the best price I could find elsewhere, so I'm gambling any duty will be less - if not that's a lesson learned. Fingers crossed!
> 
> More to follow, hopefully the grinder will be with me tomorrow.


 Hmm interesting. For the sake of £30 (assuming your best price was uk based), I think i'd rather have paid the extra. i know that probably sending the grinder back to HK in case of warranty issues is probably relativly straight forward, but who pays postage etc.


----------



## Cafelat UK (May 4, 2021)

I bought one locally on Wednesday too, arriving today


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

It's here! 😃 And no duty charged in my case - interesting.

Photos and report on first use to follow later on...


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Nightrider_1uk said:


> Hmm interesting. For the sake of £30 (assuming your best price was uk based), I think i'd rather have paid the extra. i know that probably sending the grinder back to HK in case of warranty issues is probably relativly straight forward, but who pays postage etc.


 To be honest I've very rarely bought anything directly from overseas and I was curious how it would go 🙂 A bit of an experiment really, rather than just to save £30 - that's a nice added bonus.

Totally fair point about the warranty and hopefully nothing will go wrong with it. I don't think I'd take the risk for anything more complex or expensive...


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Ok a couple of obligatory unboxing photos 😉

















The grinder is very well packaged - can't see how it would come to any harm in transit. It was inside a larger cardboard box & comes with a useful cleaning brush.

















This is the travel case I ordered with it and honestly a bit perplexed - it's really big?!

Seems way too large for the grinder and handle with lots of wasted space. I wondered if it was meant to fit an aeropress as well, but it doesn't&#8230; 🤔

Anyway it certainly keeps it protected, but if I was wanting to pack it in a crammed suitcase I'd be annoyed at how much space it takes up.

The accessory pocket in the lid is useful though. 🙂

















I know I need to repaint my decking 😂

First impressions of the grinder itself are great & it lives up to the reviews. It's a solid piece of kit and very nicely machined.

Will update on my first few shots and aeropress brews in the next post. 🙂


----------



## 27852 (Nov 8, 2020)

jimmyuk81 said:


> It's here! 😃 And no duty charged in my case - interesting.
> 
> Photos and report on first use to follow later on...


 I ended up with an invoice from Fedex dated April 30th for shipping in December. I'm sure they have a backlog of these given the UK/EU trade situation.

They tried to charge me a £12 disbursement fee which I was not informed of at the time of purchase. I disputed the charge over the phone and they opened a case - haven't heard back yet.

In case you do get an invoice for any type of service fee - feel free to use the rebuttal below:

"Per the Consumer Contracts Regulation 2013, it is illegal to levy the disbursement fee as it was not communicated to me at the point of sale and not explicitly accepted by me at the time of purchase of my item. Excerpts from the relevant legislation below:



_Regulation 39 (4) - "In the case of an unsolicited supply of goods, the consumer may, as between the consumer and the trader, use, deal with or dispose of the goods as if they were an unconditional gift to the consumer."_



_Regulation 40 (1): "Under a contract between a trader and a consumer, no payment is payable in addition to the remuneration agreed for the trader's main obligation unless, before the consumer became bound by the contract, the trader obtained the consumer's express consent."_


Your reminder letter advised that immediate action be taken "to avoid further action being taken". I will remind you of the Unsolicited Good and Services Act of 1971 (amended 2000), which makes it illegal to pursue payments linked to unsolicited goods.



_"A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business makes a demand for payment, or assets a present or prospective right to payment, for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent (after the commencement of this Act) to another person with a view to his acquiring them, shall be guilty of an offence..."_


_"A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business and with a view to obtaining any payment for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent as aforesaid - _

_Threatens to bring any legal proceedings; or_


_Places or causes to be placed the name of any person on a list of defaulters or debtors or threatens to do so; or_


_Invokes or causes to be invoked any other collection procedure or threatens to do so,_



_Shall be guilty of an offence..."_

Please be mindful of the above consumer protection legislation when correcting my invoice."


----------



## BunniesAreEvil (Jun 14, 2021)

Kjk: Who tried to charge you a disbursement fee?


----------



## BunniesAreEvil (Jun 14, 2021)

jimmyuk81 said:


> It's here! 😃 And no duty charged in my case - interesting.
> 
> Photos and report on first use to follow later on...


 Many years ago I bought a lens from America, and subsequently received a letter from HMRC demanding payment of VAT and duty. The lens was about £600, I believe there is currently no duty for items below £130 or thereabouts, but VAT is liable, if they can be bothered. Fingers crossed.


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Kjk said:


> I ended up with an invoice from Fedex dated April 30th for shipping in December. I'm sure they have a backlog of these given the UK/EU trade situation.
> 
> They tried to charge me a £12 disbursement fee which I was not informed of at the time of purchase. I disputed the charge over the phone and they opened a case - haven't heard back yet.
> 
> ...


 Thanks very much for that information! Hopefully won't be needed but definitely useful if it is. 👍


----------



## 27852 (Nov 8, 2020)

BunniesAreEvil said:


> Kjk: Who tried to charge you a disbursement fee?


 Fedex. £4.30 VAT/Duty which is fine but £12 as a fee... I'd love to know what current account is paying them that much interest.


----------



## BunniesAreEvil (Jun 14, 2021)

Kjk said:


> Fedex. £4.30 VAT/Duty which is fine but £12 as a fee... I'd love to know what current account is paying them that much interest.


 I've had the same in the past, from Royal Mail I think, it's easy money for very little work, basically it's a scam. They may well consider it not worth the hassle to fight you. It'll be interesting to see.


----------



## 27852 (Nov 8, 2020)

BunniesAreEvil said:


> I've had the same in the past, from Royal Mail I think, it's easy money for very little work, basically it's a scam. They may well consider it not worth the hassle to fight you. It'll be interesting to see.


 Yeah if it escalates I can start invoicing them for my time. I can randomly claim I'm owed money too!


----------



## Bicky (Oct 24, 2019)

I recently bought the same case thinking an aeropress would fit in it, gutted it doesn't. I guess there's space for a small scale and/or some beans?


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Bicky said:


> I recently bought the same case thinking an aeropress would fit in it, gutted it doesn't. I guess there's space for a small scale and/or some beans?


 Yes it's just a weird size - a bit frustrating as otherwise it's a nice quality case. Either needs to be a bit bigger for an aeropress, or quite a bit smaller! 🤷‍♂️


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Ok I've now tried a few shots and aeropress brews with the JX Pro.

Overall really pleased with it so far 🙂 Actually grinding the beans is quick and easy. I've not previously used a decent hand grinder so not got anything to compare it to, but it's very pleasant to use.

I'm still getting to grips - no pun intended 😂 - with the grind size adjustment. Couple of pics below:

















Coming from the built-in grinder on my Sage BE, both the degree of precision and the lack of unambiguous indexing are taking a bit of getting used to.

I'm not used to not being able to tell what grind size is set on a grinder! I think I'll start to keep a small notepad in the kitchen and note down the previous setting - it will save a bit of time versus winding it all the way down and back up again.

I was expecting this from the reviews and it's certainly no big deal 🙂 Just a bit of a learning curve.

On the plus side having this much adjustment for the grind is absolutely wonderful - so much easier to dial in for espresso than with the BE grinder. Clearly if you're used to a high quality electric grinder you'd already be used to this!

I haven't quite pulled enough shots yet to get it absolutely spot on but I know I'll get there. The quality of the shots I have tried is great. It clearly seems to be grinding a lot more uniformly and consistently than the BE built in grinder.

Grinding a bit coarser for aeropress is also very nice and even quicker 🙂 Again I've not quite got the grind size totally dialed in yet but it's still producing a very tasty brew.

Retention in the grinder is minimal, less than 0.1g on average.

Overall super happy with it! Looking forward to lots more coffee and getting it perfectly dialled in. 🙂


----------



## 27852 (Nov 8, 2020)

jimmyuk81 said:


> Ok I've now tried a few shots and aeropress brews with the JX Pro.
> 
> Overall really pleased with it so far 🙂 Actually grinding the beans is quick and easy. I've not previously used a decent hand grinder so not got anything to compare it to, but it's very pleasant to use.
> 
> ...


 Retention? I assume that is due to static as the catch cup is the grind chamber so there is no place for coffee to hide&#8230; Have you tried the Ross Droplet Technique - give the beans a spritz or a fingertip of water and shake them around before you put them into the grinder. Nothing then should then sit on the burrs after grinding.


----------



## jamradical (Jun 18, 2021)

I ordered mine from Sigma coffee the other month as I was worried about import fees. I had a really fab experience with them, but seeing this does make me wonder if I could have saved some money - probably not worth the worry though!

I always end up with more coffee than I'd like static'd to the burrs, so I might have to give spritzing the beans a go.


----------



## Bicky (Oct 24, 2019)

jimmyuk81 said:


> I'm not used to not being able to tell what grind size is set on a grinder! I think I'll start to keep a small notepad in the kitchen and note down the previous setting - it will save a bit of time versus winding it all the way down and back up again


 Definitely take notes so you roughly know your settings for each brew method, but with a bit of time you'll start to memorise them, and you'll easily be able to tell what you last brewed with by the amount of thread you can see on the inside of the grind adjustment 😉


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Kjk said:


> Retention? I assume that is due to static as the catch cup is the grind chamber so there is no place for coffee to hide&#8230; Have you tried the Ross Droplet Technique - give the beans a spritz or a fingertip of water and shake them around before you put them into the grinder. Nothing then should then sit on the burrs after grinding.


 Thanks for this! Yes I guess it must be static - I will give the droplet technique a go. 🙂 Assuming it really should use only a very minimal spray?


----------



## 27852 (Nov 8, 2020)

jimmyuk81 said:


> Thanks for this! Yes I guess it must be static - I will give the droplet technique a go. 🙂 Assuming it really should use only a very minimal spray?


 A very tiny amount, it's the evaporation of the water that helps disperse the static!


----------



## Bicky (Oct 24, 2019)

jimmyuk81 said:


> Thanks for this! Yes I guess it must be static - I will give the droplet technique a go. 🙂 Assuming it really should use only a very minimal spray?







This does a decent job of showing the usefulness of RDT.


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Thanks for the tips and info on RDT! I've given it a try - using a spoon as I don't have an atomiser - and it's certainly helped.

Interestingly my last shot was with a brand new bag of beans and static was much worse - is that normal?

As a general update I'm getting there with dialling it in now and the last few espressos & flat whites are for sure the best I've ever made (even if I do say so myself ☺). It's amazing the difference the grinder makes!

The only downside is my initial idea was to keep using the built-in grinder on my Sage BE for decaf and keep the JX Pro for regular. But it's so much nicer to use - even with the effort of hand grinding! - that I'm now using it for both. Oh well, there are worse problems... 🙂


----------



## 27852 (Nov 8, 2020)

jimmyuk81 said:


> Thanks for the tips and info on RDT! I've given it a try - using a spoon as I don't have an atomiser - and it's certainly helped.
> 
> Interestingly my last shot was with a brand new bag of beans and static was much worse - is that normal?
> 
> ...


 You can attach the grinder to an electric drill/screwdriver with a compatible sleeve if you wanted to explore that route. I never saw the point with my JX but it is possible. Static or chaff can vary bean to bean so I'd say that's normal.


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

Kjk said:


> You can attach the grinder to an electric drill/screwdriver with a compatible sleeve if you wanted to explore that route. I never saw the point with my JX but it is possible. Static or chaff can vary bean to bean so I'd say that's normal.


 I've contemplated trying this just for fun, but honestly for the number of coffees a day I drink I can totally accept a bit of exercise hand grinding 🙂

Plus I don't think my wife would be too happy about my battered DeWalt drill driver taking up permanent residence in the kitchen! 😂


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

One thing I was wondering about... Does anyone know the reasoning behind the crank arm being angled down? Probably best shown in this photo:










This makes it more or less impossible to attach the crank arm to the grinder body for travel - I was trying this out in the travel case to see what else I could fit in there. ????

It just seems a slightly odd design decision - unless there's some advantage to the motion of grinding by having the handle a bit lower? A straight crank arm would be simpler to manufacture surely...

Curious if anyone knows if there's a functional reason for this, or if 1ZPresso just decided it looks cooler this way!


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Probably to keep the moment of force in line with the crank fitting.


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

DavecUK said:


> Probably to keep the moment of force in line with the crank fitting.


 I knew there would be a good explanation! Thanks. 🙂


----------



## BunniesAreEvil (Jun 14, 2021)

How hard is it to change the grind setting between two known settings? As for example when having an espresso first thing in the morning, followed by a series of moka pots. I'm umming and ahhring between the Jx Pro and the K Pro. The latter is easier to adjust, albeit with less fine gradations.


----------



## jimmyuk81 (May 5, 2021)

BunniesAreEvil said:


> How hard is it to change the grind setting between two known settings? As for example when having an espresso first thing in the morning, followed by a series of moka pots. I'm umming and ahhring between the Jx Pro and the K Pro. The latter is easier to adjust, albeit with less fine gradations.


 Really easy 🙂

As I mentioned upthread, at first I was a bit confused as wasn't used to such a fine degree of precision and not being able to judge immediately what grind size it was set to. But even then, it only takes a couple of seconds to wind it all the way to fully shut and then back out to your desired setting.

Now though I'm keeping track of the setting I've just used it on - I don't know if there's a standard way to write it but I'm noting 1.5.2 for example to mean 1 full rotation, clicked up to number 5 on the dial, then 2 clicks past 5. (You could equally call it 1.22 as there are 4 clicks for every number on the dial).

So I know I last had it set for espresso at 1.5.2, and it needs to be on 2.6.0 for Aeropress. So I just turn it another full rotation to get to 2.5.2, and another 2 clicks to get to 2.6.0. Very quick and simple.

Does that make the slightest sense? I don't know if I've explained it very well but it's easier in practice, I promise! 😂

I also used the method showed in this video to calibrate the dial so that it's at zero when tightened up fully.






It's a bit fiddly and not entirely essential - if you can cope with the "zero point" being in fact 4.2 or something, and working out the offset in your head, then no worries. But it helped me a bit.


----------



## BunniesAreEvil (Jun 14, 2021)

> 1 hour ago, jimmyuk81 said:
> 
> Really easy 🙂
> 
> ...


 That's a really excellent explanation, very clear, thank you.


----------

