Kony or HG one??

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Hi guys,
I am looking at upgrading my SJ (with doser) for a big conical experience. I drink mainly ristretto / short black and My number one consideration is grind quality for espresso.

I can get a good second hand Kony e for about the same price as a new HG.

Our house uses about 3-4 doubles per day and more on the weekends. Currently I use the Sj without the hopper and just put enough beans in the throte for 1 or 2 doubles and put an old tamper on top. I pulse the grinder and sweep the chute to get it all through. I do this because I home roast and change beans a lot, and I am paranoid about stale grounds wrecking my coffee.

I don't specifically want a hand grinder, but if that's going to give me the best grind I don't really mind, particularly if I don't need to pulse or sweep. On the other hand I am prepared to pulse and sweep a Kony to get the best out of it.

Keen to get opinions from people who know both grinders.

[chokkidog]

I don't know both but I know the Kony.

If you're not keen on a hand grinder then you will be more than happy with the Mazzer.

The Kony is a fabulous grinder.

If your budget can manage the Kompak then check out the E10/F10 Conic range here:

Compak | Product Categories | Talk Coffee

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If you're not keen on a hand grinder then you will be more than happy with the Mazzer.

Compak | Product Categories | Talk Coffee

I wouldn't say I am not keen... More like I don't really care if it is a hand grinder or not. If the grind quality and flavour is on par with the Kony then the HG looks to have some big advantages for low volume users like myself.

[kwantfm]

I have an HG one at home (as well as a Ditting KFA903). The internal cafe at work has a couple of two group Slayers, numerous Roburs and an EK43... the baristas are very good as well. I bring beans that I roast in to this cafe so that the baristas can try different single origins. The HG one, in my opinion, matches the Robur in terms of espresso flavour. I'll be honest though and say that there are some mornings when I'd appreciate not having to hand crank.

[Lukemc]

I had a HG One and loved it. I now have a Kony e and love it too. Retention is obviously more than a HG one and I dunno about brushing etc I just purge. The HG one loses it's appeal in my mind when your making more than one/two shots at a time. But if you get someone else involved it's not so bad. What about a Lido/lido e as well as a Kony

[Davie]

I recently upgraded from a mini e with super jolly burs to a Kony. I love it. The quality of my shots have improved substantially. If you are after an improvement in the cup you can't go wrong with the Kony. I will say that retention is an issue with the Kony, but I think it is worth it.

[pbarton]

I have both a Kony and a Super Jolly. I have been using the Kony as my main grinder for 5 years and can highly recommend it. Can't compare to other grinders though as they are the only grinders that I have used. The grind adjustment and consistency is excellent.

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Thanks guys, I know I will be happy with the Kony grind and from what Kwantfm is saying the HG grind quality is just as good. I rarely make more than 1 or 2 shots back to back. I normally will have a break to drink it and then make another 1-2 20 mins later.(often with different beans)

I only roast small batches (hottop) so don't want to waste too much by purging - that's why I currently pulse and sweep the SJ. It's not the wasted money on purged coffee that gets me.. It's the wasted time roasting it.

Anyway - I am prepared to put up with wastage if necessary to improve my espresso quality with a conical... Just thinking about the HG before I dive in.

[greg-g]

I’ve had an HG One for over 3 years, and it has been motorized for the past 2. I’m very happy with it. Its paired with an Londium 1.

About 6 months ago I found an almost new Kony E at auction that was a steal, I used it on and off for about a month before giving up due to grind retention. I found very little difference between the two.

I roast my own beans and continuously swap between DeCaf and regular. Both beans are very dry and prone to static.

[artman]

Post up details of your motor mod on another thread, would be great to see.

Cheers

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I am getting closer to a decision... Just ran the idea of hand grinding past the missus, and she was fine with it. She is a milk and lots of sugar type coffee drinker so won't really care about grind quality, but she is well aware of my obsessiveness.
She was happy about the idea of not having to sweep and pulse a grinder like we do now... Actually taking the sweep and pulse into account HG will probably be quicker than my SJ.

She did mention that she often makes coffee for 1 or 2 friends while I am at work. I said she just needs to get one of them cranking and its all good... ( it's not like we are running a cafe) -If I get the HG maybe I'll hang on to the SJ for a bit just in case it needs to come back on the bench for the occasional crowd of milk drinkers.

[C-man]

So what did you end up getting? I have an HG one for awhile now and love it. It did take some time to season in the burrs though

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Can you see it?

[ArnhemR]

I have used and owned a number of big conicals like the Konys, Roburs and Compaks, but the HG One is still my favourite grinder. The grind quality is obviously the same as the best given the burr set, and the simplicity of single dosing is a winner for me. I also love it paired with my commercial lever because my coffee making involves no electo-mechanical noise!

I currently have 4 friends from Europe staying so the morning coffee routine involves quite a few coffees - and even so I have not been tempted to fire up my K10 that I use as a bag grinder.

The fact is that some people just dont like hand grinding, and thats fine, they should go the electric path.

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If you Bolt your HG to the Bench grinding is all too easy. ITs fast and you can do it with one hand while you muck around with other stuff.
My Coffee machine is set up on a large wooden board as I don't like prepping coffee on stone. I simply countersunk some bolts on the underside and screwed them up into the existing treads for the base plate of the HGone. Its solid and makes a HUGE difference to ease of grinding. My MRS does not mind either and she is regularly pulling coffees for me and visitors - no complaints.