I was honestly expecting this to take way longer to arrive, but alas, my DF54 (V4) is here.
The first thing I noticed was the heft. This thing weighs about 11lbs. I knew the weight before getting it but it still surprised me. It’s all metal with a beefy motor so it makes sense, but still. Heavy (in a good way, it feels quality).
I pulled two shots with it and the Robot, still trying to figure out grind size for this one. I went way too fine the first time, and the second one was still a bit too fine but significantly better. Hopefully my third shot (either decaf later this evening or regular tomorrow morning) is better. Both shots still tasted great though, thanks to the Robot. I’m still completely in love with this brewer.
It’s weird they came so close together, I’m still very much in the honeymoon phase with the Robot and now I’ve got a new toy to play with already, but I’m not complaining.
Something that really surprised me about the DF54 was just how quiet it is. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, I looked up videos online so I knew what the sound was like, but I just expected the volume to be turned up a bit. Without beans this thing is really quite quiet, it’s like a low hum. When grinding it’s still not that bad. I was worried about using this at 4:30am when my baby and wife are still asleep but there’s no way this’ll wake them up or even travel upstairs at all. I’m also surprised at the speed, it grinds a lot slower than I was expecting. Again, I knew how long an average 18g light roast at espresso was supposed to take, but that feels a lot longer when you’re just staring at it. It’s only about 20-30 seconds but it’s a very slow 20-30 seconds when you’re wanting coffee.
V4 was mostly improvements to reduce static, and I can really tell. I remember seeing videos and reviews online where people complained about retention, but even without RDT I got basically zero retention. At most, 0.1g. I basically got out exactly what I put in. In case you’re curious, the upgrades in V4 are a stainless steel declumper (instead of plastic), an enlarged exit shute, and a repositioned de-ionizer probe, all designed to eliminate static. They do a great job. I still use the bellows but I could probably get away without using it if I really wanted to. It’s kinda fun to use though, so I’ll be using it every time.
When I’ve used it for a while I’ll eventually put up a proper in-depth review of it, but so far I love it.
23 Comments
wesker@lemmy.sdf.org · 10 pts · 2d
I don't have my glasses on and read the title as "New gender day" and I was gonna be like "Congrats but where's the coffee?"
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 2d
Maybe the coffee is the friends we’ve made along the way.
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 2d
You finally got it eh?
That 20-30s grind time is a bit shocking. I know the first version was about 2x the DF64 so 10-20s. I think the lower noise might be the reason. Noise can be reduced by grinding slower. Swapping the burr set might increase the speed at the expense of noise. Does it change RPM at all as the beans hit the burrs?
It's nice to hear static is even less of a problem. My DF64 v2 has the deionizer and is much less messier than the OG DF64 but it still makes a bit of a mess over a few days.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 2d
I’ve got a different burr set in it so that could be the reason. The place I got it from offers what’s basically an imitation SSP set. Red titanium, similar tooth geometry, all that. It was only an extra $30 (you choose one or the other) so I opted for the nicer burr set.
As for static, there’s practically zero retention but it can spray a little still. Not a big mess, in fact it’s significantly less than 0.1g (my scale doesn’t pick up the difference) but there’s always a couple fines to brush away after grinding if I don’t RDT. Not at all a big deal though.
viral.vegabond@piefed.social · 5 pts · 2d
Man, those are some excellent additions! Good looking setup and great content as usual 😁
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 2d
Hey thanks! I really appreciate you saying that.
xelareko@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2d
Hey, that setup looks nearly identical to my wife's! What is the robot? Could be a great gift in the future.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 2d
Cafelat Robot, a manual espresso maker. It’s amazing. They’re pretty hard to get your hands on, I signed up for a waitlist months in advance to be notified when they’d do their next drop and then had to go to the website and refresh until it came in stock and buy right away. They completely sold out of all configurations and colours in 17 minutes I think. But if you can find one at MSRP, it’s absolutely worth the money. I got the base model in green as you can see, I also had a 10% discount code, so I ended up paying $495 CAD for mine. Absolutely worth every penny so far. Secondhand, they’re way more expensive though, lots of scrapers with these brewers unfortunately.
If you’re in Canada, Cafuné are based in Montreal and sell them. They have the absolute best customer service, too. I think they’re getting one last shipment for the year in about 3 weeks or so. No idea when the next one after that will be.
The Robot is handmade by one guy in the UK, Paul Pratt. I’d highly recommend looking up some videos on it, both from reviewers (DaddyGotCoffee has some great Robot content) and from the guy himself where he shows how he makes them. It can really help you appreciate why they’re so coveted.
xelareko@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1d
Ah, that might make getting her one for a present a bit difficult then. It sounds amazing though. I will keep a look out.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1d
If you’re in Canada (or the US and willing to pay duties/tarrifs) Cafuné has a “Notify me when this product is available:” field with a spot to put your email and they’ll give you a couple days’ notice if you’re willing to try your luck. There’s two different models, the barista model just has a pressure gauge as the only difference. I opted to save some cash and not get it as I’ve been brewing by flow rate rather than pressure, but I’m sure the extra cost is worth it to some people.
nailingjello@piefed.zip · 3 pts · 2d
I did a quick search and I'm surprised at how inexpensive this seems to be comparatively. It's around $230 USD but I thought premium espresso grinders were easily $500+
What's the difference with this one?
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1d
Yeah, you’re not wrong. It’s even more impressive when you realize this has a flat burr set instead of conical, which tends to add to the cost again. Finding a step-less flat burr espresso grinder in an all-metal body for this price definitely seems too good to be true.
One caveat is it uses 54mm burrs which are a bit on the smaller side for flat burrs. 64mm is more of a standard size. It’s also made in China by a Chinese company, and they don’t directly sell to the consumer. They sell to retailers who will brand it however they want and sell it from there. That means they don’t really need much of a marketing team, PR team, or anything else like that. Basically just pure manufacturing, which cuts costs a lot too.
Grinding tech is also just getting better and cheaper. Bookoo recently released (or announced, I forget if it’s available yet) an 80mm grinder at $1,000 which massively undercuts the competition. It’s just the landscape of grinders right now, prices are going down. It’s great to see.
TacoEvent@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1d
Wow my sette 270 was almost twice that when I bought it! I’m still quite happy with it but l I’ll definitely keep this in mind.
fritobugger2017@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d
I am quite surprised to hear some use the word "quiet" for a DF grinder. I have not used one but the frequent description of them being loud has put them off my wish list. I might need to reconsider.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1d
To be fair, I’m not using the stock burr set, so that could affect things. It is grinding rather slow so maybe the burrs are a bit more work to spin, and so it’s spinning a little slower? That could explain both the noise level and the grinding speed. Or maybe this is considered loud for an electric burr grinder and I just had different expectations from reality. This is only the second electric I’ve ever used.
fritobugger2017@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1d
Once the Fellow Opus I have at the office dies, I may replace it with a DF54.
Edit: Especially since the Fellow Opus 2 is $300 here in Vietnam and the DF54 is just a hair over $200. Crazy that they want $100 more for the Opus 2 here compared to the USA pricing.
Bonesince1997@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d
Green thing looks like a character with arms.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 2d
Yeah, it’s the Cafelat Robot. It’s supposed to look like a robot. Its design is actually based on a machine from the 60s, the Faema Faemina Baby. So definitely a purposefully anthropomorphic design.
I just realized my comment comes off a little passive aggressive, that’s not my intention but I’m not sure how to word it properly. Hopefully it comes off okay.
Bonesince1997@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2d
Your comment sounds fine to me. Thanks for explaining why it looks the way it does. Pretty neat!
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub · 2 pts · 2d
This is an excellent pre dial-in review!
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1d
Thank you very much!
synapse1278@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1d
I am debating with myself for a month whether or not I should buy this grinder. I am currently using a manual grinder. My main problem, I currently don't have much space for it in my kitchen.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1d
Yeah I get that, I was also wondering where I was going to put it. I ended up reorganizing my counters to make it fit because for me it was worth it. I will say, it’s not a huge grinder. It’s definitely bigger than a manual grinder but it’s not massive. Look up the dimensions if you’re curious but I was pleasantly surprised with how compact it is. Which makes it especially impressive how heavy it is.