Best Hand Grinder For Espresso

1ZPpresso is a newer brand of the coffee industry in the past few years and has quickly become a dominant competitor in the industry of hand grinders.

They were creating some of the best hand grinders on the market, and right when you thought they couldn’t do anymore, they released a brand new grinder.

And this one is in their J-Series, which is easily their most popular line of manual grinders right now. In fact, this is the flagship to their J-Series, the 1ZPpresso J-Max. Now I’m a huge fan of the J-Series grinders from 1ZPpresso, and in a past comparison article, I dubbed it the best value home grinder for espresso available.

Overview

So this both excites me and concerns me as this may leave some room for disappointment.

Why Children Shouldn’t Drink Decaf Coffee

So does the J-Max live up to its name? Does it deserve the title of Max? Or does it promise something more than it can handle?

So let’s talk about the J-Max. For some disclosure, this grinder was sent to me for some early testing, but no money exchange, and they don’t get to see this before you do.

They also ask that I would share honest thoughts, so I’ll do that. Today we won’t be comparing this to other grinders or sharing sift test analytics as these will both be done in a longer article I’m currently working on. Instead, I will be comparing, in my opinion, the best hand grinders in the world.

The 1ZPpresso has been creating some fantastic grinders from Taiwan. They rival many of the best grinders in the market and for a fraction of the price.

It’s wonderful to see, and I believe innovation like this can truly push an industry forward. Manufacturers are pushed out of their comfort zones to continue innovating and moving forward.

Grinders like the JX and K-Plus have been turning heads and winning reviews since their launch. 1ZPpresso recently decided to update the JX and added a pro model for more adjustment options.

It’s only seen the popularity of this grinder grow, and home espresso enthusiasts have loved it. Both of these grinders were fantastic for filter coffee with pretty okay espresso capability too, and this is where the J-Max fits in.

It not only promises the ability to make filter coffee, but it also makes wonderful espresso. This is where the grinder truly shines, espresso.

Grinder Adjustment

You see, the J-Max shares the adjustment system of the bigger brother K-Series with the outward adjustment dial with its satisfying clicks and ease of use without having to remove the dose cup.

The J-Max uses ten clicks per number with a total of 90 clicks per rotation; that’s insane. And to make things more specific and nerdy, each click is 8.8 microns of adjustment. This gives the J-Max one of the greatest flexibility adjustments for a hand grinder.

For espresso, this is a dream getting as close to being stepless as possible in a stepped grinder. Now, does this sound expensive?

The J-Max comes in at $199, but the build quality is up to par with anything else from 1ZPpresso and beats other hand grinders much more expensive, swinging much higher than its price bracket.

Build Quality

They’ve also added the K magnetic dose cup, which clicks on and off without having to screw on the grinding chamber. This is really great for quick workflow, though if you’re not careful, you can create a terrible, dreadful mess.

The J-Max also uses a similar texture material to the K-Series faux wood veneer on the center handle. Now it’s not the same as the K-Series, but instead uses a rubbery texture, and I quite like it.

Shop Best Selling Espresso Capsules

It is much more than the traditional j series material with their rugged-looking branding options on the plain black rubber, they didn’t look bad, but in my opinion, they weren’t photogenic either.

Design

Speaking of design. They added a Chinese zodiac symbol for the year of the Oxe instead of the traditional 1ZPpresso logo.

The body is a darker space gray color over the typical aluminum silver on the J-Series, and I’m also digging that. But, overall, a step up from the J-Series.

But what you truly want to know is how does this thing grind coffee? So let’s talk about the burr set and workflow. Let’s start with the burrs.

Burr Type

The Max has a 48-millimeter conical burr set that is redesigned from the JX models.

Not only is it coated in titanium to provide extra durability against extensive espresso grinding, but it also has a slightly updated geometry that focuses more on espresso than its filter coffee capabilities.

The result is a grind that produces slightly more fines than its older brothers with more complex flavor profiles and slightly less clarity, which the JX is excelled at.

Now, like I said today, we’re not going to sift the J-Max because I want to involve this grinder in a comparison against others in the market to see how it compares in its consistency.

100% Compostable Coffee Pods for your Keurig Machine

But 1ZPpresso has confirmed that this burr will create more fines than the other J-Series grinders, and in testing, this seems to be true, but barely true comparing taste.

Taste Profile

The J-Series can be almost indistinguishable from their other J-Series grinders. Still, there is a slightly noticeable difference in the sweetness it produces but at the sacrifice of some clarity in the cup.

1ZPpresso grinders often aim to create a sweet and complex profile, especially conical burr espresso grinders. And the J-Max is doing just that. The results are great espresso with good clarity and wonderful sweetness.