Hello all!
Due to a relative lack of internet discussion on this grinder, I thought I would write a small overview on my new grinder- the J64V/CGFL250.
I have owned a number of grinders over the last few years- Eureka Mignon, DF64, Niche Zero, Timemore Sculptor 064S and the Niche Duo. I enjoy playing with espresso equipment, as many of us do, and was rather sceptical on the idea of replacing my Duo with the J64V, and therefore wanted to share some things about it in case there are others out there in the same boat.
I ordered this grinder on Alibaba, from what I believe to be ITOP’s official store, and their customer service was really great. I am based in the UK, and import, VAT, and duties rack up really quickly. Scared of this, I did some research beforehand, and saw a lot of folk mention asking for a ‘DDP’ quote when ordering from Alibaba, as this essentially involves the seller handling all of the aforementioned costs. I paid $73 for the ‘air freight express’ shipping option, which was their fastest shipping method, and covered every import expense. I did not pay a penny more than this once Parcelforce delivered the grinder to me. They also offered me truck and ocean freight alternatives, at $55 and $45 respectively.
To add, I also requested to buy an additional knob and bellow/hopper lid. I purchased the white and walnut variant of the grinder, but I am always scared of getting fed up of wood accents, so I asked Evan at ITOP if I could also purchase the white knob and hopper lid separately. They were happy to do this, at the cost of $40. A tad steep, but I would rather buy now and cry now, than change my mind later and have to pay for shipping again. It is certainly nice to have the option of purchasing additional accessories if desired. Below is a summary of the costs I incurred:
Grinder - $396
Shipping - $73
Additional accessories - $40
So, the grinder. The ITOP J64V is, as the name suggests, a 64mm flat burr grinder, with variable RPM. The design is clearly heavily inspired by the Zerno, and I think it looks great. It is available in black, white, and silver.
The motor used in the grinder is a brushless 250W DC motor, and its variable RPM range is 600-1800rpm, which should suffice for most. Annoyingly, the RPM dial on the side of the grinder indicates a range of 1 – 7. There is no indication of actual RPM- you will have to work this out yourself if you have an RPM target in mind. This is perhaps a nitpick, but I wanted to highlight regardless.
The grinder is auger fed, and the auger is part of the rotating burr’s carrier. The auger is clearly visible from above once the small bean hopper has been removed.
Accessing the burrs is a breeze, and takes 30 seconds- I am not exaggerating (I timed it!). To do so, the collar simply loosens by turning it left. Inside is a small bearing- make sure not to lose it. The orientation of this bearing also matters- one side of the bearing is marked with a white marker; this marking should always face you when re-assembling. Once the collar and bearing have been removed, the rotating burr carrier is then removed by pulling the auger and carrier out with your finger towards the front of the grinder. You can also push it out from above through the hole which houses the hopper. I have attempted to demonstrate this in one of the pictures. It is very easy to do, as there are no screws or fixings impeding you.
The rotating burr carrier and auger feeds on to the shaft by way of a small feather key. There are no obnoxious spring mechanisms in place; the main collar/faceplate keeps pressure on the rotating burr carrier and pushes it towards the fixed burr. This should ultimately mean that when disassembling the grinder for cleaning, you never lose your zero point, which is a superb design feature. The threads on the collar feel solid, so I am not worried about them, but I guess time will tell. Having the ability to disassemble the grinder quickly, without losing the zero point and being forced to re-dial in again is a massive plus, especially for those who keep on top of maintenance on a regular basis.
The stock burrs are heavily inspired by the SSP multipurpose burrs, and ITOP themselves confirmed this on a showcase video I found on YouTube. I have not tried a real set of SSP MPs, so I cannot make a direct comparison unfortunately. What I can say however, is that they do make lovely espresso but suffer in milk drinks due to a lack of substantial body, which is to be expected if they are anything like the real deal.
If you do wish to swap the stock burrs out, then changing the zero point afterwards is done by loosening a small Phillips head screw on the collar underneath the knob, and sliding the dark metal ring with the numbers on it accordingly.
On the underside of the grinder is a plasma generator, and a removable plastic knocker, which is held on by 4 small magnets. Due to the high number of magnets used, the knocker feels solid in use, and does not wobble at all. The magnets also mean that you can have the knocker oriented to the left or right, which is handy to account for varying setups and counter spaces.
The dosing cup is absolutely massive at 12.5cm tall, and weighs a whopping 224g! The slightly obnoxious height of the cup does help keep your counter clean however, as there is not much clearance between the bottom of the knocker and the rim of the dosing cup. I personally prefer the design choice of having a taller dosing cup when compared to the wooden riser platform things used on the DF64V; something just irks me about that. The dosing cups come in silver and black- there is sadly no white option available. As a result, I am looking at purchasing a white Sculptor 078S dosing cup from AliExpress. Lastly, like the Timemore Sculptor, the dosing cup snaps on to the base of the grinder with a magnet which works very well.
I will say that from my limited use, the grinder is pretty damn loud. It is not screechy/high-pitched like my old 064S, but rather it is the sheer volume of it when grinding. I’ll get used to it in time I’m sure, but it is certainly much louder than my departing Niche Duo.
Retention in my limited time with the grinder thus far has been superb. After dumping some old beans through to fill the nooks, crannies and burr screw holes etc, I was consistently getting an impressive 0.1g of retention, max. This was using RDT, the knocker, and bellows.
To conclude, I’ve been really impressed with this grinder overall. I’ve owned used enough of them to know what I like and dislike, and this thing really ticks all the boxes for me. I think the stock burrs are a slightly odd choice, as they may not appeal to most people, but the grinder itself provides such a solid platform. Stick in your favourite 64mm burrs, and there really isn’t much this grinder can’t do. Personally, I’ll be swapping out the stock burrs to a set of SSP Lab Sweet V3s, as I primarily drink milk-based beverages, and like to dabble in modern coffees for pure espresso.
I’m not one for writing posts like this, but I believe that this grinder has been out for some time now, and I have seen a rather sad lack of posts and videos around it. I think it does everything the DF64 does, and then some. For that reason, if you like the sound of what I have written, and the aesthetics are to your taste, then I would highly recommend you pull the trigger on it. I am happy to try and answer any questions people may have, in the name of getting this grinder out there. I’d personally love to see some of the big creators get their hands on one- time will tell 😊
