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Out of the BoxJ-Ultra Grinder
The J-Ultra grinder from 1Zpresso comes in the same box that the other Ultra series grinders come in. The only way to tell what grinder is inside is by looking at the small white label on the side.
Because these grinders ship with a protective travel case, packaging is minimal, and the only environmentally unfriendly part in the box is a square of polystyrene to keep the shape of the travel case intact, in case some 500 pound weight is placed against the outer box.
The travel case is quite nice, with a good zipper, a nice small size, and the 1Zpresso logo emblazoned on one side. Opening it up reveals the grinder, all assembled. There is also a blower to blow out stray grinds when you clean the grinder.
In the back of the case you’ll find a cleaning brush, a silicone ring you can optionally attach to the main body of the grinder for extra grip, and card with a scan code. Scan that and you’ll be taken to the product page and manual for the grinder.
At 684 grams, the 1Zpresso J-Ultra is a substantial piece of metal, though still lighter than previous J series grinders. Indeed, other than the semi opaque plastic lid, silicone grip and foot, and the wood handle, it is all metal construction top to bottom.
Holding it in your hand gives the utmost confidence in the device. This isn’t some janky basic plastic manual grinder. The grip area is a slightly smaller diameter than the grind adjustment ring or the bottom catch cup area, giving your hand a natural place to grip and hold the device. When extended, the handle is a good length and the wood grip feel like the perfect size and shape for the task.
The body of the grinder is all curves, and curves with intent. Because the catch cup is held on with magnets, some grinders with this feature had the rare tendency to be knocked off by your gripping hand if you were going to town cranking the handle and grinding at speed. This wasn’t a good thing: ground coffee would fly everywhere. The J-Ultra’s shape is designed to minimize this error because of the bulge and curve of the body about 1.5cm above where the catch cup attaches.
Same goes with the adjustment dial: on some manual grinders with external adjustment rings, users have reported accidentally adjusting the grind size while grinding because their hands would slip and the top external grind selection rings would rotate. On the J-Ultra, this is not an issue: again, the bulge and larger diameter of the adjustment ring area naturally stays separate from your gripping hand as you operate the grinder.
Top to Bottom, Externally
Right up top is the lid and handle assembly. The J-Ultra, like all of 1Zpresso’s top grinders features the folding handle design they were forced to come up with after Commandante’s threatened lawsuits. On one hand, I’m not a fan of it because it can be tricky to operate and it’s not the ideal solution for travel or storage, but on the other hand, it does make the grinder more compact when not in use, and makes it less prone to toppling over because of the heavy one sided weight of the grinder when the handle is extended.
As for the range and “feel” of the handle when extended, it’s nearly perfect. The big bulbous wood handle fits perfectly in most hands, and gives you a good operating area for using the grinder. The handle’s rotation circumference aids in good grinding speed and countering the resistance crunching down beans will give to shorter handles.
The main lid that closes off the bean hopper is the only plastic on the device: this is actually a good thing because it helps keep the weight down a bit, and honestly, this part never needs to be metal on any manual grinder. It just needs to fit well on the central spindle shaft connection, and the 1Zpresso one does this very well. Of course, the actual metal handle connects to a metal spindle connector.
Speaking of the spindle and shaft: 1Zpresso is one of only two manual grinder makers who currently recommend their grinders are compatible with electric drills. In fact, the shaft connector is the same size as the bit holder in most electric and cordless drills. They can claim this because their spindle shafts are thicker metal than most other manual grinder makers’ designs on the market currently.
So basically when the Jim Hoffmanns of the world recommend using an electric drill to power your manual grinder, you really shouldn’t, unless you own a 1Zpresso manual grinder (or 3Bomber’s Blade R3, or certain KINGrinders).
Moving down from the lid, we have 1Zpresso’s unique (and frankly: amazing) external grind selection dial. It actually works a bit opposite from their other grinders: Rotating it clockwise both lowers the dial into the grinder body more, and make the grind coarser. On their X-Ultra and K-Ultra clockwise rotation also makes the grind coarser, but the dial itself doesn’t move up or down.
The adjustment dial is easy to grip, and features 100 very reassuring and confident clicks per full rotation. The adjustment dial can be rotated a total of five times, giving you 500 (!!!!) total click settings. At the fine end, it stops rotating when the burrs are locked together (and the grinder is factory calibrated to be indicating 0 at this lock point). The collar will also stop rotating after 5 clockwise rotations at the top end, or 500th click.
There are numbers 0 through 9 embossed on the grind dial, with an embossed dot between each. Between each number are ten click settings (the dot indicates the 5th click in each range). They are easy to read in most lighting conditions. The grind selection indicator on the grinder body is five rows of dots, shaped like a pyramid, with the lowest row having 5 dots, and the top row having one dot.
I have a lot to say about this grind selection dial and how it works (including an absolutely ingenious feature 1Zpresso built into it) which will come later on in this First Look.
Below the grind selection dial is the grip area for the grinder. If you only rely on photographs of this grinder, you might think this area is wrapped with fabric, showcasing the 1Zpresso logo. It’s actually textured silicone, and very grippy. This keeps your hand very secure when operating the grinder.
Moving down the grinder, the narrow diameter of the grip area bulges out to a wider diameter for the lower body. There is a hash ring around the body and just below that, the catch cup is attached, via 12 rare-earth magnets.
This design is the result of 1Zpresso’s long term experience designing these grinders and getting user feedback. In previous versions of their magnetic catch-cup grinders, the grip area was the same diameter as the catch cup. Because there was little separation between the grip area, sometimes users would accidentally dislodge the magnetic catch cups while operating the grinder, sending ground coffee flying everywhere.
With this new design, your hand stays more secure in the grip area, and is much less prone to accidentally knocking the catch cup off. 1Zpresso also beefed up (upgraded as they say!) the magnets to stronger versions.
The catch cup can be removed either a) through brute force, pulling it straight down, or b) much easier by just twisting it slightly then pulling it down. The magnets line up with counter-magnets built into the main body of the grinder, so twisting the catch cup misaligned them, taking away their magnet effect.
The catch cup’s capacity is just under 40 grams of ground coffee. The J-Ultra’s hopper can hold about 38.5g of coffee in my testing, which is in line with 1Zpresso’s claim of 35-40g capacity.
Right at the bottom of the grinder is a silicone footpad, with the 1Zpresso logo on it. I mention this because the addition of this kind of material gives long term benefits from a manual grinder. It makes it less prone to slide around and topple over on your counter or table, and long term, will prevent possible damage to wood table tops and the like. It also just makes less noise when you put the grinder back on your table or countertop.
Overall, the 1Zpresso J-Ultra is just… a work of engineering art. Curves in the right places. Finished edges. Graceful lines. Fit and finish is honestly the best in the industry. This grinder looks and feels like a precision instrument. It is very reassuring and inspires confidence in its use.
Unlike the X-Ultra, the J-Ultra only comes in one colour choice: it’s a bit hard to describe, but it’s like a midnight blue-purple colour that almost seems like a midnight grey in some light, more purple in other light, and more midnight blue in different light. 1Zpresso themselves call it “iron grey”.
What’s Inside
A lot of engineering, that’s what. The entire gear design for the grind selection is brilliant and unique to the J-Ultra (the K and X Ultras are different). The grind dial actually moves up and down on the J-Ultra when adjusting the dial, which also leads to one of the grinder’s killer features, detailed more below.
The spindle is held in place by three bearing rings and three connection points, two of them a solid range of metal. Way back in the bad old days of manual grinders, spindles would wobble as you operated the grinder, causing very uneven grinds. The spindle arm in the J-Ultra stays absolutely straight through the full 360 degree rotation of the grind handle.
The grind selection click dial built into the top of the grinder is very solid and gives reassuring clicks for each individual grind setting. If you want to do just one click (8 microns!) adjustment, you can, with confidence. The grinder can be taken apart entirely without tools, and this starts at the top. Rotate the grind selection a full rotation from zero, then push up on the bottom burr, and you can unscrew the top lock nut, by hand, to disconnect the spindle from the grind selection mechanism. Slide the spindle down through the body, and the spindle with attached inner burr will pop out.
For the J-Ultra, 1Zpresso ditched their mounting bottom plate for the burr. It is now directly attached to the spindle (on previous models, only the bottom plate was attached, and the burr mounted on it via a steel nub). You can remove the burr from the spindle, but there is absolutely no reason to do so, unless you need to replace the burrs.
The burrs themselves are a custom 48mm heptagonal (7 bladed) design, titanium coated. These burrs are different from the ones in 1Zpresso’s other Ultra series grinders. They are specifically tuned for better output in the espresso and finer range, but still do an excellent job for drip coffee, and a good job for press pot grinding.
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First UseJ-Ultra Grinder
After putting about 2.5kg of old coffee through the J-Ultra to season it, (thank God it is drill compatible!), I started actually using the grinder for its primary use: espresso output. Using 1Zpresso’s guide, which says espresso starts at 100 clicks (one full rotation of the dial off zero), I set it to 110 clicks 1+1) and loaded up 18.5g to pull in our lab machine, a Breville Dual Boiler.
The first shots ran very tight, so an adjustment 10 clicks (keeping in mind that’s 80 microns of vertical burr travel, but only about 40-50um actual grind size difference), tried again. This time too fast. I took off 4 clicks (32 microns vertical, about 18um particle size), and as they say in Australia, bob’s your uncle: I had a nearly perfect (visually, and time based) shot of espresso, delivering out 45g of liquor in 35 seconds (including the 10 second preinfusion). This is based on our long standing espresso testing regimen.
Taste? It was a postcard perfect representation of what Social Coffee’s People’s Daily blend can deliver. This was looking very promising.
I happen to be a closet Turkish Coffee fan, and have an automatic Turkish coffee maker. I noted that 1Zpresso gleefully claim their grinder can do the powder grind needed for Turkish, so I set that up next. 7.1 on the dial, or 71 clicks off zero.
It took some time, and the grinder was pretty hard to crank at times but we got there, and I got powder. Almost talcum powder levels of coffee grounds. And it brewed a lovely, foamy cup of turkish coffee. This is significant, because even though it was a difficult and long grind session, a) it was easier than other turkish-capable grinders I have, and b) I felt I could go even finer.
Third, pour over testing. Comparing to other products’ output would come later on, I just wanted to see how the cup tasted using the J-Ultra and brewing in a Hario Mugen / Switch hack device. To get there, 1Zpresso recommends 2.7 on the click dial – that is, 2 full rotations, then go to 7. 270 clicks off zero! But because the selection dial and markings are so well made, rotating it and getting there was easy. The little pyramid indicator (more on that below) also helps keep track of how many full rotations you’ve done on the grinder.
Absolutely no complaints about the pour over quality from this grinder. In fact, it was one of the better cups I’d had in a few weeks. And fast… this grinder is very fast for a manual grinder. Visually, I didn’t see a lot of excessive fines either, either in my hand, on a white table, or in the filter.
The J-Ultra delivers. Especially for espresso.
The Killer Feature
For many, the killer feature of the 1Zpresso J-Ultra is the grind selection dial and the micron adjustment size: just 8 microns in vertical movement in the burr set (which translates to about 5 microns or smaller in actual grind change) per click. And each click feels very precise.
That’s not my fave killer feature though, no matter how amazing it is. No, mine is the innovative way 1Zpresso shows how many rotations you’ve made on the grind selection dial! Because the dial moves up and down on the body as you adjust the grind, for each full 360 rotation of the dial, a set of dots is displayed at the adjustment marker. When the grinder is “zeroed” out, meaning the burrs are fully locked, the dial reads “zero” at the marker point, and the marker is a pyramid of five rows of dots: 5 dots at the bottom, 4, then 3, then 2, then finally 1 dot at the top. When you do a full rotation coarser, the first single dot row is hidden by the grind dial, showing 2 dots, indicating the grinder is on its second 360 rotation. Keep going coarser, and then the 3 dot line is the first visible one. And so on.
It’s brilliant, because this grinder has so many clicks to get from an espresso grind to pour over grind (about 140 total clicks between those two!), this little indicator really helps you know exactly where the grinder is in its range of 500 (!!!!!) total clicks.
Speaking of clicks: the dial has embossed numbers from 0 to 9 on it, with a mid dot between each number. Going one full number on the dial is 10 clicks in the grind setting. This means one full 360 degree rotation on the dial is 100 clicks. The dial can be rotated 5 total times (it has a lock out at the coarse end). Given that each click is 8 microns of burr movement vertically, this grinder has an effective range of 0 microns to 4,000 microns, in 500 steps.
Keep in mind, this is vertical movement. The actual grind particle size varies across this range because of the overall shape and curve of the burrs: in the turkish to espresso range, it could be 3 microns change in particle size per click, expanding to around 6 microns by the time you get to press pot. Based on some initial evaluation, the effective grinding particle size of this grinder is 150 microns to about 1800 microns.
1Zpresso recommends starting at 7.5 (or about 75 clicks off zero) for turkish style powder (I did this at 7.1). Espresso range starts at 1 full rotation (0, or 100 clicks) through 140 (1rotation+4). Aeropress starts at 2 full rotations (200 clicks), pour over at 2rotations+5, (250 clicks), Chemex / no-bypass brewers at 3rotations+5 (350 clicks), and press pot at 4 full rotations.
That may seem like a lot of clicks – 400 to get to press pot? – but in reality, it’s very easy to do, and the pyramid dot indicators help you know how many rotations you’ve done.
ComparisonsJ-Ultra Grinder
For this First Look, this section is going to be very brief. I put the grinder up against its siblings, the K-Ultra and X-Ultra, and also tested the output next to the Lagom Mini, Turin SK40 and Baratza Encore ESP.
Against the 1Zpresso K-Ultra and X-Ultra
The J-Ultra is very close in size and shape to 1Zpresso’s K-Ultra; they are even the same colour externally. Two main elements of each grinder is quite different: the K=Ultra’s grind selection system is different engineering and has a bigger micron gap between clicks; and second, the burr group in the K-Ultra is a different design and composition when compared to that inside the J-Ultra.
The K-Ultra is 1Zpresso’s “brew primary” grinder, meaning it s designed for optimal pour over, drip, and Aeropress coffee brewing. It is very capable as an espresso grinder, but you don’t have the fine dial in adjustment ability that the J-Ultra provides.
For the First Look, I organized 3 side by side blind taste tests of espresso shots using our standard formula of 18.5g in, 45g out in 35 seconds on our lab machine, the Breville Dual Boiler. After calibrating the grinders as best I could, three samples were brewed and tasted, and in all three cases, the J-Ultra presented the better shot. It was a close sampling, and in two cases, I had to drink the entire shots to come up with my determination.
On pour over tests, the K-Ultra produces a slightly cleaner, more balanced shot with a slightly faster flow through time, telling me that the J-Ultra, for a V60 style grind, produces slightly more fines.
The X-Ultra… this is 1Zpresso’s “all purpose” grinder, equally capable on espresso as it is on pour over. The X-Ultra has a much finer micron adjustment range between its clicks, which provides the grinder better dial in ability. The burrs look similar to the K-Ultra burrs, but I’ve been told they are a slightly different geometry and pattern. Taste wise, the X-Ultra is very, very close to the J-Ultra on espresso. I didn’t do the formal 3 shot blind taste test I did with the K-Ultra, but some informal side by side tasting, and I struggled to find a difference between the X and J models.
I will say the X-Ultra, with its more-slim body and weight is actually my favourite of the three models to use. It seems to just work better in my hands.
Against the Lagom Mini
I didn’t think I’d find another conical burr grinder that produced better espresso and pour over results than the Lagom Mini. That grinder is absolutely amazing.
But guess what: the J-Ultra edged it out on espresso taste. It was so close, I had to do 3 different taste tests, and the J-Ultra won 2 of the 3. It’s also faster to grind for espresso: I could do 18.5g in the J-Ultra in about 45 seconds or less; the Lagom Mini’s electric motor takes almost 60 seconds.
On pour over, the Lagom Mini remains the champ, at least compared to the J-Ultra. Cups are more expressive, more rounded, more things to discover. Again, the taste difference is pretty slight, but on three blind tests, the Mini won all 3, one almost a tie though.
Baratza Encore ESP
When I get into the full review process, this one is going to be the most interesting lineup: the J-Ultra and Encore ESP are the same retail price, but offer very different packages to the end user.
In a very brief side by side test of both grinders, the J-Ultra is the “ultimate” in terms of dial in ability. As lauded as the Encore ESP’s espresso-side grind adjustment system is, it cannot match the calibrated magic that the J-Ultra offers. I found on the Encore ESP going one click difference on the grind selection resulted in no real changes some times, and other times, a very big jump in shot times. This tells me the collar doesn’t always move with each single click, but will jump a big jump in selection at other times.
Look, on its own, the Encore ESP’s adjustment system is fantastic. But when you put it up against the precision tool that the J-Ultra is, you see issues.
On taste, I also have to give the nod to the J-Ultra’s shots. As mentioned way earlier in this First Look, I had a postcard perfect example of what our test coffee – Social Coffee’s People’s Daily Blend – has to offer, with the J-Ultra. I didn’t get to that level of shot perfection with the Encore ESP.
When it comes to pour over grinds, I found the grinders were a lot closer in taste quality, but again, the J-Ultra offers way way tighter grind dial in ability, which also gives it the edge. It’s also pretty fast hand grinding 21g for pour over: around 30 seconds. It won’t match the 10-ish seconds of the Encore ESP (not to mention the Encore does the work for you), but it is noticeably fast.
Turin SK40
We didn’t do any real tests against the Turin SK40 and the J-Ultra for this First Look, but plan to compare them in our Full Review.
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ConclusionJ-Ultra Grinder
Given that I had one of the best shot pulls ever from our test-standard espresso blend, Social Coffee’s People’s Daily, and dial in was extremely easy, those two factors alone really speak volumes for how fantastic 1Zpresso’s J-Ultra manual grinder really is.
I don’t want our First Looks to draw too many conclusions; for that reason we don’t score products in these articles or give final ratings. But it’s hard not to, with the J-Ultra.
Everything about the grinder screams quality, engineering perfection and precision. I struggle to find anything I don’t like about the grinder. The least favourite thing is the handle design; I don’t like how difficult it is to fold down to its storage position, and don’t like how it has a click-lock half way through the process (why did they design it that way?) But the handle and crank arm itself function excellent under operation and make the grinder very easy to use.
All the materials, all the construction, the ways the 1Zpresso J-Ultra go together are best in class. As an espresso grinder, I don’t think this has an equal in the market. I was also amazed at its Turkish coffee grinding ability. As a brew grinder, it is more than capable, being beat by a few models (including it’s sibling, the K-Ultra) but not by any large measure most home baristas would notice.
$200 may seem a lot for a manual grinder. Considering the Commandantes and other ultra-premium grinders are $100 to $150 more, and the grinder I have that is closest in terms of output – the Lagom Mini – is double the price (and slower on output), $200 is a pretty decent price.
Sometimes when I do a First Look, I have a gut feeling my Full Review might change some of my opinion; in the case of the 1Zpresso J-Ultra, I’m confident my opinion of this grinder will only get better.
This grinder is the complete package with a special focus on espresso. The case, the accessories, the build quality, the materials, everything are best of class. If you want one of the best espresso grinders on the market today, this is the model for you.
If you are interested in this grinder, please consider buying it via our affiliate link with Amazon. The small income we make from these sales keeps our website going.
Mark has certified as a Canadian, USA, and World Barista Championship Judge in both sensory and technical fields, as well as working as an instructor in coffee and espresso training. He started CoffeeGeek in 2001.
7 Responses
That’s looking real tempting. I’ve been using a Cuisinart flat burr grinder for a long time, and it owes me nothing, and it still seems to do OK for me, but it’s a noisy git.
It will also be useful for camping where I don’t necessarily have the luxury of electricity.
I’d be interested in comparisons with, and your thoughts about, the Pietro flat burr handgrinder for espresso.
I’ve been a long time Porlex user for travel and camping and it works, sort of. It doesn’t play well with my home espresso machine. I get a good shot here and there but I deserve better. 😉
I just purchased through Amazon.
Awesome review. Thorough as usual. I like coffee toys, but love simple valuable design considerations. The pyramid of dots is very clever. The burrs look voracious. I’ve never had a grinder that could create powder for Turkish coffee. That could be my next coffee adventure. Thanks!
Update. My J-Ultra arrived. It’s impressive. Downloaded the instructions, and did a first trial with a moka pot, (my espresso machine is down) and first results with the grinder at 100 were okay. I upped my dosage from 14 to 15 grams and tightened the grind by four clicks. Fantastic results, for a moka pot. I’m using more beans than I was grinding in my Macap M4, and to touch, and I’m sure a little finer grind. The result was great.
I’ve had a Presso manual espresso set up that I’ll try next. That and the J-Ultra will be travel buds. I’ll tighten the grind a bit, maybe up to 106 and see what I get.
Having had a Porlex for several years, the J-Ultra is less Fisher-Price and more like a piece of equipment. I like the heft of it. The little details make it a joy to use. The longer handle makes grinding less of a chore. I switched hands and it was still great. lol
Do you have an OE Lido E to compare it with? That has been my day hike grinder so far.
Hi, did you try it with the superkop? If so, which setting would you recommend? Thanks!
As you also reviewed the superkop, did you try them together? If so, which setting would you recommend? Thanks