This is the Gevi GrindMaster, a 64mm vertically mounted flat burr grinder (not flat blade) with 65 stepped grind adjustments and features an adjustable RPM range of 500 to 1500. It features a pre-breaker just before the actual grind chamber as well.
At the time of this review I haven’t been given an exact price but was told it will be similar to a “Timemore” grinder. Assuming the Timemore 064, it should be in the range of $450.
*And while filming the review video, I got a ping that confirmed the target price is in that range for the crowdfunding campaign but has a targeted MSRP of $1000* which I think is way overpriced for the features and quality of what you’re receiving. At the crowdfunding price, this is good value, at the MSRP price, not so much. Alright, moving on.
To quote my friend Brian Quan, "Chifi is chinese hifi, a new trend or emergence of audio companies creating very high performing audio products for very little."
And this trend is moving into the realm of coffee equipment, grinders, and accessories - for better or worse.
It seems like every other day there are new grinders popping up on the market from unknown companies, primarily out of China. This ranges from some things that are truly innovative and unique to blatant clones.
And the Gevi Grindmaster is the latest product to emerge from this Chifi trend in grinders.
This product was sent to me by Gevi for review although all thoughts and opinions are my own and they did not get to preview this review prior to it going live. Review my ethics statement here.
CONCLUSION
In terms of the actual performance, the grinder is good! Filter brews have struck a balance of full bodied with a good level of clarity. Similar to my thoughts on the Acaia Orbit review I posted a few months ago, the adjustable RPM range is a nice added feature that I personally don’t use too often but I do like that I can turn down that RPM for a quieter grind and less fines in the cup.
You can swap burrs here to use SSP burrs however you will void your warranty in doing so which is a huge misstep in my opinion and something definitely worth taking a note of. Fingers crossed this policy changes.
For espresso, I definitely enjoyed the shots I was getting out of this grinder, albeit I did feel like the steps of adjustment were limiting in dialing in. I was typically between the 1-2 range for espresso during my testing period.
Shots were a little lacking in clarity but I would assume swapping in some SSP burrs may resolve that, but the stock burrs I did receive were well aligned and produced nice syrupy and rich shots which worked out great for milk based drinks.
One thing to note is as this is a reviewer unit, the alignment was really well done - and I can only hope it stays that way for production units as well.
Retention was fair, but sometimes there would be grounds stuck in the pre-breaker section of the grinder that I think a bellows system would have helped with.
And finally, obviously the big one here, is this absolutely gorgeous design and colorway. The grinder looks great with these unique accent rails and asymmetrical geometry. If I had a few nitpicks with this machine it would be that its a very mid-build quality and was so so close to being great.
I think a finer media in the bead blasting could result in a smoother surface finish with a richer anodization color. Chamfers could have been added to eliminate some of the sharp edges on the accent rails. The rear piece here was broken altogether and made of just plastic. The front dial is magnetic but feels flimsy and a little loose. I don’t like either of the grounds collection cup designs. And the front dial illuminated number is way, way too dim to see - especially in my backlit coffee workbench.
But overall, I can’t fault it for taking a chance in trying out a new and unique design that truly looks great from afar.
And with my conclusion now out of the way, here’s a little more about my thoughts on this new grinder from Gevi that I hope you’ll find interesting.
SPECS
The grinder itself is a pretty nice size, not being too big nor too small with a nice solid base that complements the overall design aesthetic.
It has both a regular cone shaped dosing cup and a dosing cup with a magnetically attached scale for weighing your input and output.
The dosing cup itself is magnetic to the included scale but the scale itself is not magnetized to the base of the grinder which I think would have been a nice touch.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the shape of the dosing cup as it makes it a little awkward and unwieldy to flip onto a portafilter. It also makes it relatively prone to accidentally smacking the dosing cup and causing a mess.
The vertically mounted 64mm flat burrs are also swappable with SSP burrs and the grind chamber can be opened without any tools, also nice.
It is important to not that you do lose warranty if you decide to swap your burrs. Personally, I think that’s a huge bummer and might honestly be reason enough for a lot of people to not purchase this grinder.
While not built with the same quality and attention to detail as something like the Niche and Mahlkonig grinders, it’ll still fare just fine in a casual home environment.
COMPARISONS
Is it my absolute favorite performing 64mm grinder? No, but it’s up there. Is it my favorite looking 64mm grinder? Definitely. With just a few more attention to detail changes here and there, I think this has a lot of potential to achieve that almost grail-like cosmetic build quality that Option O grinders are known for.
This is going to be a great all-rounder grinder, with shots and brews that don’t fall too high into the clarity nor muddy end and strike a great balance for those that may not yet understand their full preferences.
Add a knocker, add a small bellows system, and please, allow users to change burrs without voiding warranty, and keep the price under $500 like the Indeigogo campaign and I think you’ve got a winning formula here.
PRICE
The price seems to be targeting a nearly $1000 USD MSRP and at that price point, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to take a much harsher stand against this grinder because I really don’t think its features or build quality justify that price.
Alibaba does also show this grinder being sold for about $1000 USD at the moment, albeit under a different name. And speaking of a different name, now I would like to redirect your attention to what I call the rant portion of the review.
ADVERTISING
I was reached out to about this grinder by a company called Global One Click and upon further research, they appear to be a marketing and advertising agency primarily serving Chinese companies.
Now the advertising for this grinder is confusing - to say the least. This product is set to be live on Indiegogo for pre-orders this month and it advertises both an IF Gold Award and a Red Dot Design award for 2023.
And to me, these awards honestly don't mean that much nowadays when there’s no cap on them plus they have a nearly pay-to-win-like structure.
Small rant here, but to me, these awards kind of just feel like a small curated group of people going “yeah, this is pretty” - regardless of functionality, performance, or build quality - and then accepting a few thousand bucks for their expert opinion.
And, interestingly enough, this Gevi branded grinder does not actually appear on the Red Dot or IF Design award websites.
But - it does show up under a different name, brand, and slightly different design altogether - the Barsetto BAG-E6 Professional Flat BLADE Coffee Grinder owned by a company called Guang Dong Xinbao Electrical Appliances Holdings Co Ltd.
They’ve submitted an entire host of other products in random categories unrelated to coffee that have all won awards but none specifically with the gold award that this grinder has.
Now here’s my biggest gripe with these “award” sites and why I don’t trust em. Did they even receive the product before just accepting some cash and handing out these awards?
Are these people meant to have any knowledge in the categories of the products they’re awarding, or are they literally just looking at it from a purely aesthetic perspective?
Right I mean just listen to this, the IF Gold Statement on the product pages reads as the grinder conveys a sense of lasting quality through its solid metal look and professional appearance. This is a product built to last a lifetime. The integration of the display function contributes to its minimalistic appearance.
And that’s it. My gripe with this is “conveys a sense of lasting quality through its solid metal look and professional appearance”.
From my time with this grinder, I can tell you, it does not quite convey a sense of lasting quality. And if being made of metal is all it takes to achieve that “sense of lasting quality” then that’s just straight up false.
And these two statements saying it has a “professional appearance” alright yeah it's pretty but professional appearance it’s super vague and gives no sense of what criteria they’re basing that off of. And “the integration of the display function contributes to its minimalistic appearance.” Yes true, but that’s just an objective statement about the design. Nothing that actually lets me know why this group of panelists are giving this product a Gold Award.
Even on the Red Dot side of things, which may be a little more well known than the IF award. The description includes things like “the machine is equipped with a powder collection container with a weighing function.”
I mean, come on, I get that it’s a design site but these people should have some knowledge of the coffee industry. At the very least, enough to call it a dosing cup with a scale rather than a powder collection container.
And finally, what exactly are the grounds on getting a product up on these award sites? It’s not even the same product shown as what’s being sold. There’s straight up a differently designed grounds collection cup altogether.
Anyways - I hope you enjoyed this review and my thoughts on the Gevi GrindMaster.
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