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Grinders

Grind settings

DF64 Gen 2 grind settings

Starting grind settings for every brew method on the DF64 Gen 2, with espresso around 5 to 17 and pour-over around 40 to 55 (dial).

These numbers assume the dial reads 0 where the burrs touch. Many grinders ship with the 0 somewhere else. If your filter setting is around 70, your zero is offset, so shift every number here by the same amount.

Settings by brew method

MethodSetting (dial)As the source puts itSource
Espresso5 to 17Espresso 5 to 17coffeechronicler.com
Reviewer
Moka pot17 to 25Moka pot 17 to 25coffeechronicler.com
Reviewer
AeroPress25 to 40AeroPress 25 to 40coffeechronicler.com
Reviewer
Pour-over / V6040 to 55Pour over 40 to 55 (Grindlogic 30 to 60)coffeechronicler.com
Reviewer
French press55 to 65French press 55 to 65coffeechronicler.com
Reviewer
Cold brew65 to 90Cold brew 65 to 90honestcoffeeguide.com
Reviewer

These are starting points. Beans, roast, water and your own taste all move them, so start in the middle of the range and adjust one step at a time.

Notchbook is a free app that remembers the setting that worked on your DF64 Gen 2 for each coffee and brew method, and keeps a journal of every brew. Get it free on Google Play. The iPhone app is coming soon. More about Notchbook.

About the DF64 Gen 2

Type
Electric grinder
Burrs
Flat, 64 mm
Adjustment
Stepless

Dialling in from here

Compare with other grinders in the grind size chart.

What reviewers found

The popular budget 64 mm flat-burr grinder. It's good value and takes aftermarket burrs, though it usually needs some tinkering.

Specs

Motor250 W at 1400 rpm. It slows under load at fine settings with high-friction burrs 0:30 3:01
Dial (Gen 1)Stepless, numbered 0 to 85. The espresso zone is a narrow span at the fine end, and the coarse end goes past about 2500 µm 0:30
ZeroOn Lance Hedrick's grinder the burrs chirp at zero 0:30. In 2025 he found the point where the burrs touch by running it slowly until it rubbed 2:04
Gen 2No auger 8:08, and the burrs are horizontal 18:09

Starting settings

These are the settings each creator gave, measured from their own grinder's zero. Use them as a starting point.

MethodSettingContextConfidenceBySource
Espressoa few numbers coarser than burr touch, then finerHis 2025 starting method for a Nordic light roast, 19 g in and about 48 g out. The first, coarser try was slightly sourstatedHedrick8:14
Pour-overabout 1100 µm (grind size, not a dial number)Light roast, stock burrs, 15 g to 250 g, drawdown of about 245 sapproxHedrick17:36
Espressosame dial, 28 s with a fast feed against about 12 s with a slow feedapproxHedrick8:08
Espressocoarse (similar to the Nordic, coarser than a normal setting)Ultra-light Gesha, 19 g in and about 70 g out (1:3.5), about 20 s at 1.5 to 2 barapproxHedrick13:49
Espressosame grind, then slightly coarserHeavily processed Ombligon, 18.8 g in and about 47 g out (1:2.5), 16 s at about 3 bar after going coarser from 9 barapproxHedrick17:53
Espressocoarser than the Nordic, then slightly finerWashed Kenya aged 5 months, 19 g in, 1:2.5, 16 s at about 3 barapproxHedrick25:29
Espressowent too coarse, then two steps finerDark Arabica/Robusta Italian blend, about 1:2 in 23 s at 9 bar with tiger stripingapproxHedrick35:34
Espresso19g in, 45g out in about 30 to 32 sLight roast, stock burrs, dialled in much like a Mignon OroapproxHedrick24:27
Espressodialled for a 28 s shot (no number given)18 g in and about 38 g out. With four sprays of water the same setting ran about 38 sapproxHoffmann11:43
Pour-overfiner end of the filter rangeLighter roastsapproxHoffmann11:17
Espresso10Gen 2, 16 g in and 15.9 g out from a cold start. A typical espresso settingstatedChronicler4:34
Immersion50DF64, 2021 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
Pour-over35 to 45DF64, 2021 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
AeroPress25 to 35DF64, 2021 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
Moka17 to 25DF64, 2021 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
Espresso8 to 19DF64, 2021 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
Immersion55 to 65DF64 Gen 2, 2023 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
Pour-over40 to 55DF64 Gen 2, 2023 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
AeroPress25 to 40DF64 Gen 2, 2023 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
Moka17 to 25DF64 Gen 2, 2023 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart
Espresso5 to 17DF64 Gen 2, 2023 chart. Reader-submitted and approximateapproxChristensengrind size chart

Cup profile

  • With the stock burrs, filter is acceptable but has muted acidity and more body, like an unaligned stock EK43. Espresso is syrupy and vibrant, with light-roast citrus and some astringency 0:30.
  • SSP multi-purpose burrs give the most clarity and a thin body 0:30.
  • 2025: a little more acidity than a J-Max in espresso, and blendier filter 16:54.

Strengths

  • A huge choice of 64 mm burrs, at a good price 0:30.
  • Fewer fines than a Mignon Oro in Lance Hedrick's sieve test 16:27.
  • The Gen 2 held the same setting for about 80 shots 13:41.

Weaknesses

  • The stock chute and declumper clog and hold coffee, there's heavy static, and alignment is worse than the Mignon Oro 0:30 17:28.
  • Gen 2: horizontal mounting, alignment and retention 18:09.

Verdict

2022: a strong budget pick, best with SSP burrs and a modded chute 0:30. 2023: popular, but it usually needs tweaks 9:09. 2024: the Gen 2 does its job 13:41, grade B 18:09. 2025: good hand grinders can beat it for similar money 16:54.

James Hoffmann's take

  • 2023 (DF64 Gen 2): a big upgrade on the Gen 1, a strong 64 mm burr platform, and one of his two finalists under £500. Light-roast filter tended to sit at the finer end of the filter range 1:33 11:17.
  • In his RDT test, a DF64 Gen 2 shot dialled for 28 s ran about 38 s at the same setting with four sprays of water, with no visible change in particle distribution 11:43 17:22.

Daddy Got Coffee's take

  • 2023 (Gen 2): it fixed most of the Gen 1 complaints. It has an ionizer, 18 g goes in and comes out without RDT or bellows, alignment is perfect and the burrs are balanced. His top all-round pick under $400, though it's very loud 1:33 5:38 7:09.

Kyle Rowsell's take

  • 2022 (Gen 1): the best-value flat-burr single doser at about $400. The stock Italmill burrs are clean, sweet and transparent with some texture. SSP multi-purpose adds striking clarity but little texture, and SSP HU keeps more. Against it are static, a declumper that holds coffee, a hard-to-read multi-turn dial, a loud motor, alignment work and 10 to 15 lb of beans to season. Fitting SSP burrs moved his zero by about 30. Mods sort out a lot of the mess and the popcorning 5:38 0:32 13:42.
  • 2023 (Gen 2): all metal, with an anti-popcorn disc, a plasma generator, easy zeroing and low retention without bellows. Its hybrid burr (the DF64V's burr without the coating) cleans up filter while keeping body in espresso. His new budget gold standard from $399. The motor is a little loud and the dial numbers scratch 20:00.

The Coffee Chronicler's take

  • 2022 (Gen 1): the best all-rounder for tinkerers, with a huge range of upgrades. The stock burrs are a little less clear than a C40 or K-Max for drip and sieved worst of his four flats. The declumper is restrictive, there's static, the catch cup sits far from the chute, and his grinder needed a circuit-board repair 13:50.
  • 2023 (Gen 2): what the Gen 1 should have been, with 0.1 to 0.3 g retention, a plasma generator and a good anti-popcorn disc. The new burrs give crisp, acid-forward filter (3.75 out of 5, against 2.5 for the old burrs) and modern espresso with body. Solid value, with a burr size that won't date, and better for swaps and espresso than a Sculptor 064S, but noisy with SSP multi-purpose burrs 12:14 7:40 11:03.
  • 2026: at its fixed 1400 rpm he reckons it gets perhaps 85 to 90% of what SSP brew burrs can do, so he points pour-over buyers to models with variable speed 2:31.

Sprometheus's take

  • 2024 (V2 against the DF54): 18 g of espresso in about 11 s, a slightly tighter particle spread and more burr options, for about $170 more and some 5 lb extra. The stock cup is the same 6:17.

Bluebird Coffee Roastery's take

  • 2021, his home espresso grinder (the G-iota-branded Gen 1 with the newer declumper). It's heavy and solid for the money, at under about R10,000 in South Africa, imported and serviced locally. It's quiet, a threaded external collar keeps grounds out, the dosing cup suits a 58 mm portafilter, and there are SSP burr options for filter or espresso. The printed mark isn't true zero, so he marks the real one on the burr carrier. Espresso was very good, and filter was behind his hand grinder. Grounds still hide behind the declumper even with the bellows, the heavy lid is awkward to pump, a silicone sleeve on the dosing fork split early and the springs needed reseating out of the box 2:35 3:38 6:13 7:45.

Notes

  • Slow feeding on a Gen 2 cut a 28 s shot to about 12 s at the same setting, so expect to go finer if you change how you feed it 8:08.
  • Flat burrs are harder to dial in than conicals. Lance Hedrick starts coarse and works finer 2:04 7:14.

Sources

Summarised in our own words from the creators' videos, with every point linked to the moment it comes from. Notchbook isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of these creators, so please watch the originals for full context. Sources