Welhome

For those of you who are familiar with  Sunbeam tipe EM 0480  grinder from Australia, Welhome is practically its twin, except that it’s made in China and baptized with another name. Welhome is the fourth domestically purposed and daily-usage recommended grinder I’ve written, after the Latina N600 from Feima which is made in Taiwan, Ascaso i-Mini, dan the last one is Grinta from Nuova Simonelli. I’ve just used Welhome for a couple of days, so hopefully this post can help you get some rough ideas about this grinder.

Welhome is wrapped in a cardboard box of 31 x 18 x 29 cm (length x width x height), and it comes with a thick corrugated board as its protector. Unfortunately, the manual book is in Mandarin, exactly like the Hario products that come with Japanese manuals. Important information such as its RPM (Revolution per minute) can’t be found, including its voltage when it’s being operated.

Image 3: Clockwise – Chute extension, Fork/porta handle, bean hopper, doser, doser cap, bean hopper cap, cleaning brush.

At a glance: small and light, especially when placed side by side with a giant coffee grinder like anfim Caimano – my daily alternative. Covered in silver aluminum and grey colors for its grinder setting, portafilter and base, Welhome looks very attractive.

Image 4:  Step and stepless.The main feature of this grinder is its ability to operate many tasks as a coffee grinder that works in two systems: step and stepless. By pressing a  button in the back, the user can slide the burr slowly to get the amount of ground coffee they need.

A button in the back can be pushed and you can adjust the grinder to any particular setting you want. This interesting feature is extremely useful when you want to achieve finer ground coffee for espresso. 24 clicks are provided if you wish to use Welhome as a step grinder, from the finest for espresso, to the coarsest for French press. The chute can be connected with an extension that’s already provided.

On the top, the coffee container accommodates 250 gram of coffee and it’s easy to open and close, although it’s not equipped with a bean stopper. The indicator or the grinder setting is easy to read with clear instructions printed on it; slide to the left for finer setting and to the right for the opposite. One of the best things about Welhome ZD-15 is its ability to be used as a grinder using two systems: step or stepless.

Image 5: Power Switch. Three positions: Manual position above, which allows the motor to keep on working and only stops when it’s returned to OFF position in the middle. The one below is the Automatic position, which activates the motor when the button on the front panel is pressed by the portafilter or the doser.

Burr diameter
As for the blade itself, Welhome chooses the conical 35 mm blade, which is relatively small when compared to the flat burred 50 mm grinder from Latina and Grinta, and the biggest one with a diameter of 54 mm.

First Test

After everything is assembled, I try putting sufficient amount of coffee into the bean hopper which is made of clear plastic. I choose the finest setting on the far left indicator and start the machine by switching it to “Auto”. Welhome refuses to extract is grinding result and the setting must be slid to the coarser setting and this time the coffee starts to come out very finely.

When turning on the timer, I write down Welhome’s speed for 10 grams of coffee is around 13 seconds, which isn’t bad, and it’s faster than Ascaso, despite using a conical system that is designed for a slower speed.

Ditting = 2 seconds

Latina = 5.5 seconds
Anfim = 8 seconds
Heycafe = 8.5 seconds
Compak K3 Touch = 8.5 seconds
Vario = 9 seconds
Grinta = 10 seconds
Welhome : 14 seconds
Ascasso = 17 seconds

Image 7: The fork.Equipped with two handles that can be used to place the portafilter and the doser.

Conclusion

Even though it’s not intended as a heavy-duty grinder, I’ve seen this grinder operated by Coffeewar . They also use a Sunbeam grinder, so the café owner can make use of it as the sidekick, or a back up grinder when the main grinder is broken. For a daily usage, Welhome is more then enough, and you can also play around with it and try on the different grinding settings. I haven’t been able to make any recommendations, but the Welhome I tried and received from a friend of mine is quite promising to be placed into the domestically-purposed grinder.

To make espresso, Welhome shows off its ability with the stepless setting to make very fine coffee that can be adjusted with the barista’s wish. To me, this is the best feature from this $200 grinder.

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Bagi Anda yang mengenal merek grinder Sunbeam tipe EM 0480 dari Australia, Welhome adalah saudara kembarnya, cuma yang ini lahir di China dan di “baptis” dengan nama yang lain. Welhome adalah grinder ke-4 yang pernah saya tulis untuk kelas domestik atau keperluan sehari-hari setelah Latina N600 dari Feima buatan Taiwan, Ascaso i-Mini , dan terakhir Grinta dari Nuova Simonelli. Baru beberapa hari menggunakan Welhome dan semoga tulisan ini bisa membantu Anda untuk mendapatkan gambaran tentang alat giling kopi ini.

Wlhome dibungkus dalam kardus ukuran 31 x 18 x 29 cm (PxLxT) dengan pelindung corrugated board yang cukup tebal. Nah, sayangnya buku manual disajikan dalam bahasa Mandarin, persis seperti jajaran produk Hario yang selalu menyusun buku panduan dalam bahasa Jepang. Informasi penting sebuah grinder seperti RPM (revolution per minute) tidak bisa saya temukan termasuk daya listrik saat alat ini dioperasikan.

Sekilas Pandang : Kecil dan ringan apalagi bila disandingkan dengan raksasa penggiling kopi seperti Anfim Caimano andalan saya sehari-hari. Dibungkus dengan alumunium berwarna perak dengan kombinasi warna abu-abu untuk bagian setting grinder, handle portafilter, dan base, Welhome tampil sangat atraktif.

Di bagian paling atas, penampung kopi berkapasitas 250 gram dan mudah dibuka pasang, walau tidak dilengkapi dengan pemisah atau bean stopper. Indikator atau setting grinder mudah dipahami dengan petunjuk jelas, geser kiri untuk halus dan kanan sebaliknya. Keunggulan Welhome time ZD-15 ini adalah kemampuannya untuk dijadikan grinder dengan sistem step dan stepless sekaligus.

Satu tombol di bagian belakangnya bisa ditekan dan kita bisa menggeser grinder pada ukuran yang dikehendaki. Fitur menarik ini sangat berguna saat kita menginginkan kehalusan yang sesuai untuk espresso. Terdapat 24 klik bila Welhome difungsikan sebagai grinder step, dari yang paling halus untuk espresso hingga paling kasar untuk menyeduh french press. Chute atau tempat keluaran kopi bisa disambung dengan satu extension yang sudah disediakan.

Ukuran Burr
Untuk urusan “pisau” penggiling, Welhome menganut aliran conical dengan ukuran 35 mm, relatif kecil bila dibandingkand negan sistem flat burr dari  Latina dan Grinta berukuran 50mm, serta Ascasso yang paling besar dengan diameter 54mm.

Test Pertama
Setelah semua kelengkapan terpasang, saya mulai mencoba memasukan kopi secukupnya pada bean hopper yang terbuat dari plastik bening. Langsung memilih setting terhalus di bagian indikator plaing kiri dan mulai menyalakan mesin dengan switch ke arah “Auto”. Welhome menolak mengeluarkan hasil gilingnya dan setting harus digeser ke arah yang lebih kasar dan kali ini kopi mulai keluar dengan bubuk yang sangat halus.

Saat menyalakan timer saya mencatat kecepatan Welhome untuk 10 gram kopi sekitar 13 detik, lumayan, dan sedikit lebih cepat dibanding Ascaso, walau menggunakan sistem conical yang biasanya didesain lebih lambat.

Ditting = 2 detik
Latina = 5.5 detik
Anfim = 8 detik
Heycafe = 8.5 detik
Compak K3 Touch = 8.5 detik
Vario = 9 detik
Grinta = 10 detik
Welhome : 14 detik
Ascasso = 17 detik

Untuk membuat espresso Welhome mununjukan kelebihannya dengan setting stepless yang membuat halus bubuk kopi bisa disesuaikan dnegan keinginan sang Barista. Pendapat saya, inilah fitur unggulan sebuah grinder yang harganya 2 jutaan.

Penutup
Walau bukan grinder heavy duty, tapi saya menyaksikan grinder ini pernah dioperasikan oleh Coffeewar walau mereka menggunakan merek Sunbeam, jadi pemilik cafe bisa juga memanfaatkannya sebagai alat utama atau cadangan saat grinder utama ngadat.

Untuk keperluan sehari-hari, Welhome sudah jauh dari cukup dan Anda bisa bermain sepuasnya dengan berbagai ukuran kehalusan bubuk kopi. Belum bisa membuat rekomendasi apapun, tapi alat yang saya peroleh dari seorang sahabat ini cukup menjanjikan untuk masuk ke dalam khazanah grinder domestik.

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Comparing the dimensions between Welhome and Anfim Caimano on Demand – which obviously is much bigger.

Welhome’s measurement:

Length                        : 22 cm

Width                        : 13 cm

Height                        : 22 cm

Weight                        : n/a

Electric power            : 220V

250 gram hopper capacity. This is the maximum capacity, and it’s more than sufficient for a day to day use. But I’m sure some of home-made coffee makers will avoid putting their coffee into the bean hopper right away, maintaining the flavor of the coffee is very important.

That hideous plastic fork. One of the weaknesses of this grinder when it’s operated is the placement of the portafilter which isn’t very solid, and often times resulting it to slip out or come off.

Grinding Result : It’s good enough, although it takes 13 seconds to grind 10 grams of coffee using the espresso setting. For coarses result intended for French press, it can go even faster.

Testing the Result on a Coffee Machine.Promised to be used for espresso machines, Welhome grinder has made it, although its durability still has to be tested for a long term usage.

Like: The price ($200), can be used for espresso; easy setting – step and stepless; grinding result is pretty good; and it gives more choices for home use grinders.

Dislike: the material quality; the fork position as it often comes off; durability has yet to be tested.

Other alternatives: Latina 600N, Nouva Simonelli “Grinta” Ascaso.