Throughout 2023, I bought seven DF grinders from the wonderful Anna at www.DF64Coffee.com. She consistently provided me with friendly, professional, and helpful support — including shipping parts for free, under warranty.  All of this occurred while I was a “normal” customer and before I crossed to the dark side and launched this coffee grinder review website.

Late in 2023 I heard a rumor about a new generation DF83 grinder so I emailed Anna and asked her how I could pre-order one.  Well, DF64Coffee shipped me a DF83V and DF54 without charge in exchange for my usual, warts-and-all review. And I get to keep the grinders 😊. This has never happened to me before so I’m pretty chuffed about it.

Clearly, from an ethical point of view, it’s important that I disclose that arrangement, so consider it disclosed.

Despite that, I’ll do my darndest to review the DF83V in an objective and thorough manner. Will I be unconsciously biased?  Possibly.   It’s called ‘unconscious’ for a reason. Because of this, I ask you to be the judge. Just make that call after you’ve read the review, not before.

I bought two of the original DF83s, and I simply couldn’t fall in love with them.

One was from www.DF64Coffee.com and one was from www.AlternativeBrewing.com.au

In both cases, I had problems with mis-threading the collar after deep cleaning or burr swapping (the latter being a frequent event in my Grinder Lab).

Both resellers were brilliant in their support (thanks Anna @df64coffee and Jack @alternativebrewing). In fact, Frank at CoffeeTech (the Australian importers of DF grinders) even sent me a brand new DF83 for me to try. You really can’t ask for better support than that.

Bear in mind that all of this was before I launched www.TomsGrinderLab.com,  so the world-class support I received was not because of who I am, but because of who they are — consummate support professionals with real empathy and an honest desire to make the customer happy.

But despite all of that, and despite the fact that I’ve fallen in love with more shiny new grinders than I’ve had BBQs, I couldn’t get past the mis-threading issue.

Would I have liked the DF83 a lot more if I hadn’t kept breaking them? Maybe a bit. The DF DLC 83mm burrs are very good and if you add their geometry and size to a stonking motor, there are things to like.

All in all, I felt that the original DF83 was overpriced and under-engineered and so I set them aside and never wrote a review.

When I heard the rumors about a second generation of the DF83 I was reminded of the difference between the original DF64 and the DF64V. There was light years difference: design, workflow, burrs, aesthetics, engineering, components, features – all different and all better.

Could lightning strike twice? Could the DF83V also be a quantum leap over and above its predecessor?

The Packaging

All DF grinders are superbly protected against in-transit drops. However, DF uses too much plastic for my liking, and I look forward to the day when they follow lead of other companies such as Olympia, who have as little as 5 grams of plastic in their entire grinder box.

In addition to the grinder, the box includes a dosing cup, a brush, the magnetic chute, and the instruction manual (adequate but incomplete, I’ll cover this below).

Specifications

• Size: L 32 x W 13.5 x H 39.5 cm.
• Height: 28cm without hopper, 39.5cm with hopper and bellows
• Weight: 8.8KG
• 680W brushless DC motor
• Variable Speed: 300-1,600 RPM
• Stepless grind adjustment
• Vertical 83mm DLC Burrs: Espresso or Brew
• Plasma Generator to reduce static

Build Quality

Built like a tank both in terms of heft and dare I say it, a lack of subtlety (more on that soon).

Don’t get me wrong: the DF83V functions just as it was designed, but I have issues with it (subjective, mostly non-functional) that I don’t have with say the DF64V, the DF64 Gen 2 or with the Niche Duo. I’ll cover these in the “What I don’t like” section.

Ah … that would be a “no”.

Every one of the seven grinders that arrived via www.df64coffee.com arrived perfectly aligned.

But the DF83V came directly from the DF factory in China , and for whatever reason it was definitely in need of alignment. A half hour later it was all done. DF grinders are universally easy to align thanks to easy access to burrs and carriers.

Workflow is as good as it gets.

Just like the DF54 and DF64 Gen 2, the static mitigating plasma generator eliminates the need for RDT (spraying a light mist of water on the beans first) and retention of grounds is so minimal that the use of the bellows is unnecessary for all but the most pedantic of prosumers.

The anti-popcorn lid works well, so without the bellows it’s simply a matter or pouring the beans in directly from your dosing cup and pressing the on button. (Be aware that the odd bean may sit on top of the anti-popcorn lid because it is perfectly horizontal, and not sloped like its 64mm counterparts. No biggie.)

If you decide to retain the bellows, then it’s simply a matter of popping the nice timber lid off first, before you pour the beans in. This design won’t please everyone because there is no option to grind directly into the portafilter basket.

Grind times can be lighting fast at around 6 seconds and 1,000RPM for 20 grams.

“Exchange” grounds are where the grounds from your last grind pop out first when you grind the next time and there is bugger all grounds (translation for non-Aussies: “very little”.) when you don’t use the bellows. For the DF83V, exchange is in the range of 0.05 grams as measured by a jewelry scale, and 0.1 of a gram on an Acaia Lunar.

The DF83V comes with the option of DF Espresso or Filter burrs (both very good).

Espresso

The DF DLC espresso burrs do a top job of straight espresso with medium, medium/light and light roasted beans. There is enough body and enough punch in the taste notes to satisfy most of us. And whilst they don’t offer the same level of flavor separation or brightness that the SSP Espresso (HU) burrs give, they are still up there with the best of the rest.

In short, 90% of the espresso-loving community will be happy with these burrs.

In addition, I give the DF DLC Espresso burrs four out of five stars for milk-based espresso (see the Conclusion section below). If you are using dark roast beans and milk-based drinks, then you can bump that up to as many stars as you like, because the burrs will deliver enough flavor from dark roasted beans to punch through the milk.

But when you use medium roast beans and you want even more body and one big flavor note slamming into your taste buds, then the 64mm DF DLC burrs in the DF64V and the DF54 burrs both deliver more punch than the DF83V.

A little trick that has worked well for me when I have guests who want a flat white, is to grind finer and drop the flow rate from around 1.4ml/sec (~30 second pour) to 1.0ml/sec (~40 second pour) and that gives me a Ristretto style pour that has the flavor punching through the milk even when using medium/light beans. So if it’s just the occasional milk drink you want, the DF83V is perfectly capable.

Filter

I blind taste compared the DF DLC Brew burr with SSP Brew (MP) and picked the DF as the winner three out of three times. It’s got enough body and strength of flavor while still offering flavor note separation. That combination, for my taste buds, makes for a satisfying and interesting filter coffee experience.

(Caveat: I’ve been drinking filter/V60 pour over for less than a year, so I’m more ‘advanced student’ than ‘expert’.)

The DF83V is the weirdest looking grinder I’ve ever seen. It’s a radical departure from both traditional grinder design and also from DF’s historical grinder designs. Side-on it looks like an old-style steam engine locomotive

Separate power on/off button.

Saves the LED I guess, and that super bright glow can be cut off without having to find the wall socket switch.

The Augur

The Auger is a ‘partial crusher’ (rather than a ‘pre-grinder’) because it randomly crushes beans into disparate chunks rather than anything remotely uniform.

As best I can tell, the Augur acts mostly as a slow feeder. Are there advantages? Apparently, but unless you can taste the difference in a grind with the Augur and without, we’ll never know.

(Yes, yes, yes: you might be able to tell the difference using a particle analyzer. But if you need a microscope to tell your taste buds that there is a difference, then there isn’t a difference.)

The dial collar

Thick, solid steel with well-formed thread makes removing and replacing the dial collar a breeze. I like this dial collar a lot and if you are into burr swapping or regular deep cleaning, I suspect that you’ll like it too.

The six coil springs

When you adjust the dial collar, the springs compress or expands the gap between the two burrs and thereby allows you to adjust the grind size.

The DF83V has six coil springs, which seems to be more than adequate. By comparison the Niche Duo has three, albeit a little larger.

Big burrs don’t respond to dial changes with as much precision as smaller burr sets but that’s to do with the burr size, not springs. Springs deliver consistency within the limitations of the burr diameter. Having more springs, spaced close together, probably doesn’t help much with consistency of the grind — but it can’t hurt either.

The espresso range

There is just enough runway to get a well-balanced pour from Cinnamon (Ultra-Light) or Nordic Light roasted beans providing you are using the stock burrs. With SSP Espresso burrs you’ll be fine with traditional Light beans, but you may run out of dial for Cinnamon roasts.

Plasma generator

This little device neutralizes the static charge that is generated when grinding coffee beans. RDT (a light spray/misting of the beans) is one way to address this, but the plasma generator makes RDT redundant, and takes one step out of your workflow. It works so well that I can see the day when plasma generators become standard issue with every grinder.

The DF83V has most of the things on my ‘dream grinder’ wish-list.

• Superior workflow to the DF64V (plasma generator)
• Slightly faster grind times than the fabulous little Varia VS3.
• Tastier espresso and milk based drinks than the Niche Duo (with the stock burrs).

The chimney

To my eyes the hopper looks like an afterthought. I look at the other grinders on my bench at the moment, the Varia VS3, a Niche Duo and the DF54, and they all integrate the hopper into the design of the body.

A sticker to indicate zero point at 12 0’clock

To be blunt, a naked sticker on a grinder at any price point is tacky, cheap, and for a grinder at this price point, just downright sloppy. This should be laser etched or at least covered with a protective layer of clear sealant.

There is however an advantage to the sticker: it can be removed and repositioned if the collar is not returning to the 12 o’clock position. And this is exactly what I needed to do because the collar was returning to the 1 o’clock position (rather annoying, but I won’t start another rant) so for a brief moment I was actually grateful for the sticker. Then I was very annoyed again.

I would have preferred the type of dial indicator that comes with all of the other DF grinders where is slips over the top of the hopper and sits neatly on top of the main body of the grinder and it locked into position by a thumb screw at the rear. But that solution won’t work with the DF83V’s horizontally mounted body.

Given DFs track record of continual improvement, I’m confident this will be addressed in a future version of the DF83V but for now it continues to annoy be heck out of me.

The large on/off switch

The addition of an on/off power switch, as separate from a grinding on/off switch, is an idea I really like. No more LEDs lighting up the kitchen at night. But whilst the idea has merit, the execution lacks finesse. It’s the sort of on/off switch you might find on a large commercial appliance such a bowl cutter and it’s out of place on the DF83V. Fortunately, my DF83V is sitting snugly next to my espresso machine so I don’t notice it often. And again, I suspect that this will be upgraded in version two.

The incomplete manual

When it comes to intuitively knowing how a thing works, I’m not the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree. I needed step by step instructions on how to get the burrs chirping at 12 o’clock on the dial and the manual was bereft of guidance in this area.

To be fair to DF, I can truly be as thick as two short planks when it comes to this sort of thing but gosh dang it, manuals should assume that the new owner’s brain matches my density rather than those intuitive customers. Just pop a few diagrams in the manual or a QR Code directing owners to a YouTube video. This. Is. Not. Hard.

Thin silicon gasket between the upper burr and carrier

I covered this in my reviews of the DF64V and the DF64 Gen 2. Both are very good grinders with less foibles than the DF83V, so I’ll only briefly mention it here. There are typically two silicon gaskets that help bed the burrs in the burr carriers and whilst they are sufficient to do their job, they are prone to damage when swapping burrs or deep cleaning. I’d like to see a more robust material used.

The stalling (not a biggie, get over it 😊).

This is actually NOT a problem for me personally, but I need to mention it so that potential buyers are aware. Every variable speed grinder that I’ve had over my bench has stalled when I tried to grind Nordic Light beans or Cinnamon roasted beans (lighter than the traditional light) for espresso using low RPMs such as 300 – 600. Cold start or hot start, they still stall.

I had stalling with Cinnamon roasted beans (lighter than the traditional Light roast) at 300RPM and 500RPM when grinding for espresso.

These were hot starts (motor running) as I fed the beans in. The DF83V has an augur which acts as a type of slow feeder — but apparently not slow enough to prevent stalling.

I’m not an engineer and know next to nothing about motors but it does seem that stalling is common amongst many variable speed grinders and having stonking 680W motor does not prevent that from happening with a combination of (a) super light roasts (b) slower RPM and (c) grinding for espresso at the finest end of the dial range.

Other than that, I’ve had no stalling.

If you want to grind super light roasts for espresso at less than 800RPM and you hate the idea of slow feeding your beans, then don’t get this grinder – or a DF64V or a Weber Key.

False chirp

This is where the burrs sound like they are at chirp (just beginning to touch when dialing to the finer end of the range), but actually aren’t, which is a wee bit disconcerting. My guess is that something needs redesigning, but it does disappear as quickly as it happens, so on the odd occasion I hear it, I simply keep shifting the dial and it goes away. It doesn’t affect grinder performance.

General gripe about large burr grinders producing less consistent flow rates

The following comments assume that the burrs are aligned and have been seasoned sufficiently so that they are hitting close to their potential in regard to consistency and uniformity of grounds. In the case of my DF83V, the burrs were aligned and seasoned with between six and nine kilos of beans, depending on the time of my recording/logging each shot over four weeks.

After seasoning, I like a small change on the dial collar to result in an equally small change in the flow rate. If you don’t have the gear to measure flow rate you can think of this as related to pour time. For example, according to my Acaia Lunar 2021 scales (which measures flow rate) a pour of 40 grams over 28 seconds (taken from the time that the first drop hits the cup), reads as a flow rate of 1.4 ml/sec (40  28). A pour of 40 grams over 66 seconds (40  66) reads as a flow rate flow rate of 0.6 ml/sec.

If I make a one-point change on the grinder dial at the espresso end of the range, I like to see a change in the flow rate of between zero and 0.2ml/sec, with 0.4ml/sec max. But when I make that one-point change on the dial and see a 0.6 ml/sec change in the flow rate, I’ve lost the ability to dial a shot in so that the espresso is well balanced and full flavored.

This happens a lot with big burr grinders. I have exactly the same issue with the Niche Duo. It’s why I log every shot with every grinder for at least a month before I write a review. I’m checking for the grinder’s ability to give me small incremental changes in flow rates. It’s only by logging these numbers that I can see a trend (or lack of one) of grind setting to flow rate. Based on the testing and logs that I’ve kept to date, the DF83V performs as well as the Niche Duo in terms of shot consistency (which is not very).

By contrast, I enjoy extraordinary consistency when changing the dial on the VS3 (48mm conical) or the DF64 Gen 2 (64mm flat) but whenever I step up to 80mm or 83mm burrs, inconsistency is a feature, not a bug.

A top tip that I picked up from Anna at DF64coffee in regard to large burr stepless grinders, is that consistency improves when you make an adjustment from finer to coarser, but not the other way.

I’m in the early stages of logging the variation that occurs when dialing finer versus dialing coarser and I’ll update with a new video once I’ve come to some conclusions.

So far, I’ve found that if I want to dial coarser, it’s best to shift the dial finer first, then coarser with the grinder turned off. So, if I’m on 15 and I want to try 16, I shift the dial from 15 to say 10 and then to 16. It’s early days so don’t take this as conclusive, but so far the results are very promising in terms of getting a predictably small change in flow rate.

My guess is that if DF used a finer thread, then we’d enjoy more finesse around dialing in. Crossing my fingers for that in Gen 2.

Forum members pet peeves

For this review I asked owners on www.CoffeeSnobs.com.au for their likes and dislikes.

@jasiano (Thanks, mate!): Been using mine for a few weeks now but primarily for filter, although did do a few espressos for my BDB before I stopped using that. Had the DLC espresso burrs in by default – need a bit of seasoning (but that’s more of a burr issue).

Things that I think could be improved:

• As many influencer reviews have already pointed out, the power switch is horrendously ugly
• Not sure if it’s just a burr thing, but I had to realign the default burrs (even though from what I can see, there was already some alignment done as there was a shim already).
• Similarly I had to double up the shims when I put new SSP LS burrs in, it’s almost like there’s a slight but very clear ‘slope’ on the burr carrier mount.
• The grease… I get that it helps the burr adjuster turn better and the carrier to move closer/further when dialling in, but grounds get stuck on the parts with grease and makes the inside a bit gritty. Don’t think it gets into the actual flow/channel into the dosing cup but it’s just a bit annoying. I’m not sure if many other grinders need grease on non-coffee parts that move…
• Mine has that ‘false chirp’ sound in the motor that a few people on the internet have complained about. Not sure what it is exactly and if it can be fixed but it’s just annoying. Not an actual issue on grinding though.
• Bellows… I have always been really against bellows because a well-designed and pricey grinder should allow for low retention without them…. I find that retention is about 0.2-0.4g if I don’t use the bellows, and 0 – 0.2g if I do.
• I wish either the dosing cup would fit flush on top of a 58mm basket, or there was some attachment to allow grinding straight into a PF (like the Lagom 01 with the PF ‘stand’). Pouring grounds from the cup into a PF feels… messy.

The burrs – espresso and filter

I’ve touched on these above, but they are definitely very good burrs and given the right bean and roast, they are highly capable of delivering delight in the cup.

Super low retention, virtually static free

I’ve deep cleaned the DF83V three times over almost two months, including after seasoning and retained grounds are nothing to be concerned about. It’s not spotless when you open it up but neither are there any piles of grounds stuck anywhere that I could see.

In terms of exchange grounds (even without using the bellows), there is very little: in the order of 0.1 of a gram.

The proportions

Most of my dislike of the look of the DF83V stems from the hopper looking like a chimney on an old style steam locomotive. Take that away, and I really like how DF have made the grinder slimmer and longer. In my experience that’s quite unique a highly desirable differentiator from other 83mm grinders which look a bit, ah well, just going to say it: plump.

The warranty may cover the use of non-DF burr sets

You need to confirm this with your reseller, but some will honor your warranty if you install SSP burrs, provided you don’t do something screwy like leaving a screw out (sorry, couldn’t resist).

For example, DF64coffee are explicit about their warranty covering SSP burrs and if you give most reseller half a chance, and don’t act like some who start beating their chests on forums because a reseller didn’t respond within a nano second, then you’ll likely find that your reseller is reasonable person who will do the right thing by you.

Here’s what @jasiano from the Coffee Snobs Forum had to say about what he liked:

Things I like overall:

• Fast… like seriously fast even for espresso if you ramp up the RPM
• solid build that extends to the burr collar and adjustment, really nice weighty feel
  easy to take apart to swap burrs and clean
• Love the little alignment key/slot thing so you always put the burr carrier the same way so your alignment doesn’t go out the window every time you take the burrs out.
• Ability to re-zero the adjustment ring. Not enough grinders have this (why?!?)

Just a note on the burrs as well. I read/watched video reviews where people say the DLC espresso burrs are okay for filter, but the filter burrs are not good for espresso as they can’t grind fine enough. I have another DF83v on order with the DLC filter burrs so I guess I will test that part out, but the DLC espresso burrs I have not found anywhere near good for filter.
Yes they can grind the right ‘size’ for filter but I have found the brews to be a bit bitter and muddy. Could be I can’t pour a v60 properly but as soon as I switched in the SSP LS burrs (which are still geared for espresso but are a bit more hybrid) the filter brews were noticeably brighter.

Value is relative to other options. A DF83V will cost you half of what a Caedo E37S (83mm flat burrs) will set back, so relative to that grinder, the DF83V is good value.

And it’s less than one third of the cost of a Weber EG-1 as well as delivering tastier espresso, although I have to say I the EG-1 is IMHO the best-looking grinder on planet earth. (Douglas Weber is unsurpassed in his ability to produce precision engineered coffee kit that is also stunningly beautiful.)

By contrast, a Niche Duo will add a shade over 15% on top of the price of a DF83V. Is the Duo worth the extra? Maybe. I’m going to do a blow-by-blow comparison of the two soon, so I’ll let you know then.

OK, I’ll finally hop off the fence: yes, the DF83V is good value for money.

It’s not insanely great value (that award would fall to the Varia VS3) but in my book it does indeed fall into the “great bang for your bucks” category.

Any prosumer who enjoys a fast and seamless workflow, slim form factor and burrs that don’t disappoint.

For hybrid coffee lovers (espresso and filter) I think there is an especially strong case for having two grinders like the DF83V: one for espresso and one for filter.

Notwithstanding my frustrations with it, the DF83V has the potential to be your end game grinder.

And not that you would need to swap burrs, but if you had that itch and it had to be scratched, having the option of trying SSP or Gorilla Gear burrs adds further to the appeal and even greater value.

Now that would mitigate upgraditis .

Who may want to keep looking

If you wife/husband/partner/SO tells you, like mine does, that you are “on the spectrum” and you are going to get stressed about things like hoppers that resemble a steam train funnel, flow rates that jump around a bit or stalling with super light beans at super low RPM, then the DF83V is not for you. Maybe come back when Gen 2 is released?

Star Ratings (as at time of review)

Aesthetics
Definitely something you’ll love or hate but if it does it for you, feel free to give it 100 stars.

Workflow
Superb. No need for RDT or bellows. Big burrs means a faster grind. Virtually no static or retained grounds once the burrs are seasoned. Doesn’t get better.

Value
A lot of features for a very good price.

Espresso
Seriously, most people will give the DF83V five stars for the DF DLC Espresso burrs, but I have a couple of other personal favorites. If I had half a star lying around, I could be convinced to give it 4.5 stars. But have no doubt, these are very good burrs.

Filter
The DF DLC Filter burrs are up there with burrs like the Niche Duo’s stock 151F burr. Others may prefer more clarity, but I still prefer a bit more body.

Milk
Four stars means I’m a fan but that these burrs have some limitations when it comes to milk-based drinks. (Often when you get this much clarity from an espresso burr you don’t get as much body/taste punching through the milk and IMHO that’s the case with these burrs.)

Summary
The DF83V is going to have a lot of fans and rightly so. It’s an excellent all-rounder and with the option of swapping burrs under warranty, it’s got a lot going for it.

(No part of this review has been altered in response to this reply and neither was any edit asked for by the manufacturer or by df64coffee.com )

Hello Tom,

Thank you for such a nicely written review.

To address some pointers

1) The arrow sticker was decided to be removable as the market really likes SSP burrs, hence by changing different SSP burrs, the full tightening point will be different, hence another sticker can be used to pasted and the old sticker can be removed. Unfortunately, it’s either we please the people who want to move it with SSP burrs or those that just want it fixed and uses DLC burrs.

2) The rocker switch was placed as it was voted to be the most high quality switch with premium feel, not tacky or cheap like others in the market. These switches are found on commercial and big sized equipment, you can tell by the quality of the rubber and feel it is not cheap. Many customers mentioned they didn’t like that the DF64V RPM dial was on permanently when the socket switch was on, some even saying they forgot to turn off the grinder, and putting 2 similar switches side by side would confuse the customer, hence the big master rocker switch and the easy to press metal switch to get the grinder spinning was decided upon.

3) Silicon gasket is airtight and works best, soft and airtight.

4) Well noted on the manual, and chimney (hit or miss in liking!)

5) Stalling, unfortunately espresso burrs are more aggressive, especially SSP HU, some customers like to grind low rpm, but this is not necessary for espresso, which higher rpms are more suitable. SSP MP/ filter burrs are less susceptible to stalling. We understand it is not as optimal but brushless motors has its limitations, this brushless motor supplier was mentioned by the engineer to be very high quality hence we stuck with them. A non brushless like the non-V models would not stall but are much more aggressive too.

Thanks for your feedback Tom 🙂 wishing you well for your video and website.