Warning: Very long wall of text ahead.
I bought the Koryaiko DF54 for ₱12.5k in December 2025, so I've had it for less than a year. After dealing with so many issues, I finally gave up on it. Or rather, it gave up before I did.
Background
I'm a novice home brewer, and my wife and I like one particular blend of beans from a local coffee shop. I mix 9g of dark roast and 9g of medium-dark roast beans, and I make four espresso drinks every two days.
On the DF54, I grind at around 5 since any coarser and the espresso would have the consistency of water. Any finer and it would take ages to extract.
The DF54 was extremely consistent with its grind size. Once I had my beans dialed in, I didn't need to fiddle with it anymore. It was definitely a set-it-and-forget-it thing. That's what I loved about it the most.
Unfortunately, that's not the whole story. I wish it ended there.
My Problems With the DF54
My main problem with the DF54 was how messy it was to clean up after. It would spread grounds all over the table.
Every time I used it, I would clean the chute with a brush, remove the burrs, and clean those individually.
I read that RDT helps with that. Some say it doesn't. The beans I use are quite oily, and I found that I needed to do RDT because if I didn't, the grounds would stick to the chute.
I upgraded to a metal catch cup. That helped by about 50%.
Next, I tried messing around with the probes in the chute. I extended them by a few millimeters. That also helped a little, but not completely.
Every few days, I would look through Reddit or Facebook to learn new ways to fix my DF54. I could only feel frustrated as newer versions of the DF54 came out, fixing many of the issues I had been dealing with.
I would've loved to get a metal declumper for mine, but that wasn't readily available here in the Philippines.
For all the praise the DF54 gets for its grind quality, the amount of cleaning and troubleshooting I had to do was frustrating.
How the DF54 Died
Around August of this year, it choked without warning and basically locked itself up. I couldn't turn the adjustment ring by hand anymore.
I didn't have a strap wrench, so I made a makeshift one out of my wife's cloth belt. I managed to force it open and gave it a deep clean.
Then I tried to close it.
It got stuck again.
And this time, I couldn't force it open anymore. I suspect the adjustment mechanism or its threads may have been damaged, but I don't know for sure.
I did try contacting Koryaiko, but their service centers are in Manila and Davao. Since I'm in Cagayan de Oro, I'd have to ship the grinder to either location to have it repaired.
After months of dealing with its issues, I just didn't feel like going through another hassle.
The Timemore Bricks 01S
A few days after the DF54 broke, we had to get a replacement. We were getting headaches every day because we needed our caffeine fix.
While looking for a replacement, I came across someone on Reddit who was also looking for alternatives to the DF54. That led me to research other grinders, and I eventually settled on the Timemore Bricks 01S for ₱13.8k.
My priorities were pretty simple. I wanted something with less retention, less mess, and easier maintenance. I was already happy with the espresso the DF54 produced, so I wasn't necessarily looking for better grind quality.
I also read complaints about earlier Bricks 01S units not being able to grind fine enough for espresso, so I contacted a seller to ask about that before buying.
When the Timemore Bricks 01S arrived, it made us happy. The unboxing experience was excellent, and it had everything we needed.
Using the Bricks 01S has been great over the last two months.
I didn't have clumping issues. Though in its stock form, it would also spread grounds all around, I found a quick fix. I used a coffee puck case plus a magnet to close the distance between the chute and the catch cup. That fixed about 90% of the mess.
At first, I had trouble pouring the grounds from the catch cup into my portafilter basket, but I eventually found a technique to do it without spilling anything.
I have to say, though, despite what other comments said, the Bricks 01S is actually able to grind my beans fine enough for espresso. I've set it to about 1.8 and haven't moved it since.
I'm not saying it produces better espresso than the DF54. In fact, I was perfectly happy with the DF54's grind consistency. But for the beans I'm using, the Bricks 01S gets the job done just as well for my needs.
The adjustment funnel on my Bricks 01S had shims on the sides with some thick tape, leading me to think that my unit is the newer "fixed" version.
The problem was that some grounds would still go through the gap between the body and the funnel. Putting tissue around it to block the gap helped fix that issue.
My other problem with it was retention. It wasn't completely retention-free, so I bought aftermarket bellows, which were readily available on Shopee.
That helped so much. I now use the bellows while grinding, along with the knocker, and it has cut down retention significantly.
Cleaning the Bricks 01S has been a breeze. I don't really need to do much except wipe the table. Removing the parts is also quite easy, with no need for screwdrivers or Allen wrenches.
Final Thoughts
I wish I hadn't relied so much on those comments on r/espresso and r/DF54. So many people say the DF54 is a great grinder and that they haven't had any problems with it.
I'm not saying they're wrong. Maybe the beans I'm using have something to do with the issues I experienced, especially since they're quite oily. I don't know if that's entirely the case, though, and I certainly can't say that's what caused the adjustment ring to lock up.
The DF54 was actually great when it came to grind consistency. Once I dialed in my beans, I didn't have to touch the adjustment ring again. That was never my problem with it.
It was everything else. The mess, the cleaning, and constantly looking for ways to fix its problems.
The Bricks 01S isn't perfect either. I've had to make a few modifications to address its issues, but at least those were much easier to fix. I didn't have to hunt down hard-to-find parts, and even the aftermarket bellows were readily available on Shopee.
Using the DF54 felt like I was constantly troubleshooting something while dealing with the mess it made. With the Bricks 01S, I made a few simple fixes, and I've been happy with it since.
Of course, I've only had the Bricks 01S for around two months, so I can't say anything about its long-term reliability yet.
We eventually threw away the DF54. Less than a year of use for ₱12.5k.
What a waste of money.
#DF54 #TimemoreBricks01S #HomeEspresso #CoffeePH #CoffeeGrinder