LeverCraft · Flat burrUltra Grinder
A boutique, hand-built 98mm flat-burr single-dose grinder out of Austin, Texas, built around an industrial servo motor. It briefly became a home-barista cult object after James Hoffmann's review, then production quietly stopped.
The short version
This is a genuinely excellent 98mm flat-burr grinder when you can find one, but LeverCraft effectively stopped making them years ago after a tiny production run, so treat it as a collector's item rather than a shoppable product.
If you actually want this tier of grinding today, buy something still in production instead.
Why people buy it
- 98mm SSP flat burrs deliver commercial-grade clarity and speed most home grinders cannot touch
- Direct-drive industrial servo motor is unusually quiet for its power and grinds almost silently
Why they don’t
- Effectively discontinued: only an estimated 40-50 units were ever produced and new stock is not available
The full tally
- 98mm SSP flat burrs deliver commercial-grade clarity and speed most home grinders cannot touch
- Direct-drive industrial servo motor is unusually quiet for its power and grinds almost silently
- Near-zero retention design (well under 0.15g per dose) suits serious single dosing
- User-adjustable shims let owners restore perfect burr alignment as parts wear
- Effectively discontinued: only an estimated 40-50 units were ever produced and new stock is not available
- Bulky two-piece setup (grinder head plus separate power-supply control box) eats more counter and under-cabinet space than the footprint suggests
- Aftermarket parts (servo motor, burrs) are limited and can run four figures if something fails, with no factory support to fall back on
What the community knows
Years of owner threads, distilled — a niche favourite.
Superlative shot clarity and forgiving 98mm performance are real, but production halt due to motor durability concerns, extreme rarity (40–50 units shipped), and zero ongoing parts ecosystem leave owners stranded. A brilliant grinder for the lucky few, but a risky asset for…
Ceiling per dollar
how far the cup can go, per dollar
Value
price-to-performance the community respects
Convenience
speed and simplicity, day to day
All 9 community measures
price-to-performance the community respects
shows up every morning, year after year
parts and repairs — you are never stranded
mods, guides, and community know-how around it
kind to first-timers
years before you outgrow or replace it
how far the cup can go, per dollar
speed and simplicity, day to day
Worth knowing before you buy — Buy one, get an heirloom—or a stranded unicorn: exceptional performance cannot survive without a functioning supply chain.
Known weak points — Motor durability concerns (thrust-force stress on servo) cited as reason for production halt; no documented field failures reported from owners, but manufacturer's own caution is the red flag.
The measurements
Scored 0–5 on the same rubric as everything on file — the words matter more than the numbers.
The measurements
0–5, one rubric- Espresso
- reference5
- Versatility
- flexible4
- Built to last
- durable4
Position in the market
Every dot is a rival, measured the same way. The gold one is this.
- Top 10% for espresso suitability
- a higher ceiling than 141 of the 154 grinders we’ve measured
- Fairly priced for its level
- 46% of grinders this capable cost more
- Lower half for build
- sturdier than 37% of the field, by the community’s own record
Every dot is a grinder measured on the same rubric. See the whole market
Living with it
The part spec sheets skip: counter space, upkeep, and what owners learn later.
The honest note — There is no upgrade path from the Ultra in the traditional sense since it was already at the top of its era's single-dose flat-burr tier; owners priced out of a used Ultra typically look at the Kafatek Monolith Max, Option-O P100, or Weber EG-1 as comparable 98mm-class alternatives that are still in production.
The full spec sheet
- Class
- Single dose
- Burrs
- 98mm flat
- Drive
- Electric
- Adjustment
- Stepless
- Clarity lean
- Clarity & sparkle
- Espresso suitability
- 5/5
- Brew versatility
- 4/5
- Retention
- ~0.15 g
- Single dosing
- Yes
- Burr-swap scene
- Documented
- Workflow demand
- 3/5
- Maintenance
- 2.5/5
- Noise
- 1/5
- Build longevity
- 4/5
Before it arrives
What completes this grinder — the faded pieces can wait.
Coffee scale with timer — Espresso is a ratio. A 0.1g scale with a built-in timer is the single biggest consistency upgrade for any manual machine.
- Coffee scale with timer — Espresso is a ratio. A 0.1g scale with a built-in timer is the single biggest consistency upgrade for any manual machine.
- Dosing cup — Pairs with single-dose grinding — grind into the cup, swirl, and transfer to the portafilter cleanly.
- Grinder cleaning kit — Brushes and grinder tablets keep retention and stale grounds in check.
Feed it right
Week one is dial-in — and stale beans will lose it.
Coffee more than a few weeks past roast won’t extract predictably, and a new grinder gets blamed for it. These burrs lean bright — washed single-origins with real acidity are where they earn their price.
Pick your coffee — any of these dials in beautifully here:
Sergio - Brazillian Fazenda Joia Rara Aerobic FermentedSCA 88Medium-light · Cerrado Mineiro · Aerobic FermentedHoney · OrangeEnough brightness to show what this gear can separate.CA$29.18 · roasted to order
Honeycrest - Costa Rican Volcán AzulSCA 87Medium-light · West Valley · Red HoneyRaisins · Maple SyrupEnough brightness to show what this gear can separate.CA$19.50 · roasted to order
Wild Ember - Ethiopian Buno Dambi UddoSCA 92Medium roast · Odo Shakiso, Guji Zone, Oromia · NaturalBlueberry · MarmaladeEnough brightness to show what this gear can separate.CA$26.83 · roasted to orderWhole bean, dated, ready for your burrs the week it lands.
Roasted to order, daily, in Ajax, Ontario · ships Canada-wide. We’re the roastery behind this database — measuring the machines is how we make sure the coffee gets a fair shot.
On film
How it runs on camera, from around the community.
Common questions
Is the LeverCraft Ultra Grinder still available to buy new
No. LeverCraft made a very small run, reportedly around 40 to 50 units, before production stopped; the only way to get one now is secondhand.
What burrs does the LeverCraft Ultra use
It uses 98mm flat SSP burrs, custom-made blind burrs in later runs, spun by a direct-drive industrial servo motor.
Why did LeverCraft stop making the Ultra
Accounts point to a disagreement between LeverCraft and the original Chinese designer, Mr. Zhang, over the burr-carrier thrust bearing design, compounded by COVID-era parts supply issues; sale and production effectively ceased afterward.
Worth comparing
Kafatek
Monolith Flat (Titan SDRM)
A Seattle-machined single-dose flat burr grinder built around 75-80mm in-house Shuriken burrs. This is the boutique end-game grinder people save up for and then stop shopping.
US$2,650
Mahlkönig
EK43S
The shop-counter version of coffee's most influential bulk grinder: same 98mm flat burrs and 1300W motor as the full EK43, just shorter so it fits under a cabinet. Built for cafes grinding retail bags and pour-over by the pound, and adopted by plenty of home fanatics who don't mind the footprint.
CA$3,390–5,350 · US$3,899–5,350
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