To get a packed itemize list I use this in the preamble

\setupitemgroup
  [itemize]
  [packed]

To get less vspace between the text and the first item, i changed it to this

\setupitemgroup
  [itemize]
  [packed,
   nowhite]

now there is indeed no whitespace. Is there a more granular way to place just a little vertical whitespace between the text and the first item?