BilboBaggins
Addicted Member
Some of you might have noticed my comments lately about investigating a new espresso coffee grinder. The last time I investigated grinders was 15 years ago. That all started because I bought a KitchenAid Double Boiler Espresso machine which was junk. And that started me down a six month patch reading everything I could find about quality espresso machines. I remember then reading that a buyer should focus on the following items in that order; Technique, Coffee, Grinder, Espresso Machine. Naturally, I started with the espresso machine(a used Rancilio S24 I had shipped from Vancouver), my technique, a used Compak K5 grinder (equivalent to a Mazzer Super Jolly). The technique was important, because when I first got into espresso in the mid 90s, it was very difficult to find much about espresso except at Starbucks, Timothy’s, and a few other coffee companies. Here is my current coffee bar.
Things have changed a lot since then! There are a myriad of options in prosumer models for pour-over, espresso, grinders, and accessories with the sky being the limit. I was browsing FBM recently and I fell upon a Mahlkonig K30 Vario grinder. It wasn’t cheap, but it definitely looked the part. I had a sudden epiphany at that moment. I had spent so much time ensuring I had good technique, a good heat exchanger machine, and I had settled on a used Compak K5 grinder without considering upgrading since. For 15 years! Well, I am ready. I realized that one of my issues that a new grinder could address was old coffee contaminating the new freshly ground coffee. I was thinking my issue of very rarely getting a “god” shot might be due to exactly that! My machine is after all a doser machine.
I did stray about 5 years ago or thereabouts, and bought a new Compak K3 Advanced Touch at an auction. When I bought the K3 Advanced Touch, I hadn’t looked at anything else. It was a good price, so I jumped. However, I was very disappointed. I couldn’t get even close to as good espresso out of my new grinder that I got out of my aged Compak K5 Doser. When I saw the Mahlkonig, I admired the design. I researched the crap out of it, and that just reinforced that I needed a new grinder. I was determined to go ahead with the used K30 grinder, and even put the money aside for it. However, first, the seller hadn’t received the new grind he bought. While I was waiting, I decided I should look at other options. One that jumped out at me was the new Single Dose Grinders that had just started appearing on the market over the last 5 years. Many of the bugs have now been addressed, so I decided to investigate.
So I researched Single Dose Espresso Grinders as that is what I have been doing the last 15 years. I had to look that up to confirm it meant what I thought it did. Single dosing with a commercial doser machine in the Compak K5! In looking at the new single doser machines, I realized there were new options on the table. Grinders that are designed for single dosing! I don’t need a timer, and I don’t need to discard coffee flushing grinds from a machine that was never concerned about those excess grinds. And despite all the great things about Mahlkonig, it is a doser machine and will always have excess grinds without modifying it, and I’m too old to modify a grinder.
Last night, I decided to stop humming and hawing, and took the plunge. There are a number of pretty nice looking single dose machines. Eureka, MiiCoffee, Baratza, Ceado, and even Compak has a single dose grinder. But that one is way too rich for me. The TOTL grinders are precision made marvels starting at $5K. I’m not going down there. Who knows when the doctors are going to tell me I have to cut out coffee!
So I was having trouble deciding between Eureka, Ceado, and MiiCoffee(AKA Turin), and the Mahlkonig. The Mahlkonig was going to be the most expensive, and the least in line with the way I make coffee, but it was so well made! The Ceado was eliminated early. Too many issues, but nice price. So now it was down to Eureka and Turin. I was leaning towards Eureka until I read a thread by Mark Prince (CoffeeGeek.com) on the updated Turin DF64. They had done some major updates, and Mark raved about it. And the price was excellent! Then I saw a couple of reviews about the updated DF83. I was sold! I ordered the DF83 V2 last night! I should get it next week. Factors I looked at when I ordered it, was price, accessories, shipped from, and shipping costs. I eliminated any US based company because of duty. I ended up ordering from Calgary because they had the accessories I wanted, and the version I wanted with free shipping.
Now the waiting begins. I hope I’m not going down a new rabbit hole with the next upgrade being a dual boiler such as the Marzocco GS3, the Synesso, or the Slayer!
Anybody else enjoy espresso? Gone down any new rabbit holes lately?
Things have changed a lot since then! There are a myriad of options in prosumer models for pour-over, espresso, grinders, and accessories with the sky being the limit. I was browsing FBM recently and I fell upon a Mahlkonig K30 Vario grinder. It wasn’t cheap, but it definitely looked the part. I had a sudden epiphany at that moment. I had spent so much time ensuring I had good technique, a good heat exchanger machine, and I had settled on a used Compak K5 grinder without considering upgrading since. For 15 years! Well, I am ready. I realized that one of my issues that a new grinder could address was old coffee contaminating the new freshly ground coffee. I was thinking my issue of very rarely getting a “god” shot might be due to exactly that! My machine is after all a doser machine.
I did stray about 5 years ago or thereabouts, and bought a new Compak K3 Advanced Touch at an auction. When I bought the K3 Advanced Touch, I hadn’t looked at anything else. It was a good price, so I jumped. However, I was very disappointed. I couldn’t get even close to as good espresso out of my new grinder that I got out of my aged Compak K5 Doser. When I saw the Mahlkonig, I admired the design. I researched the crap out of it, and that just reinforced that I needed a new grinder. I was determined to go ahead with the used K30 grinder, and even put the money aside for it. However, first, the seller hadn’t received the new grind he bought. While I was waiting, I decided I should look at other options. One that jumped out at me was the new Single Dose Grinders that had just started appearing on the market over the last 5 years. Many of the bugs have now been addressed, so I decided to investigate.
So I researched Single Dose Espresso Grinders as that is what I have been doing the last 15 years. I had to look that up to confirm it meant what I thought it did. Single dosing with a commercial doser machine in the Compak K5! In looking at the new single doser machines, I realized there were new options on the table. Grinders that are designed for single dosing! I don’t need a timer, and I don’t need to discard coffee flushing grinds from a machine that was never concerned about those excess grinds. And despite all the great things about Mahlkonig, it is a doser machine and will always have excess grinds without modifying it, and I’m too old to modify a grinder.
Last night, I decided to stop humming and hawing, and took the plunge. There are a number of pretty nice looking single dose machines. Eureka, MiiCoffee, Baratza, Ceado, and even Compak has a single dose grinder. But that one is way too rich for me. The TOTL grinders are precision made marvels starting at $5K. I’m not going down there. Who knows when the doctors are going to tell me I have to cut out coffee!
So I was having trouble deciding between Eureka, Ceado, and MiiCoffee(AKA Turin), and the Mahlkonig. The Mahlkonig was going to be the most expensive, and the least in line with the way I make coffee, but it was so well made! The Ceado was eliminated early. Too many issues, but nice price. So now it was down to Eureka and Turin. I was leaning towards Eureka until I read a thread by Mark Prince (CoffeeGeek.com) on the updated Turin DF64. They had done some major updates, and Mark raved about it. And the price was excellent! Then I saw a couple of reviews about the updated DF83. I was sold! I ordered the DF83 V2 last night! I should get it next week. Factors I looked at when I ordered it, was price, accessories, shipped from, and shipping costs. I eliminated any US based company because of duty. I ended up ordering from Calgary because they had the accessories I wanted, and the version I wanted with free shipping.
Now the waiting begins. I hope I’m not going down a new rabbit hole with the next upgrade being a dual boiler such as the Marzocco GS3, the Synesso, or the Slayer!
Anybody else enjoy espresso? Gone down any new rabbit holes lately?
