Coffee gear and discussion thread

[apicius9]

Thanks guys, the more I am thinking about it, the more interesting the SJ sounds. I just contacted the person on Craigslist and offered him $350 for the used SJ, and if we agree on something under $400 I will just go for it. I decided I will drink espresso-based drinks 90% of the time at home, so if I can sell my Rocky, which is in very good shape, and offset the cost a bit, this could work out fine even if it was not planned right now. We'll see. Oh, and the reliability of the Varios has been my main concern about them, so hearing that yours had issues after 6 months is another argument for the true and tried SJ. Of course, the SJ won't fit under the cupboard, but I'll deal with that if it gets to that point... And if not, I am not desperate... They just don't come up used out here very often and I want to at least check it out.

Stefan

[WildBoar]

x100 on the SJ. Picked mine up used, and the burrs were still in good condition. I don't use the hopper; I keep a tamper in the throat and it fits under the wall cabinets.

[apicius9]

Score. Picked up the SJ today. Lost a little bit of paint in a few tiny spots, but the burrs, hopper, and both lids are new. Paid $400 for it in the end. But with the new parts and close to $100 it would cost just to ship one I haven't seen from the mainland that sounded fair in the end. Big, but somehow not as big as I had feared. But, of course, it doesn't fit under the cupboard... Funny thing, the seller also has an Anita, so it may be more than half way dialed in already. Will play with it over the next week or so. Anybody need a Rocky?

Stefan

[wenus2]

I don't use the hopper; I keep a tamper in the throat and it fits under the wall cabinets.

Same here, I find it looks much better with a Reg Barber in cocobolo than it ever thought about with that hopper.

I actually have an old Gaggia single filter basket that happens to fit so that the lip rests right on the grinder collar, then the tamper sits in that to weight it down. Helps protect the tamper and keep it smooth.

Congrats on the SJ!

[erikz]

I use a phillips filter machine, and a Quigg cold grinder. I get my coffee at a local coffestore, called Simon Levelt.

[wenus2]

so I got the K10.

Vinster, I'm gonna play 20 Qs cause I've been eyeballing that grinder for a minute.

What do you think of it?
Conical > flat?
Do the Titan Shootout results hold up?

I'm presently down to 1 SJ, was considering a K10 Fresh maybe next summer, but then I read a review (cafeculture.com) that stated it held a lot of grounds in the chute. I was talked out of a Robur-E several years ago for the same reason, you essentially have to flush at least a whole dose every time you come to the machine. Fine in a commercial setting where you are steady, but not practical at home. 50% is too much waste. I don't think the dosered version has this problem as bad, or at least you can scrape the chute.

Which version do you have?
Do you know what its grind retention is?
Care to weigh it?
(I realize that sounds tedious to most, but coffee nerds understand each other, lol)

One nice thing about the Fresh I guess is that there are 2 presets, so say your grind retention is 7g, you can set one preset to ~7g for a chute flush and then go live with the other preset at ~20g.
If those numbers were real (they are not)... I guess I could live with 25% waste, begrudgingly.

[rahimlee54]

I have the k10 wbc and it holds around 7 g in the chute. For single dosing I suspect the wbc would be less wasteful since you can sweep the chute. That is what I do, it works great.

[vinster]

Vinster, I'm gonna play 20 Qs cause I've been eyeballing that grinder for a minute.

What do you think of it?
Conical > flat?
Do the Titan Shootout results hold up?

I'm presently down to 1 SJ, was considering a K10 Fresh maybe next summer, but then I read a review (cafeculture.com) that stated it held a lot of grounds in the chute. I was talked out of a Robur-E several years ago for the same reason, you essentially have to flush at least a whole dose every time you come to the machine. Fine in a commercial setting where you are steady, but not practical at home. 50% is too much waste. I don't think the dosered version has this problem as bad, or at least you can scrape the chute.

Which version do you have?
Do you know what its grind retention is?
Care to weigh it?
(I realize that sounds tedious to most, but coffee nerds understand each other, lol)

One nice thing about the Fresh I guess is that there are 2 presets, so say your grind retention is 7g, you can set one preset to ~7g for a chute flush and then go live with the other preset at ~20g.
If those numbers were real (they are not)... I guess I could live with 25% waste, begrudgingly.

Doh! I was typing a long post and I accidentally closed the browser window... So here goes again.

I have a K10 PB. I picked the PB over the Fresh because of cost and the grinds retention issue (IMO present in nearly all doserless models). I only make 1-2 drinks a day, so the waste was a deal breaker for me. I picked the Compak over the Robur and Kony because the Mazzer titans wouldn't fit under the cabinets in my kitchen. I wasn't really planning to switch from the Major, but came across a good deal and was curious to try a titan conical. The K10 is a solid heavy duty grinder, but not in the same class as the Mazzers. The Mazzers look and feel more substantial. I also like the feel of the doser on the Major over the K10. That being said, I'm happy with the purchase and have decided to keep the K10 and put the Major up for sale.

I have to admit that my palate (and skills) aren't sophisticated enough for me to consistently discern taste differences between a large burr and a large conical. If anything, it might be a little easier to make out the distinct floral/fruity notes with the K10. I also get more consistency with the K10 and I find it much easier to dial in shots because the adjustments to the collar aren't as sensitive on the K10 as they were on the Major. Meaning, for a same rotation on the collar, the resulting difference in grind was bigger on the Major.

The K10 PB doesn't grind as fast as I expected it would -- it's probably ~25% slower than a Major... something like 7s vs 10s for a 18g dose. Don't put too much stock in my numbers because a hopper full of beans would obviously grind faster. I'd consider modding my grinder one day to add a timer and running it with a hopper if I had the space. I've found that using a hopper loaded with beans results in MUCH more grind consistency on all the grinders I've tried. It would be nice to have a loaded hopper and pretty a button to get a preset amount of grinds...

Regarding grinds retention, I single dose on my K10 without the hopper and I sweep the chute clean, so I don't have any solid numbers for you to work with. With the electrical tape on the doser vanes mod, there's virtually 0 grinds rentention. I measured .1-.2g (lost in the burr assembly or chute) in the beginning when I first got the machine, but I don't bother to weight the output anymore. The design of the K10 chute causes more retention than the Mazzers. Whereas the Mazzer chute is a smooth and slightly sloping, the Compak chute is virtually level, and there's a plastic piece that creates a lip for the grinds to traverse on their way out. If I didnt sweep, there would be significantly more grinds retained in the K10 chute vs the Major or SJ. You can cut/file the plastic component to reduce this, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. If I had to guess, I'd probably have at least 5g hiding in my K10 chute if I didn't sweep it out.

If I remember, I'll weigh how much is retained tomorrow morning on a couple shots.

So if I had to do it all over again, I'd probably stick with with an SJ or maybe a Major, depending on the deal I can get. If I wanted to go with a doserless conical (and had the space), I'd probably go with a Kony or Robur, since the design of the chute results in lower grinds retention. For a doser conical, I've been happy with the K10, which I picked up as a demo unit from Chris Coffee.

I dont know if you've guys have seen this video before, but it's funny (and appropriate):

[apicius9]

Played around a bit tonight until I at least produced a few donuts... So much to do, need to take out the finger guard and do the tape mod, get a small scale and then see what I can come up with. Somehow the doser is much messier than I expected, have to figure that out and maybe I will do this mod with the dispensing hole that I saw somewhere. Any other Jolly tips you guys can give me?

Oh, and I like the animation

Stefan

[vinster]

Here's a thread that should help: http://www.home-barista.com/grinders...ser-t6499.html

I usually tame donuts with WDT. Or turn the PF all around as you're dosing and focus on getting the grinds around the sides.