I'm looking at an Astoria-branded Mahlkonig K30ES grinder. I contacted Astoria to understand if their version has the "updates" that I've read about. They said it was the older version, and that they will no longer be selling it since they're now moving into Mazzer grinders.

Overstock.com has the Astoria K30ES for $1171... Chris' Coffee has the new K30 Vario WBC for $1595... Is it worth the $424 difference to pop for the Vario?

On a side note... am I crazy for buying one of these grinders for home rather than a Baratza Vario? I'm jumping into the fray here, but if I spend the money I want to make sure I have no regrets...

Thanks!

P.S. I've spent countless hours the past week looking at every grinder under the sun and had narrowed my choices to these two based on budget versus making a "lifetime buy". If I go in on-the-cheap it looks like the Baratza Vario - if I drop serious cash I'm looking to the Mahlkonig. Let's ignore everything in-between for now...

This thread:

New Mahlkonig K30 Upgraded Grind Chamber

Gives some information about the new vs old style internal parts.

Thanks EricBNC...

The only information I've read about the K30ES versus new version K30 Vario has to do with the anti-clumping nozzle... Aside from that were there any other significant improvements in the new version? Is the new one more quiet? Are the blades better? Stuff like that...

Thanks!

FWIW, from what I've seen in Youtube videos and read on various coffee sites, the upgrade makes it a substantially better grinder.

krivera1 wrote:Thanks EricBNC...

The only information I've read about the K30ES versus new version K30 Vario has to do with the anti-clumping nozzle... Aside from that were there any other significant improvements in the new version? Is the new one more quiet? Are the blades better? Stuff like that...

Thanks!

I don't think the mounting (which contributes a lot to the noise dampening) changed. The exchange part drops in where the old assembly came out so not sure if it would be much more quiet - it is a quiet grinder to begin with. There is no mention of a blade change so that part might not be changed. I will post a photo of my blade and perhaps someone will let us know if they have a different set.

I am not sure about the new being substantially better but they wouldn't change it just for kicks - a call to Malkhonig or Chris Coffee should answer that question unless someone knows the specifics. I suspect the changes were based on the heavy use environment these grinders are designed for. Maybe something breaks after 25,000 shots worth of grinds instead of 50,000 on the upgraded one. I will likely fail before my un-upgraded K30 ES.

Be aware the K30 Vario that Chris sells is stepless compared to the K30 ES that is stepped. The Stepless adjustment explains some of the additional cost.
My Burr:

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your great responses. I also stumbled across this thread which had a lot of great information and comparison of the K30 Vario versus K30ES and ProM:

http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/grinders/467131

I actually bought a K30 Vario today from Mahlkonig. I called them to ask for some input on the old version versus new version - the sales guy I spoke to (Travis) made me a sweet offer on a demo unit. The unit had around 1400 shots pulled - they agreed to have the unit completely cleaned, new black gloss panels and the smaller hopper - all for less than the Astoria model on Overstock! A full one-year warranty to boot - Awesome service!

Thanks again - I'm really looking forward to having this monster on my counter for life...

Congrats on a great deal - let us know your impressions one it arrives.

Bob_McBob wrote:FWIW, from what I've seen in Youtube videos and read on various coffee sites, the upgrade makes it a substantially better grinder.

In what regard better?

I researched a lot before I bought my K30 (older version) months ago and the only proven difference between the K30 old and K30 new is that the new model clumps less by a slight margin, thanks to a minor modification.

I used the K30 now for a couple of months and I can tell you that the subject clumping gets way too much attention. The clumping issue depends on the beans you are using, the weather etc. But with my favourite beans clumping is seldom with the old K30.

At the end of the day, no matter what kind of combinations you have - if there might be sometimes a clumping at all - you need only to tap once on the PF and it is gone. So do not pay too much attention on this. It never affected so far the quality of the espresso. Even WBC championships have been won with the pre-improved K30. This should be therefore good enough also for home-users

Best wishes

Well, received the K30 Vario - wow, what a beast. This thing is really heavy - built for a lifetime. I actually had a little trouble getting it out of the box it's so massive...

Nice unit - the small bean hopper is more than big enough for my needs... Very fast and quiet - simple to adjust. Need to play with the auto timings for single and double a little more, but they came very close to perfect as I received them.

With the small bean hopper it fits nicely under my cabinet. Looks nice sandwiched between my new Nuova Simonelli Musica and my Jura F9.

If you're really into the hobby, I would definitely recommend plunking down the cash for this unit. For the price I paid it was a real bargain. Call Mahlkonig and ask them about their demo units.