Anyone owns/owned a Versalab and a 68mm Conical?

by **coffee.me** on Sun May 29, 2011 9:02 am

What kind of grind quality and taste differences should I expect if replaced my Versalab with a 68mm conical?

by **EricC** on Sun May 29, 2011 11:31 am

I still have my Versalab, and used to own an Elektra Nino at the same time.
The grind quality from both was very similar with the edge possibly going to the Versalab.
Taste differences are a lot more difficult to differentiate between the two I would say that for me with the coffees that I regularly use the Nino was smoother, but the Versalab appeared to open them up to a very slight degree more than the Nino.
I sold the Nino not due to its performance but due to the fact that for a consistent grind I had to have at least 100g of beans in the hopper above the burrs. I also did not like the fact that the minimum dose time you could set on the Nino was 1 second.
I did as a few other Nino owners have done, purchase a Boroscilicate Glass / Perspex tube of the appropriate diameter and used this instead of the standard or small Mahlkoenig hopper but in the end decided for single shot dosing the Versalab was better for me.

I know this completely flies in the face of all I have said above, however I am looking at adding another grinder at the moment, and am looking at either the Mazzer Kony E or the Compak K10 Fresh. Madness I know, I know.

Regards
Eric

by **coffee.me** on Sun May 29, 2011 11:52 am

Thanks, Eric, madness is quite welcome here :oops:

EricC wrote:Taste differences are a lot more difficult to differentiate between the two I would say that for me with the coffees that I regularly use the Nino was smoother, but the Versalab appeared to open them up to a very slight degree more than the Nino.

This is the kind of stuff I'm hoping to hear more about. What kinds of coffees did you notice this with? I almost exclusively use home roasted single origins. I do get my hands on some of the blends mentioned on this forum, but that's a very rare occasion.

Can you comment on which exposed more sweetness? more chocolates? or which highlighted bright notes? if this even makes sense.

by **EricC** on Sun May 29, 2011 3:32 pm

No problem Max.

I mainly buy pre-roasted blends from Has-Bean or Square Mile here in the UK and at the time I had the Nino I was also ordering from 49th Parallel and Intelligentsia in the USA.

I am afraid that I can't be any more specific as it is quite a while since I sold the Nino.

Thinking about it, and generally speaking the Nino shots possibly had a very slightly greater mouthfeel.

I do have my own roaster and roasted Espresso blends from Sweet Maria's (Espresso Monkey Blend, Liquid Amber, and Mokha Kadir), and Single Origins from Has-Bean. The problem with me giving you any taste thoughts on these is that I am not that good a roaster and have almost certainly not got the best from them to say the least.

by **coffee.me** on Tue May 31, 2011 8:19 am

It seems this isn't the only thread about Versalab vs. Conicals that dies quickly. Is it because it's a touchy subject or simply because knowledge on this topic is scarce?

I dug thru some past threads touching on the question I'm asking and I couldn't find a definite answer to my original post. Is buying a 68mm conical the only way to find out the answer to my question? I sure hope not cause my wife will probably not agree with us here that curiosity alone is a valid reason to buy more coffee stuff... :mrgreen:

by **EricC** on Tue May 31, 2011 8:45 am

I think that it is the latter Max, knowledge is scarce.

I too would also appreciate input from anyone else who has tried both.

by **joatmon** on Tue May 31, 2011 10:00 am

I'm wondering if there is truly a universal answer to the question or if it is a matter of individual taste. A simple, cost-effective way to answer this question may be to purchase a OE PHAROS hand grinder and observe for yourself. I'll bet one could recoup the majority of their cost of purchase via resale.

Until we can taste via the 'net, this may be the best means of discovery for me,

joat

by **coffee.me** on Tue May 31, 2011 10:49 am

There isn't really a need to over-analyze this; gear is being compared daily on this site, including taste impressions. So, I still hope my original question will get more attention soon.

On buying an OE Pharos, though, you read my mind, Jack! But, while we here might think of it, as you put it:

joatmon wrote:A simple, cost-effective way to answer this question

...I doubt many outside of this geeky forum would agree that spending $250+ is a justified expenditure for answering a coffee geek's question, or as I put it earlier:

coffee.me wrote:cause my wife will probably not agree with us here that curiosity alone is a valid reason to buy more coffee stuff...

by **another_jim** on Tue May 31, 2011 4:54 pm

I've had both. As you all may know, I had issues with my VL grinder and with the company; but this post is about the VL when it works perfectly as compared to the Compak K10.

Taste and espresso flow are a wash.

The VL has an edge on ease of distribution, leveling, and tamping due to its great exit chute.

The conicals have an edge on grind setting consistency, since they use the same grind setting for the same dose even when changing coffees, or when using older versus newer roasts etc. No flat burr grinder I know works this way.

by **coffee.me** on Tue May 31, 2011 5:25 pm

Another "not much taste difference" reply? Interesting. Jim, do you recall if that applied to both high & low doses?

In all honesty, I expected something very different: I expected replies that said conicals are sweeter & rounder, while the Versalab is sharper & brighter. This expectation is, of course, not based on actual experience, just what I inferred from what I read around here. Way off?


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