orwa wrote:Thank you for sharing, a great grinder for a great price. Good that the little ones from the east are helping the prices down. $300 is really an awesome price for such a grinder, given that some of the KitchenAid ProLines have been sold for such a price, and that the way inferior Nuova Simonelli Grinta is sold for a slightly higher price (can you believe it? the Grinta is a joke, though a serious joke when compared to the ProLine, which in turn is a silly joke).

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The Grinta!! Much better in photos than in reality... This is a cheap toy!
(this is the batteries model)

What's so wrong with the grinta? It has very good specs I thought. Large burrs, etc. I own one and I'm quite happy with it. The being said it's the only thing I've ever used so if other grinders are that much superior I'd love to hear from some people who have actually used this and other grinders side by side in equal scenarios.
n

hbuchtel wrote:<image>


I'm liking the design a lot. It's taking me some time to get used to a doser! In spite of that the espresso is flowing well. Much longer shots... blonding takes place much more gradually then I'd become accustomed to. I need more time before I can express how they shots taste differently... all I know now is that the are gooder...;)

Henry

Henry...wait till those burrs really break in. I think it takes a few #'s. Man, those burrs look a lot like my former Mazzer SJ's. Can't compare, of course.
Best of luck with her.

Henry, I meant to ask,when you thwack the doser handle, does the doser throw the grinds to the left, as does the Mazzer SJ ???(and Mini as well, I believe)
I used a "Schectermatic Schnozzola", an innovation created by the great Andy Schector (sp).
I couldn't copy the link from search. My bad
maybe Dan can, or Andy himself if he's around.
It Pretty much keeps the grind confined to the PF basket. The thread is a great read as well.

Try this: How to Tame a Messy Mazzer Doser

Hi Rob, sorry I missed your questions. Yes, the HC-600 throws grinds to the left. Making a Schnozzola was one of the first things I did! Essential, in my opinion.

JohnB, I'm not fortunate enough to be able to compare this machine and a SJ, but I recall reading about some folks at a cafe who were trying out the HC-600 for a while... I'll try to look that up. I don't think they ever published their results, but maybe with some encouragement...

Regards, Henry

Any more news/feedback on the "Chinese Mazzers" ?

hbuchtel wrote:Hi Rob, sorry I missed your questions. Yes, the HC-600 throws grinds to the left. Making a Schnozzola was one of the first things I did! Essential, in my opinion.

JohnB, I'm not fortunate enough to be able to compare this machine and a SJ, but I recall reading about some folks at a cafe who were trying out the HC-600 for a while... I'll try to look that up. I don't think they ever published their results, but maybe with some encouragement...

Regards, Henry

Henry, Espresso parts NW has "adapted" our great friend Andy Schector's "schnozzola", in plastic, and is available at EPNW. I think right now it's a Robur fit, but I'd guess an SJ version is not far behind.

IMAWriter wrote:Henry, Espresso parts NW has "adapted" our great friend Andy Schector's "schnozzola", in plastic, and is available at EPNW. I think right now it's a Robur fit, but I'd guess an SJ version is not far behind.

Michael Elvin from EPNW posted the template for this on his blog (http://bigeyelaboratory.com/) in December -- it's a more permanent install than Andy's "schnozzola", which may be good or bad depending on how much abuse it takes. It does work with all Mazzer dosers AFAIK, as the bottom plate mount is identical.

I made one for my Mini using the PDF template (http://bigeyelaboratory.com/2008/05/08/here-it-is-robur-dosing-mod/) -- the first time, I used a piece of plastic from a shirt collar insert, which turned out to be too brittle + broke within a few weeks. Recently, I tried cutting one from sheet aluminum -- it's working great so far, but I've had to watch out for sharp edges!

There are great install pictures accompanying the post (http://www.flickr.com/photos/elvin/sets/72157605144154794/), which is also linked from EPNW for those buying the part directly from them. Michael, if you're reading this, thanks for providing this great resource to the community!

Considering the time and labor involved, seems like $10 plus a little shipping might be the ticket.

Absolutely.. I just wanted to post the template option since we seem to have a large DIY contingent here. I'm a grad student, so I definitely have more time than money

I have a lot of respect for EPNW for maintaining the "open source" option after they decided to start selling it.

IMAWriter wrote:Henry, Espresso parts NW has "adapted" our great friend Andy Schector's "schnozzola", in plastic, and is available at EPNW. I think right now it's a Robur fit, but I'd guess an SJ version is not far behind.

Hi Rob, I used the available template at 100% to make one up and installed it on my SJ yesterday!
Works like a charm, although my material may be a little on the thick side.

Cheers,
Troy

I might have kept my SJ if this thing had been available. I was just tired of the mess and waste, as I grind smaller amounts for my Cremina.

Nice, that looks like a nice permanent nozzle. I wonder how long it will be until manufacturers start offering it? (like the OEM bottomless PFs).

I've been using a stiff paper version of the schnozzola which is working great.

Regards, Henry

As noted above, EPNW is now offering the "Elvinator" doser mod for the Mazzer dosers. This is not the Schozzola, but a much more complicated design that screws into the doser.

RapidCoffee wrote:As noted above, EPNW is now offering the "Elvinator" doser mod for the Mazzer dosers. This is not the Schozzola, but a much more complicated design that screws into the doser.

John-Boy...I KNOW this ain't the "schnozzola." I just wanted to lay a stroke on Andy
BTW, the WDT is very helpful with the dosing of my Cremina basket. I dump grind from my KyM manual grinder into the scooper thingy from Orphan Espresso, then just slide the grind down into the PF with cup. never lose i bit. Small stir.
Thanks.

Heycafe Myster wrote:the Heycafe brand is a "made in China", but other than that is owned and managed by westerns

We'll probably see that at HOST 2009 in Milano late October, and then the entire industry (and not just a few of us) shall know who the westerns are

heycafe is intending to re-define grinding concept and our fresh ideas are going to impact the entire industry

a shame that this first product does not show any of the fresh ideas, if a good day you see from the morning this product is not any better than say the bulgarian grinder on show two years ago, and a nice copy, cheaper though, of its Italian counterpart, but as long as it does not bear the "made in Italy" logo we can accept it as part of everyday's life .
The "westerns" who apparently bought the business did so most probably not because they were scared of such a competitor, but in order to take advantage of a cheaper production basis due to lower wages, fewer labour rights, lower taxes on fuel, lower taxes overall etc.
Funny that the same people who claim higher wages, more rights, more social expenditure, etc. are the first ones to buy a lower priced product: in the sixties and seventies we were all shocked at how cheaply the Japanese could (copy and) produce and we are amazed at the technological advancement of their society, (but it was almost completely Japanese owned): in a business, grinders, that has not seen any technological revolution in the past 50 years it is difficult to imagine dramatic changes as to how a bean is actually crushed and ground, but there again every patent after it is registered proves to be as simple as a Columbus egg.....