First 48 hr with my new Compak K3 Touch Advanced
- bluesman
- Posts: 1594
- Joined: 10 years ago
Bottom line: for my money, the latest Compak K3 Touch Advanced is absolutely stellar. It's a solid, well built, attractive, easy to use machine. Never having had a large burr grinder, I don't honestly know whether the 58mm flats in the K3 are leaving much on the table compared to 63s - but so far (~20 shots) I'm impressed, happy, and satisfied.
The "manual" says to "[l]ock the hopper in place using a flat head screw driver to gently tighten the hopper security screw making it match to the hole at the bean hopper collar" - but there's no hole in the neck of the hopper that came with it. I saw this as an opportunity to find out how good Compak customer service is, so I called them. The guy who answered the phone was as nice and as well informed as you could ask. No, there's no hole in the necks of the short hoppers.
Setup requires you only to plug it in and seat the hopper. The cabinet clearance in our home kitchen is only 15 1/2", so I made a single dose hopper from a 3" section of 1 3/4" polycarbonate tubing and cobbled up a cap for it from two discs to keep beans from blowing out. The O-rings are from a Delta faucet rebuild kit and only there to stabilize the tube - I didn't have and couldn't find any 1 7/8" Lexan tubing.
So many K3 owners have posted that they grind espresso with the metal indicator dome on the collar at or near the spout that I started there and only had to go a bit finer for a few test pulls to get really nice 25 second shots from my daily default beans (Hairbender bought every week within 3 days of roast). Once I had it where I wanted it, I pulled 2 ristrettos for taste, then made 2 caps and a mac. Observations:
The "manual" says to "[l]ock the hopper in place using a flat head screw driver to gently tighten the hopper security screw making it match to the hole at the bean hopper collar" - but there's no hole in the neck of the hopper that came with it. I saw this as an opportunity to find out how good Compak customer service is, so I called them. The guy who answered the phone was as nice and as well informed as you could ask. No, there's no hole in the necks of the short hoppers.
Setup requires you only to plug it in and seat the hopper. The cabinet clearance in our home kitchen is only 15 1/2", so I made a single dose hopper from a 3" section of 1 3/4" polycarbonate tubing and cobbled up a cap for it from two discs to keep beans from blowing out. The O-rings are from a Delta faucet rebuild kit and only there to stabilize the tube - I didn't have and couldn't find any 1 7/8" Lexan tubing.
So many K3 owners have posted that they grind espresso with the metal indicator dome on the collar at or near the spout that I started there and only had to go a bit finer for a few test pulls to get really nice 25 second shots from my daily default beans (Hairbender bought every week within 3 days of roast). Once I had it where I wanted it, I pulled 2 ristrettos for taste, then made 2 caps and a mac. Observations:
- It's much quieter than my MDF - I can now grind while my wife watches TV and get no dirty looks during "critical dialogue".
- It's a very attractive appliance. My wife likes it a lot more on our counter than she did the Gaggia (which now lives in a cabinet and comes out only to grind her weekly jar for pourover).
- The grind is both smoother to the touch and denser than it is from my MDF for the same extraction time. The most I can get into the double basket on my Lelit from the MDF is about 16gm, and that leaves an imprint from the screen screw in the puck. So I did 14 gm of beans for my first grind, and it only filled the basket halfway before tamping. 16 gm leaves headspace above the puck, and I only saw a faint screwhead imprint at 18. To be honest, I don't understand why this happens - maybe the larger, slower burrs cut a more uniform grind.
- The mouth feel is fuller and the taste is definitely richer. The fruit (cherry, to me) is less prominent and the chocolate more so than when using the MDF.
- There is a fair amount of clumping, but it breaks up easily with a tap or two and doesn't seem to be causing any problem at all. I've been getting channeling for the last several weeks of MDF use. This disappeared with the first dose from the Compak.
- There is some residual on the ledge at the top of the chute. I used the chop stick recommended by someone to dislodge it, and it's not a big deal - but it's more than I'd like to see there.
- Assuming no surprises as it settles in, I'm more than pleased and would buy it again rather than the competitors I considered (M80e doserless, Mini 58mm).
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- Posts: 7
- Joined: 9 years ago
Congratulations. IMO Compak K3 is the best price/performance grinder but I had hard to get parts from the manufacturer.
I broke the K3's sprout of mine. I reattached it by a copper thin wire but I like to replace it. I emailed CompakGrinder at their US and Spain websites more a month ago. However no replies like emailing to a backhole. Has anyone had the similar experience?
Does anyone know where I can order the K3's sprout? Thanks.
I broke the K3's sprout of mine. I reattached it by a copper thin wire but I like to replace it. I emailed CompakGrinder at their US and Spain websites more a month ago. However no replies like emailing to a backhole. Has anyone had the similar experience?
Does anyone know where I can order the K3's sprout? Thanks.
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- Posts: 272
- Joined: 10 years ago
Have you tried talking to idrinkcoffee? They are in the Toronto area. I got mine from them.
Winston
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- Posts: 7
- Joined: 9 years ago
They responded "not in stock". I asked to order and no reply since then.
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- Posts: 272
- Joined: 10 years ago
At certain hours of the day, towards late afternoon (???), they have a Chat tab on their website. Can talk to them on it or call them.
Winston