OK, don't ask . . . to quote Geraldine (also known as Flip Wilson), "The DEVIL made me do it!" But I bought a Mahlkönig K30 Vario.

The CMH is alive and well, and working Monday through Friday in my office, but this Mahlkönig Vario is my seven-day-a-week workhorse. And what a dream! It was used by Mahlkönig USA as a demo at trade shows, and had less than 500 shots (doubles and singles combined) ground through it. Picked it up directly from Mahlkönig in Belmont (San Francisco Bay Area), California for 35 percent off.

This grinder is amazing! It's the neatest doserless I've ever seen*; it's the quietest grinder I've ever heard; and it's the fastest thing on no wheels -- a 14.5g double in 2.9 seconds. The grinds are light and fluffy, and there is virtually no clumping at all.

I'm in awe . . .

BTW, in case anyone is interested, they have some more demo models for sale. No affiliation, but they have both refurbished machines they've taken as trade-ins and demos in their website: http://www.mahlkoenig.com/ and click on the link marked "Specials."

Cheers,
Jason

* OK, never personally seen a Versalab, but it can't be any neater.

I REALLY hesitate to ask, but how much is the Vario at 35% off? Do you find it superior to the CMH?

about $1500

Ira

Might be worth holding on, although it's not on the USA website yet, it looks like they're bringing out a 'Competition' edition of the K30, which has all the features of the Vario, minus the electronic shot timer. Quoted euro cost is 1225, vs 1468 euros for the Vario.

The Competition is available through the website I cited above . . . .

FWIW, I love the shot timer.

How odd - it's only listed in the specials but the products part of the website doesn't seem to acknowledge the model exists .

It's been in the manual for quite a long time. I'm pretty sure it's on the German site.

Personally, I love the timers too

I also recently bought a Mahlkonig vario at 30% off with the same offer ( previously used for shows). I'd have to agree with everything said above about the K30. It is a dream. My last grinder was a Rocky and I used to weigh my beans and grind/shot. The K30 is another world. With the timer on the Malkohnig the scale is put away and everything is as it should be: quick and so simple! I'd add that it really makes a big difference in the cup and adjusting the grind is so easy. In fact everything about the K30 is so intuitive: The tops comes off after losening one screw so cleaning will be easy .I have not needed to yet but I did look inside. Setting the timer is a snap and all the parts and knobs are so well done. Nothing cheap about the way the grinder feels and functions. I know a conical might make an even bigger difference in the cup, but the K30 is so pretty and so easy to use that I would trade a little performance in the cup for all the things it does well. I must admit that the size of the Kony,which I also considered, would not have made the cut with the S.O. In fact, I needed to cut down my hopper to fit under my kitchen cabinets and figured out a pretty easy/safe way to do it... Now making the top took a little more work, but I did it with regular wood working router bits ,a disc sander , and a bandsaw. I'm a proffessional furniture maker so that was pretty natural for me, but I would be happy to post some photos of the cut-off jig I used if anyone else is interested, has access to a bandsaw, and knows how to use it really well. Oh yeah, and you have to promise not to blame me if your results differ from mine

Hi,

well congrats, I'm sure it's a wonderful piece of equipment:) Can't say it was cheap though, even with the 35% off

Just out of curiosity, how did they solve the variable grind speed of different bean types? I know that for example, most coffees give 14.5g in 2.9s, but if you get a particulary 'soft' type you might end up with 15.5g in 2.9s considering the speed of the grind. Is there a setting that allows you to choose the weight-speed ratio so that you can compansate for diffferent coffees?

Personally I have a modified Major with a grinder controler and I simply change the grind timings when switching beans and I have to re-calibrate with a digital scale (to check how fast it grinds 1g of a particular type of coffee).

Of course a perfect solution would be to have a digital scale built into the grinder, but that opens up a different sack of problems.

Regards,
dsc.

Congratulations on the grinder! That's got to be a beefy barrel on the countertop. The specs say 9.2 wide and 12.8 deep which seems odd for a barrel shape. Is this true or is the 9.2 the dimension for the area under the spout? Can you tell us the diameter of the upper part where you adjust the grind?

I'm not home to measure it, but it's circular, so I'm not sure where the multiple dimensions come from. I would assume the same thing as you that the smaller dimension is for the area under the spout. I'll measure tonight.

Teme did the same thing to his with a Dremel, and I'm thinking of doing the same to mine, as it's in the only place in the kitchen where a taller device can actually sit - and that happens to be right next to the sink. I'd rather have the espresso machine closer to the sink than the grinder. I've thought up a jig to make to just spin the top against a dremel cut off wheel, just haven't done it yet.

The top is what I need to find first... I'd like to cut it to fit a top I can buy, not one I'd make

garryv wrote:In fact, I needed to cut down my hopper to fit under my kitchen cabinets and figured out a pretty easy/safe way to do it... Now making the top took a little more work, but I did it with regular wood working router bits ,a disc sander , and a bandsaw. I'm a proffessional furniture maker so that was pretty natural for me, but I would be happy to post some photos of the cut-off jig I used if anyone else is interested, has access to a bandsaw, and knows how to use it really well. Oh yeah, and you have to promise not to blame me if your results differ from mine

dsc wrote:Just out of curiosity, how did they solve the variable grind speed of different bean types? I know that for example, most coffees give 14.5g in 2.9s, but if you get a particulary 'soft' type you might end up with 15.5g in 2.9s considering the speed of the grind. Is there a setting that allows you to choose the weight-speed ratio so that you can compansate for diffferent coffees?

Tom,

Gary is quite right when he said, "With the timer on the Malkohnig the scale is put away and everything is as it should be: quick and so simple! I'd add that it really makes a big difference in the cup and adjusting the grind is so easy." But that doesn't mean the scale is thrown away, merely put away! When I change the type/blend of beans, I pull out the scale. I grind a "double," weigh the results, and see if I need to adjust the "grind time" +/- . . . .

This is a photo off the Mahlkönig website (mine's black). If you look just below the Malhkönig logo . . . you'll see a button, two knobs, and another button. From the left, the push button selects a single; the knob adjusts the grind time for a single; the knob adjusts the grind time for a double; and the button selects a double. It's very simple to adjust the grind time. The LED display to the right of hte logo itself shows you the setting(s), and the grind "size" is selected by sliding that tab (marked with the red line) to the left or right. (The Vario is stepless.)

Cheers,
Jason

networkcrasher wrote:Teme did the same thing to his with a Dremel, and I'm thinking of doing the same to mine . . .

Mark, I think we're ALL thinking of that . . . Gary did a great job! Me, however, the most "home-repair challenged" individual on the planet . . . well, I guess I'll just stick with the BIG hopper! (3.3kg is big!)

Cheers,
Jason

Haha, well if I figure it out, I'll let you know! I just need to find a suitable lid, and then I can cut down the hopper. I'm good at handyman stuff, but fashioning a lid without a router and a bandsaw is not in my current realm of possibilities!

Anyone feel like measuring their lids? I think I need one about 8" in diameter. How big are the Mazzer or Macap lids?
-M

Neat! I got to play with that one just a bit at Cuvée Coffee here in Houston (Spring, TX to be precise) when they had my dad and me up there for a cupping (Flickr Set--the photos of the cupping start in the second row of the set). Their roaster Clancy really favors it. I was duly impressed with the way it works--everything you praise, really, Jason. But I can't help my intuition that it's a grinder that will be like a BMW. The super-hot, maybe a little superficial, high maintenance girlfriend. Good performance, very clean, but how easily will its electronics go, how easy will it be to fix yourself, and how much will parts cost? Maybe I am totally off and they are super reliable in the long term, and easy to repair, but they sure look intimidating vs. a gigantic hunk of aluminum with a single external switch on it that is every Mazzer made until these new whizz-bang Electronic grinders--and even those look impressively geared towards a messy shop (which my bar is not).

Anyway, I look forward to reading more feedback from you. I have to take exception to your clumping comment. Cuvée's K30 was extremely clumped--to the point of annoyance. I noticed serious resistance to the clumps breaking against my finger as I was leveling. Granted, that did not stop the roaster from pulling some out-of-this world espresso on their prototype LM 3-group with the classic paddle-wheel groups... Anyway, one thing that shocked me about Cuvée is that they had ONLY Super Jollies, Mahlkönigs, and LM Swifts in the shop. There was not a single conical in sight, which was disappointing because I wanted to ask about what they observed as far as differences in flavors between the Mahlkönig and the big Mazzer conicals.

For my part, my heart is set on a Robur for Christmas (sold my road bike and started saving a little while ago), unless something significant happens. It would be nice if Congress could just bypass Wall Street and let all the idiot bankers that got us into this mess starve in the streets, and pass that $700bn bailout straight to Main Street. What is the number per tax payer, like $10k? Heck, I'll take that, and I promise to put the money back into the economy to bolster it by buying a Robur (OK, that will mostly help Italy) and a Synesso (can't knock that, right?). Come on, Home Baristas! Call your congressman and tell them that you have a crisis in your kitchen, and you need a big bailout to stave off your depression!

networkcrasher wrote:Haha, well if I figure it out, I'll let you know! I just need to find a suitable lid, and then I can cut down the hopper. I'm good at handyman stuff, but fashioning a lid without a router and a bandsaw is not in my current realm of possibilities!

Anyone feel like measuring their lids? I think I need one about 8" in diameter. How big are the Mazzer or Macap lids?
-M

Turn a lid on a lathe, it us just a very shallow bowl. You could even cut the hopper down on a lathe. Just chuck the spout end in an adjustable jaw chuck, set the lathe on low speed and use a coping saw rested on the tool rest to gently cut through the hopper.

cannonfodder wrote:Turn a lid on a lathe, it us just a very shallow bowl. You could even cut the hopper down on a lathe. Just chuck the spout end in an adjustable jaw chuck, set the lathe on low speed and use a coping saw rested on the tool rest to gently cut through the hopper.

'cause lord knows everyone just has a lathe in their garage... It's un-American not to, right?

(wish I had a lathe)

I was thinking the *exact* same thing

shadowfax wrote:'cause lord knows everyone just has a lathe in their garage... It's un-American not to, right?

(wish I had a lathe)

zin1953 wrote:* OK, never personally seen a Versalab, but it can't be any neater.

I have both a Versalab and a Ditting KE640 Vario (same grinder as the Mahlkonig Vario). I can't speak for grind/shot quality, as my Versalab has never properly worked (documented in the long-running Versalab delivery thread), but the Ditting/Mahlkonig is significantly less messy than the Versalab. Much quieter, too.