The Dark One wrote:Is there any trustworthy information out there regarding the dimensions of this Barista edition?

You can figure the size in this video pretty good compared to the standard EK43.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZINLTqQkDU

EricC wrote:The shots from the Versalab are more viscous and have a greater mouthfeel, with the EK43LE the shots have less of a mouthfeel and actually feel hotter for some reason, they also appear to show a little more of the actual flavours of the bean.

Thanks for the comparison.

I have a Versalab and I routinely get between 19.5-20.5% EY. The EK gets to 22% (not from experience - but from reading the forum).

What I don't get if if EY is higher - how can body by thinner (I assume that is what is meant by "less of a mouthfeel")?

Well, for one thing you can get a higher EY by pulling a longer shot, which will tend to decrease perceived body.

You can hit high EY with longs shots with alot of grinders - doesn't mean they will be tasty though
Ive hit shots at 24% EY that with the right coffee have been great - my personal preference is around 22% with the EK ( i use a slightly lower pressure for extraction than traditional 9 bar )

Ah. So the EBF is different.

I always thought that (in accordance with the VST coffee tools app) to compare different grinders one would plan a specific EBF and then check with the refractometer what the coffee TDS was. EY would then be calculated.

Did you try comparing Longos pulled on the Versalab with the same Longos pulled on an EK? (Similar EBF)?

Yes - that was my assumption. Hence the question was:

If you try to get the same EBF (same dose, same weight in cup) with the same timing (e.g. 30 second pull), from doses ground with the EK and the VL - What would be the difference in the cup (are they even substantial?).

Note 1: I ASSUME that the difference should be substantial if EY is substantially higher for the EK; that is an assumption.

Note 2: The subjectivity is not an issues. I ask - since currently you are comparing a Ristretto (or Normale) from a VL and a Longo from an EK. That is far too many variables for me (I have a VL) to try to assess whether it is worthwhile for me to hunt down an EK to play with.

I'm not entirely convinced by the claims of high EY for the EK43. As MrBoots says, his preferred 22% is not that high for a longer shot. Earlier today I tried a couple of longer shots (40% EBF) with a Guatemalan Geisha (roasted by Hasbean), ground on a good old fashioned large conical. They came out at 21% and 21.7%, both very tasty but the second was sweeter and tastier. If I had any more of it I would have tried finer again. (Although I liked previous shorter shots, with better mouthfeel, even more).
Looking back at the article by Matt Perger: http://cargocollective.com/mattperger/the-ek43-part-two, the EYs given there don't seem to make sense, as if they've been calculated with different versions of the software, or different preferences perhaps. Recalculating them using the final version of ExtractMojo (3.0.0.15) set to default parameters (which I believe is consistent with the other recent versions of the software) I get 22.3% (instead of 23.12%) for the EK43 shot and 21.3% (instead of 20.56%) for the Anfim - very much narrowing the gap between them.
This is not to say the EK43 aren't tastier, I cannot comment on that.

According to a Mahlkönig rep, the next version of the EK43 Barista should be on display in March, and they're hoping to have it available commercially by the end of the year. They also have no plan to produce any more of the limited edition reduced size EK43 because the EK43 Barista should end up being a bit smaller.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGlF8bgWnyQ