And ugly as well, for 900€ I would have expected more. The fact that you can get a Macap M7K for that price doesn't make things better.

ziemas wrote:Wow, it's really pricey for the home market at 900 euro.

If I may ask, where did you get that price from?

Pricing is not yet set, but should be around 900 euros or maybe little more in Europe. So it is clear that this one will be closer to K30 than Vario at least in this respect.

ProM is not really for the home market, even though the name kind of stands for it. Mahlkönig web site lists it under professional grinders and I have been told that it is aimed as a secondary grinder for cafes etc. Maybe they started building a home grinder and ended up with something that's too heavy duty for the average home user?

I would not say that it is that ugly, when compared to how ugly grinders usually are... Not as cool as K30, but better than Vario.

Peppersass wrote:I
Jim, in one of your posts on the Baratza Vario, you say that the ceramic burrs have an unusual pattern that makes their effective grind path longer than the Mini's. Is that true of the K30 burrs, too?

I haven't seen these burrs. The ceramic burrs are cut at an unusually oblique angle, so the wheel has to turn more to push a bean through. This is usually a recipe for very slow grinding. On the little Vario, however, the burrs must grab an unusually large number of beans, since the grind speed is so respectably fast.

At 64mm, the new grinder's burrs are the standard commercial size, i.e same as the Jolly or the standard cafe grinders of all the other manufacturers. The grind speed, given burr size and rpm, is blazingly fast on this and on all the Mahlkoenig grinders, so they may know something about creating efficient breaking and bean grabbing zones on their burrs that the Italian manufacturers don't.

I personally don't know anything about the K30's grind quality; but none of the owners are saying it's clearly better than the Jolly; so it may not be a large improvement on the little Vario in this respect.

Personally, I think the grinder looks OK in the businesslike German manner, with neither the inspiration nor the of Italian styling.

Oops, I've been making an error in logic.

If a grinder has a long grind path, and a given bean takes a long time to grind, but the same grinder grabs a lot of beans, then the grind speed will be the same as the amount of beans it grabs (per unit time) The longer grind path just creates a longer initial delay (compare a large distillery that stores its whiskey 12 years to a small one that stores it 3 years).

another_jim wrote:... The longer grind path just creates a longer initial delay (compare a large distillery that stores its whiskey 12 years to a small one that stores it 3 years).

Or if the grinder is used with a continuous feed of beans in the hopper, more partially ground beans that may go stale...

For my part, this grinder looks very nice and compact. Just compare the aspect ratio with any other 64/65 mm burr grinder. The adjustments are well positionned.

Whale wrote:If I may ask, where did you get that price from?

It was mentioned on a German forum, but only as a ballpark figure.

Based on the Vario and K30 performances and the fact that it has large 65 mm burrs, it is to be expected that this grinder will probably perform well.

You have to recognise that if it does perform well, the form factor will be very attractive for all of us, whose wifes or girlfriend are getting a little impatient with the huge hardware that is taking over all the counter space. I do most of the cooking in our home and sometime, I, even get a little tired to have to go around those big machines. Of course it only last until I make myself a nice espresso.

The packaging of that unit is very impressive when you look at the specifications. And they promise to add a display for next year... You'll get (almost) all the features of a K30 in the size of a Vario!!!!

Not that anyone cares what I think, but i think it is quite attractive...sleek and modern looking.