Aloha Matt,
I am so happy to hear that you liked our Sweet Waves! We processed some of our coffee this year as Pulped Natural and Natural. We will experiment with adding some small amounts to the mix and see what we can come up with. We will soon be into this year's crop so we will have to rebalance the mix depending on how it cups.
Mahalo,
Randy

Aloha All,
Thanks for all of your replies. I have spent several days reading posts on this forum that are relative to my inquiry. The head spins! My main goal was to "mimic" a La Marzocco Strada paired with a Mazzer Kony in a commercial environment with my home setup. Maybe the simple solution is to buy a Kony - but near the same price - perhaps I can experience a grind that is better.

While I single dose I don't have any real attachment to the practice. I store my coffee in an Airscape and just measure out a single dose. I was not aware that the Baratza Vario, apparently is not really so great for single dosing. Yes, I have had some problems with extractions but generally not. The only reason I single dose is that I prefer to keep coffee sealed when unused and the practice seemed to offer a degree of repeatability - but so does timed dosing - and a scale after grinding in a portafilter if one is so inclined. I seldom extract coffee here over 14 days past roast and I am often drinking freshly roasted espresso roasts before they have really settled down. So beans left in a hopper would not really be an issue.

So single dosing or a full (small) hopper where available - either way is fine with me. The list at this point is still based around big conicals - based on hearsay but pretty good hearsay:

Doserless (or timed based dosing):
Mazzer Kony
Mahlkonig EK43
Compak E10 or F10
Ceado E92
HG-One
Doser:
Mahlkonig Vario K30
Compak K10-PB

I am leaning away from the HG-One - I don't think that a manual grinder is going to do it for me - especially in the morning before any caffeine. I don't pull a lot of shots but I don't think that this will work for me.

I have read that for non-manual grinders the doser versions are actually better for single dosing. The problem is I really don't like a doser - it just seems one more thing to clean - and always has some left over grounds in it.

There is obviously much buzz about the EK43. I am not so thrilled to grind into a cup and then transfer to a portafilter - but if it can deliver a better shot - then perhaps. On the plus side it apparently has the smallest retention of any (non manual) on the list - .2 grams from one source. Retention is not such a big deal for me - and while I don't like to waste coffee a purge is not going to throw me off.

Concerning Compak - The E sees has the "Parallel System" grind regulator lock but the F series does not. The F series seems to be a bit more commercial - the F10 Master seems to be overkill for home use. The F10 has a digital read out apparently which could be of help.

Any input here would be of great help - including grinders I left off of the list. I know that all of this is a bit of, "How far down the rabbit hole do you wish to go." I used to know the answer but now having a commercial interest it is a bit difficult to say!

Best,
Randy

KonaViewCoffee wrote:My main goal was to "mimic" a La Marzocco Strada paired with a Mazzer Kony in a commercial environment with my home setup.

I'm not addressing the grinder issue but rather the espresso machine. If Daylight Mind is doing any shot pressure profiling with their Strada you will not be able to match the shot with your Alex Duetto regardless the grinder. I know from first hand experience with very similar equipment. My Quick Mill Vetrano 2B at home could not match the line pressure profiled shots from my Synesso Cyncra my Roastery Coffeebar. Wasn't possible regardless the grinder. Vesuvius now at home more than solved the problem.

If you leave some amount of beans in the hopper and don't worry too much about it, the Mahlkonig K30 vario should be the king, especially if you like your current Vario.

I would also say that you could do some single dosing mods to the Compak K10, I know many board members here have one and are very happy with it in that role.

In the end, if you don't think you'd like hand-grinding, I would stay away from the HG-One. I like mine, but I could see if you get up early and rely on some amount of automation to make your coffee how it would be a hassle. I like it since I tend to wake up later anyway, and grinding gets me some exercise (OK I should get out more).

EspressoForge wrote:If you leave some amount of beans in the hopper and don't worry too much about it, the Mahlkonig K30 vario should be the king, especially if you like your current Vario.

I had a long talk last week with a well known barista competitor and trainer. He had a few interesting comments about the K30.

1. He thought it was the best grinder for doing under 5 lbs./day. For that reason he recommended it to all his company's smaller wholesale accounts.

2. He recommended the Robur for busier shops, but only for the reason it rotates more slowly and doesn't heat up
as much.

3. He highly recommended the K30 for single dosing consistency (by weighing shots). He said that in their tests popcorning was not an issue, but that the grind should be set about a full number finer.

4. In none of the blind testing they had done could professionals identify whether a shot came from a flat burr or a conical.

Marshall wrote:I had a long talk last week with a well known barista competitor and trainer. He had a few interesting comments about the K30.

I was wavering for about a week between the K30 and the Ceado E37S, and in the end, pulled the trigger on the latter. They're way more alike than different, and I'm pretty sure I'd be more than happy with either, but the tipping point was the clever build of the Ceado that makes it dead simple to get to the innards for cleaning, etc., which is a minor but clear advantage. And that you can "zero out" your grind setting is a nice touch, too.

My only concerns are that it's a newer machine, without as much of a track record as the venerable K30, and that the rubber motor mounts will prove to be a trouble spot in the future. But I'm hoping that with the update to the original E37, Ceado has corrected any design/engineering/build issues that showed up on their first try.

Marshall wrote:I had a long talk last week with a well known barista competitor and trainer. He had a few interesting comments about the K30.

1. He thought it was the best grinder for doing under 5 lbs./day. For that reason he recommended it to all his company's smaller wholesale accounts.

2. He recommended the Robur for busier shops, but only for the reason it rotates more slowly and doesn't heat up
as much.

3. He highly recommended the K30 for single dosing consistency (by weighing shots). He said that in their tests popcorning was not an issue, but that the grind should be set about a full number finer.

4. In none of the blind testing they had done could professionals identify whether a shot came from a flat burr or a conical.

Interesting that he recommended it for single dosing, seems like it would negate the electronics on it, although just like any other grinder, there's no reason why you can't do it.

Not to make this a flat vs conical debate, because it's been done before. I used to have a SJ and I got great shots out of it, if it's properly dialed in, they can make some of the best shots. Just for me, my equipment etc....the conicals had less adjustment needed and therefore was something I really didn't like doing when it came time for making an espresso. Especially since my first coffee of the day was usually not as great as the second.

Does the Mahlkonig have this same sort of flat burr effect? Or does it behave more like a conical in that aspect?

Either way I know it's capable of great coffee. But keeping towards the original intent of the thread was more the reason on many suggestions for conicals I believe.

The K30 needed to be adjusted more than my K10 needed to be adjusted. It was definitely more difficult to find the right grind. But, that's relative to my K10 which doesn't usually need a change or just a slight one.

Balthazar_B wrote:I was wavering for about a week between the K30 and the Ceado E37S, and in the end, pulled the trigger on the latter. They're way more alike than different, and I'm pretty sure I'd be more than happy with either, but the tipping point was the clever build of the Ceado that makes it dead simple to get to the innards for cleaning, etc., which is a minor but clear advantage. And that you can "zero out" your grind setting is a nice touch, too.

My only concerns are that it's a newer machine, without as much of a track record as the venerable K30, and that the rubber motor mounts will prove to be a trouble spot in the future. But I'm hoping that with the update to the original E37, Ceado has corrected any design/engineering/build issues that showed up on their first try.

Not to be a cheerleader, but I was in the same place a little over a week ago, and also purchased the Ceado E37S -- 83 mm big, not much space between burrs and exit, not much retention, quiet, seems to be well engineered, relatively small footprint yet aaprox 38 lbs, and the short hopper is convenient. Seasoning it with a few pounds of beans as I wait for the machine to arrive.

Aloha,
After much deliberation I finally pulled the trigger on the Ceado E92 - it should arrive in a few days. Other than the Kony it came down to the Ceado, the Mahkonig Vario K30 and the Compak K10-PB. In the end I decided to go for a big conical that would be in the same category as the Kony. The size of the burrs, the slower speed and the purported ease of cleaning as well as very good reviews here and elsewhere of the Ceado were the deciding factors. I will move away from single dosing (or perhaps do the mods at a later date) and will live with the higher retention of this grinder. I will post back on what experiences I have with this grinder.
As far as a new espresso machine somewhere down the line I will take Mike's suggestion to look into the Vesuvius. I happened to run into Mike at Daylight Mind last week when I dropped off a new batch of Sweet Waves. A pretty small world of coffee it seems! Thanks for all of your input - it all was of great help!

Mahalo,

Randy