jesawdy wrote:Dan, I thought you had the green light for a dedicated espresso bar in the house or basement? Cabinet heights be damned, no?

My lovely bride did indeed give the green light, but I hesitate to encroach on my kids' play area. They've completely taken over every square inch of the basement with toys, videos, games, puzzles... the usual kid chaos. An espresso bar doesn't mesh well with that ambiance. At least my espresso gear in the kitchen looks like it belongs. We're discussing a kitchen renovation, which has opened up other possibilities (however lobbying for a dedicate espresso bar in the kitchen hasn't gained any traction).

cannonfodder wrote:Even though they use conical burrs, don't the grinds still have to make a right angle turn to exit into the doser? That would still produce clumping and I would imagine there is little difference between the Major and Kony in regard to clumping because of that

I've used the Robur at Counter Culture during our regular Friday espresso labs. It doesn't produce the perfectly even distribution of the Versalab M3, but it's miles better than my Mini. Although they both have the same ejection pathway, the Robur hurls the grinds out with considerably more force and the grinds are less compacted by the experience. The grinds "lay out" more easily, perhaps because of the longer grinding surface of the conical burrs (?). Nick used the Kony in competition and said the grind quality is as good as the Robur, but it's a slower grinder (Greg made the same observation). I can live with a few extra seconds. At some point I'll do a thorough side-by-side comparison, if only to settle the issue in my own mind...

I would expect it to perform better than a mini, but how does it compare to a Major. With the larger burrs it blows the grinds out better.

Not being fortunate enough to have a local cafe that lets me play with their equipment (heck, I don't even have a local cafe), I have never put hands on a Kony or Robur. The Kony sounds promising.

The gauntlet has been dropped, I will accept that challenge.

I won't say it was perfect; there is a slow spot, but it was not too bad.

Would not disagree at all.

Like I said it was not perfect. The extraction was slow and I had a slow spot. Honestly I normally do better with a single although I don't use them often. I will have to take the tripod home and capture a few more over the weekend. It takes a handful of shots to get the grind and dose set.

My lighting sucked as well. What looks like a dead spot in the back right is actually a reflection off the crema from the light I was using, but no excuses.