Wow! I'm amazed to see this thread exploded like this.

After sending hundreds of emails, I managed to scrounge up a pair of Pre-2015 EK43 Burrs. Only caveat? They don't actually fit in my Monolith MAX... The lower burr carrier is too small. So I've sent the whole grinder off to Denis at Kafatek.

I'll report back on my findings, but to my knowledge, Michael Fabian is the only one to try this grinder/burr combo and post about it. He said that the resulting cup tasted indistinguishable from his EK43 with the same burrs.

Great thread.

I have the Titus Nautilus with the 98mm SSP pre-2015 MK cast burrs - one of the first ones that Frank produced, which I bought back in September 2020 - and I have some basis for comparison based on other grinders that I used exclusively for filter brews. The order in which I purchased and upgraded those grinders is:

Baratza Encore -> Baratza Virtuoso -> Commandante C40 MK3 -> Mahlkönig Vario with Steel Burrs (aligned with the 'Alicorn'/Super Alignment procedure) -> Titus Nautilus

In between the Commandante and the Vario I got a Niche Zero for espresso, but I never seriously tested it for filter, as the initial results were disappointing and I bought purely for espresso, at which it excels.

My assessment of the 98mm SSP pre-2015's is based on certain constant variables:

• Light 3rd wave roasts from The Barn (Berlin), Root and Branch (Belfast) and very occasionally Bonanza (Berlin)

• Rao/Perger Recipe water

• Temperature between 93C and 100C

• Hario V60 01 with standard Hario filters (very occasionally Hario's faster drawdown variation, which come in a box)

• 15g/16g coffee to 250g water

While the Nautilus with the SSP pre-2015 MK cast burrs is undoubtedly the best grinder/burr combination I have used for filter brews, the aligned Vario with steel burrs is not far off at all, and I have had occasionally transcendental cups from the Vario that somehow felt like they had more of a 'flavour explosion' than a cup made with the same beans on the same day and a very similar grind setting with the Nautilus.

Overall, though, the Nautilus is more consistently excellent and reliably produces sweet and balanced cups. I can go very fine without bitterness creeping in if I want, but those higher extractions are not what I'm generally looking for.

Occasionally the Nautilus brews will taste almost 'too clean' and lacking in flavour, but usually, these burrs produce exactly what I am after - a fruity and balanced cup.

That said, I have never been able to compare the pre-2015 burrs with any other 98mm burrs until today, as I received the SSP low fines from Frank yesterday and installed them this morning, mainly because I wanted to be able to compare and contrast.

It is worth noting that the pre-2015 burrs that he included with the Nautilus have some cosmetic imperfections in the coating, which he made clear from the outset. He said that these imperfections were purely visual and would have no impact on taste. He also said (as with the low fines) that if I wasn't happy, I could return them and get a full refund.

Some photos below:








I will be testing the low fines over the next few weeks. I guess they'll take a while to 'season' but maybe not. The first few cups today were quite tasty. I'll report back with my observations on how they compare to the pre-2015's.

PaddyBerlin wrote:Great thread.

I have the Titus Nautilus with the 98mm SSP pre-2015 MK cast burrs - one of the first ones that Frank produced, which I bought back in September 2020 - and I have some basis for comparison based on other grinders that I used exclusively for filter brews. The order in which I purchased and upgraded those grinders is:

Baratza Encore -> Baratza Virtuoso -> Commandante C40 MK3 -> Mahlkönig Vario with Steel Burrs (aligned with the 'Alicorn'/Super Alignment procedure) -> Titus Nautilus

I will be testing the low fines over the next few weeks. I guess they'll take a while to 'season' but maybe not. The first few cups today were quite tasty. I'll report back with my observations on how they compare to the pre-2015's.

Looking forward to your comparison. Your new burrs are the "Ultra Low Fines" version from SSP (looks like ZrN coated by Frank)? If that's them, there seems to be very few people with any experience using them. Some say they're terrible and not low fines at all. Others say they're the best current filter burr they've used. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the same/similar geometry burrs are used as the "ultra" burrs in the EG-1, which has positive reviews.

Also, for the already great amount of confusion out there with EK burrs - I think those pictured are current EK burrs, where SSP reground to their version of pre-2015 EK geometry. Slightly different than true pre-2015 EK burrs (although whether there are any taste differences, I can't speak about).

Thanks again for this. Please keep us posted on tastes. Hopefully we can finally get some answers on the quality of the "Low Fines/Ultra Low Fines" burrs.

zero610 wrote:Your new burrs are the "Ultra Low Fines" version from SSP (looks like ZrN coated by Frank)?

From SSP's website: http://www.espressotool.com/?idx=3, I think it is the "Low Fines", not the "Ultra Low". The Ultra Low should be the left one in the picture below:

zero610 wrote: Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the same/similar geometry burrs are used as the "ultra" burrs in the EG-1, which has positive reviews.

The outer edge is similar, but the ULTRA burr's inner side is more like the Mahlkonig Guatemala burr's.

bakafish wrote:From SSP's website: http://www.espressotool.com/?idx=3, I think it is the "Low Fines", not the "Ultra Low". The Ultra Low should be the left one in the picture below:

I don't see anything called just "low fines" on the espressotool.com website. It looks like there are 4 geometry versions for 98mm burrs. High Uniformity, Low Uniformity, Ultra Low Fines, and Casted. Am I missing something?

bakafish wrote:The outer edge is similar, but the ULTRA burr's inner side is more like the Mahlkonig Guatemala burr's.

So, the EG-1 Ultra burrs are made by SSP but with custom geometry, specifically for the EG-1?

zero610 wrote:It looks like there are 4 geometry versions for 98mm burrs. High Uniformity, Low Uniformity, Ultra Low Fines, and Casted.

You are right. The "Low" burrs should be "Low Uniformity".

zero610 wrote: So, the EG-1 Ultra burrs are made by SSP but with custom geometry, specifically for the EG-1?

Not only for EG-1, it has Ditting 804, Bunn, and Mahlkonig Tanzania versions.

zero610 wrote:Also, for the already great amount of confusion out there with EK burrs - I think those pictured are current EK burrs, where SSP reground to their version of pre-2015 EK geometry. Slightly different than true pre-2015 EK burrs (although whether there are any taste differences, I can't speak about).

QFT. But let's not add to the confusion. Those look identical to my SSP cast burrs except mine are Silver Knight and I presume those are Red Speed. Hansung tends to call his cast burrs "pre-2015" although they are actually somewhat modified. I'm don't believe I've seen a photo of the current MK burrs that he regrinds into pre-2015 geometry so I can't be certain. But just from the photos I couldn't say that those aren't just his cast burrs.

If they came with the nautilus they should be the ssp version of the pre-2015 ek burrs. It's odd they look like they are red speed coated though. Maybe frank had ssp coat those burrs themselves on the earlier versions? Mine have the ZrN titus coating.

rmongiovi wrote:QFT. But let's not add to the confusion. Those look identical to my SSP cast burrs except mine are Silver Knight and I presume those are Red Speed. Hansung tends to call his cast burrs "pre-2015" although they are actually somewhat modified. I'm don't believe I've seen a photo of the current MK burrs that he regrinds into pre-2015 geometry so I can't be certain. But just from the photos I couldn't say that those aren't just his cast burrs.

Yup you might be right. Good call.