Great, looking forward to it. I have the ssp version of the pre-2015 in my nautilus. Frank described these new brew burrs as "different not necessarily better" so now I'm trying to figure out if I want to get them.

Just on the design comparative to the other machined options, I'd be more confident that these would give good results.

With a fairly long cutting path on a big burr like 98mm, I think the "secret sauce" with the older EK burrs is the finishing section being cut at more of an angle, rather than flatter. It also results in a smaller crushing section (the triangle shaped flat section at the edge) so the surface area of the most aggressive finishing stage is smaller consequently. That is the main thing that makes the older coffee burrs an outlier compared to any of the others, be they MK Turkish, New coffee, or SSP's HU and LU designs. The steeper angle of the finishing section, and to some extent the middle section, of the old coffee burrs basically minimizes coffee receiving additional cuts earlier in the grind path, whereas flatter middle and finishing sections essentially brute force uniformity with the expense of more fines and heat being created. My general lean is that the bigger the burr, the less aggressive a burr needs to be to accomplish that balance between uniformity and fines produced (particularly with filter, but also espresso to an extent) because the larger size is already creating a longer cutting path to begin with.

Having that in this particular machined burr should give some idea how much that's worth at the least. I'd wager at the very least it's noticeably better than SSP's other options.

gritts wrote:Just received these from Frank at Titus. It'll be a few weeks before I'm able to season and test them because I'm adamant that I want to go side-by-side with the Pre-2015 EK43 burrs, which are currently in my MAX. I'll update in due time!

Definitely looking forward to the comparison. Are they going in your Max or something else?

Ideally they would go in a second MAX so the feed/RPM is mimicked properly.

My set arrived tonight. Seasoning as we speak.

Curious in folks' opinions on how this compares to other brew burr options like
- SSP Low fines/(Ultra low fines?)
- The SSP cast pre-2015 EK-style burrs

I have the High Uniformity, Ultra Low Fines and post 15 EK, not LU or original pre 15 EK.

I've only had the burrs for a couple of days, but so far they are very clean, grind very uniform, needs to extract high to not taste weak, not huge but OK body so far. I had a 22,5% brew tasting a little under extracted. That is similar to my experience with the 64mm Brew/Unimodal burrs.

The Ultra Low Fines to me has nice body/texture but are not very clear in presenting the flavors in filter, I actually don't like them much for filter because of that. But if I didn't want clear aromas they are a nice tactical experience that taste well extracted. I use the ULF in my P100 and earlier in the EK for 1:3 ratio espresso, where they bring high extracting sweet and clear espresso with a nice and lingering body.

I actually could pull espresso with these new Brew burrs, first try choked my Bianca with 18g in 20g basket pump set to 6,5 bar max. The result was very clean and sweet, not that much body or aftertaste, measured high. I had a little more body when I ground a little finer for a slower shot. It could pull longer than HU without getting bitter because of the bogger spread in particles I guess. I know some users didn't manage to get much pressure woth the Brew burrs, and I don't know if it's coating or the grinder they were in, alignment or if they slightly tweaked the burrs.

In the EK43 at least these Brew burrs are clear but maybe not as one note hyper focused as the 64mm Brew or HU in P100 at lower speed for filter. Compared to the new EK burrs they are more clear. EK burrs can also taste weak with light roast in my experience, and I like to bring my brews up to ~22% to be satisfied. EK burrs seem to have more fines and a litte more bigger particles.

I'll hold off writing much more as they are so new still, having had maybe 3 kilos through them at this point, but the brew I had with Kalita today especially was promising. They are a little more clean than I expected. I wonder how they compare to LU.

Also if I had more developed beans things would be a little different. I drink mostly light Nordic roast and my water is very soft in addition.

Thanks for sharing. I'm excited to hear how they all compare as you have more time with the Brew burrs.

Having had some more time with the brew burrs now, I'll chime in with some experience. They are in my EK43S with Titus carrier. I tried them briefly in the Lagom P100 and they performed pretty similar there, but should have a shim as the deeper outfall fell below the P100 burr carrier rim hindering effective ejection of grounds.

At first the brews were a bit odd, they were often perceived as weak and thin even though the brew measured high, and usually had some amount of either dryness or astringency in them that was not enjoyable. It was hard to get the grind setting just right to avoid off flavors, and sometimes the best result was going a little too fine to get a high extraction that covered up any unpleasant astringency. If this hadn't changed I wouldn't be too happy about them.

The burrs have since had some more kilos of beans through them and they have settled down to something I really enjoy. So they seem to need a good seasoning period in my experience. My set coming from Titus had yellow ZrN coating.

At first I found V60 didn't work too well, as it was highlighting the weak presentation, the Kalita brews felt better in that regard but I don't enjoy using the smaller Kalita that much because of repeatability issues with smaller dose. It clogs more easily and stalls if I swirl the brewer to settle an uneven bed.

Lately I've been mostly on V60 for small brews and both Kalita and V60 for bigger brews. Most brews are in the range of 22-24% extraction, with no more problems with weakness or astringency/dryness, and with quality beans no off flavors at 24%. I can also enjoy a wider range of grind settings now with different resulting extractions, tried a bean from 24% down to 22% and all was drinkable even though I preferred some over the others. This I find good as it makes them more forgiving, I don't get punished that hard by not being totally dialed in with a bean.

The brews are not hyper clean, they are rather just a very good traditional coffee. Sweetness is good, body is good, balance is good, flavors are there but with V60 not in your face or one note focused hyper clean, a little more blended or complex than that. Aftertaste lingers well too. The best brews I really can't fault, they are not too *insert whatever* just well extracted, nicely presented coffee, that taste like coffee and not tea.

Side by side with HU they are cleaner, HU burrs are actually quite good for filter, but have more of a dry bitterness in it that while not in the forefront does taint the brew a little and present it more as traditional nutty profile, while the cleaner Brew burr not having this was perceived as more juicy fruity, taking that out of the balance. They are like an improved HU but they share a little DNA, they are the same burr with just a different finishing section changing the presentation a little. I prefer them to new EK burrs as well (had briefly side by side).

So at the moment I'm very happy, and I think I have found a filter set I will stick with.

I have only done a few more espressos, but they work well for that, they are like a laid back HU burr, so I can go a little longer in the cup, like 1:2,5 and a little more toward 1:3 at times, don't battle bitterness as much, they extract HIGH and clean, but less traditional espresso than HU. Thinner body, high clarity, well extracted, more like consentrated filter. Not as intense. It's cool to have the option to have that version of espresso in addition to Ultra Low Fines.

I would be happy if I could only have one grinder with these Brew burrs for dual use. I do like the Ultra Low Fines more for my daily espresso though, as it has a little more blended aromas, but more body. The ULF is not very traditional either. I almost always get a great cup with 1:3 ratio in 20-30 seconds with good light filter roast. I don't like ULF burrs as much for filter brews though, they have a nice body and sweetness but harder to really taste the beans unique flavors in my experience.

So a thumbs up from me. I have not tried Low Uniformity or real Pre 15 EK burrs, but so far these are my favorite 98mm filter burr.