Definitely something to talk to Hansung about further if you're interested.

For reference, here's an excerpt of his email:

" we have cast burr set which has modification we made on its middle teeth.

if you are looking for same one as 2015 version, we can make same one as it. (small surface area at its last grinding stage)"

Right, I've actually got another set sent out for him to regrind and had a fairly recent convo, though my case is regrinding mk burrs rather than his custom one.

But as far as a new set that's a clone, I don't think he has the mold to make that. He had that one custom mold made. The middle teeth on any of them aren't machined in full at all aside from cleanup/sharpening, that geometry and angle is determined by the casting itself. That's why the middle section is still rough and bumpy.

The last grinding stage isn't the entire equation, though it does make a difference. I feel like some of the whole "special sauce" of the original is the particle shaping done from prebreaker all the way to the edges. That geometry of the middle section is just as important

So I had a little back and forth with Hansung tonight. Background - In the next day or two I have a Titus Nautilus arriving with the SSP version of the pre-2015 cast burr (review to come). Hansung confirmed the burr is the modified version. Here is how he described the modification:

We changed its middle angle for better grinding quality. Then you can make espresso grinding as well with it. Many customers have difficulty to have espresso with original burr set.

I asked if he offers an exact replica and he said no, he does not.

I know Frank from Titus has said the burr is not good for espresso, but great for filter, so not sure why they'd want to modify it in that way.

So, I'm looking forward to trying out the modified burr. I have heard good feedback on the filter quality from Frank and others. Londiniumespresso on instagram has said the espresso quality of the new burrs are identical to that of the pre-2015s, so I'm hopeful the filter quality will be similar.

We shall see...

Certainly interested to hear your impressions on them

One more note - Hansung claims that the modified version "makes more uniform grinding result than original one." Again, what that means for taste in the cup, we shall see..

Hard to say. Uniformity generally creates a narrower spread of particles with the tradeoff of more fines.

But I do imagine the cast is probably going to be good at filter, particularly with the smaller finishing stage similar to pre-2015.

Ejquin wrote:So I had a little back and forth with Hansung tonight. Background - In the next day or two I have a Titus Nautilus arriving with the SSP version of the pre-2015 cast burr (review to come). Hansung confirmed the burr is the modified version. Here is how he described the modification:

We shall see...

I'm glad this thread is getting some traction. Very much looking forward to your impressions of the Nautilus and the burrs in it. I have no doubt it will be excellent coming from Titus.

I have those same SSP, Titus coated burrs coming in my Levercraft Ultra so it will be a great comparison. I'm also getting an original set of pre-2015 EK burrs resharpened from SSP as we speak so I can throw my thoughts on those into the comparison as well.

Please keep us updated once you get the grinder!

I also feel like if someone wanted to get him to clone the pre-2015 it would take someone willing to send him a set of those exact ones to have a mold with, so he could offer the exact thing.

I also feel like he could probably make a machined burr that was along the same concepts of the original with a pretty near-equivalent result. The LU were actually still somewhat developed as espresso/multipurpose with the Monolith Max pushing that, and in my book the Ultra Lows are kinda losers in that regard. But a machined burr that stuck with a similar philosophy to the original cast burr would likely make for a great filter option, potentially something SSP could make as a custom order with enough interest.

I had HU burrs my EK. When doing pour over I found the right coffee was intense and sweet but for many coffee s they were a little one dimensional. I got LU burrs as I have started to roast and spend more time on pour over and cupping than espresso and I felt the HU needed the right coffee, roasted well to get the best out of them. I think the LU have helped. Brews seem less one dimensional, clearer and more nuanced, makes my roasting seem more successful... Or maybe it just has improved! I mostly use George Howell's kalita 185 recipe with 25 g coffee and a pretty coarse grind. I guess it would be similar to a 4/6 method on the v60. So it's interesting to hear some get better results with a finer grind. Maybe I should experiment more with low dose, fine grind brews. Which device do people use with that. V60?

Just some hearsay from private messages. I was told, after a few month of testing, that the pre revision MK burrs are heaven, while the SSP copies are not. The Lab Sweet that was on that bench is already sold.

Anybody already had his hands on the Kafatek 98mm burrs?