Hey all,

I've been following this thread for quite a while now. I find that the results of my Alicorn method also do not last. Along with this, I've, along with some others in this thread, seem to not be able to get more than 80%-90% of the burr wiped clean during initial burr contact. I am curious if any of you guys have used Coffee ad Astra's grind size distribution app. I am quite curious to see if there is a significant change pre and post-Alicorn alignment. I think it would also be very interesting to see what others are getting with their average diameter size and their scatter in diameter at a certain setting (say 4M since that's what Baratza says is good for v60) when calibrated at 2Q. I am very curious since I have been not only grinding at 5M+ for v60 doses at 18 grams for v60 but have also not had the best results of grind consistency according to the app. Thank you all for participating along our deranged journeys of perfect alignments.

Did you install the forte chamber and carrier? Alignment might move with the stock plastic - mine degraded a tad bit after 3 months I think

If installing ditting steel burrs, did you install 3D printed spacers?

I had the same issue - screwed up the sanding job with the spacers - and then just caved and threw in some foil shims, no problems and this puppy is now making EKSpresso - casually hits 22% EY on any light roast, 24-25% on anything medium, no fines to speak of, its a Ghetto Monolith

I have the forte so I'm assuming I already have the forte chamber and carrier. I did not install the 3D printed spacers. I have a friend working on that for me as I'm typing this. I'm hoping that the journey is worth it. I read somewhere that someone had similar results in taste between the Forte and Monolith which is super surprising to me. I wonder if the price of the Monolith is really in regards mainly to how it comes "hyper aligned" more than anything else. I understand that the Monolith has more options such as RPM of motor etc. but it's more about the guarantee that you are maximizing the potential of the burr installed as opposed to getting <90% efficiency from the burr set like so many of us are.

Godzlittlesoldier wrote: I have the forte so I'm assuming I already have the forte chamber and carrier. I did not install the 3D printed spacers. I have a friend working on that for me as I'm typing this. I'm hoping that the journey is worth it. I read somewhere that someone had similar results in taste between the Forte and Monolith which is super surprising to me. I wonder if the price of the Monolith is really in regards mainly to how it comes "hyper aligned" more than anything else. I understand that the Monolith has more options such as RPM of motor etc. but it's more about the guarantee that you are maximizing the potential of the burr installed as opposed to getting <90% efficiency from the burr set like so many of us are.

That might have been me. I have a hyper-aligned Vario (with the Forted grind chamber and burr carriers), and a recent Monolith Max (June 2020), that I upgraded to from a Monolith FlatSSP. After being out of town for the summer, sometime in mid-September, I set about starting to taste test between the two. I got partway through before my interests got diverted by something else. What I found is that for shots of equal time and volume, say: 18g in 36g out in say 35-55s (I have a flow control machine so that includes what is sometimes a long pre infusion), I can definitely tell a difference in taste. The thing is, I cannot say that one is better than the other. The can of worms I have not opened yet, is a taste comparison when you might dial a shot form each completely differently. Such as a slow hot ristretto on the Max, vs a cool fast lungo on the FortArio.

-Peter

Hey Peter,

I think your situation is describing what I would say my dilemma of wondering if upgrading it really worth it at this point. I find it quite incredible that a grinder more than 2x the cost might not taste at least 10% better. I say 10% because I feel like a 1/10 improvement in taste between a 950$ grinder and $3500 grinder would be reasonable as diminishing returns come into play. Like you, I have not dialed in my Lido 2 against my Forte almost more in fear that I will like the Lido 2 more. I am sure that objectively (grind particle distribution) the Monolith series would outperform a Forte, but when it comes to taste, that obviously doesn't matter. Have you by any chance tried the particle analysis software from Coffee Ad Astra between the two? I'm super interested to see what the different between the two would be. Thanks!

Gagné said himself that his app is not able to count fines with normal resolution images, so there's a limitation to how well it can compare grinders.

Ah okay. That's sad to hear. I never knew that.

Godzlittlesoldier wrote:Hey Peter,

I think your situation is describing what I would say my dilemma of wondering if upgrading it really worth it at this point. I find it quite incredible that a grinder more than 2x the cost might not taste at least 10% better. I say 10% because I feel like a 1/10 improvement in taste between a 950$ grinder and $3500 grinder would be reasonable as diminishing returns come into play. Like you, I have not dialed in my Lido 2 against my Forte almost more in fear that I will like the Lido 2 more. I am sure that objectively (grind particle distribution) the Monolith series would outperform a Forte, but when it comes to taste, that obviously doesn't matter. Have you by any chance tried the particle analysis software from Coffee Ad Astra between the two? I'm super interested to see what the different between the two would be. Thanks!

I should add, Jeff, that there are surely coffees that favor the grind of one vs. the other... to add yet another wild variable to the mix. The one thing not up for debate is the look and feel and speed of the Max. It's fully twice as fast as FortArio. And obviously way more solid feeling.

-Peter

Hey Peter. That makes a lot of sense. I need to definitely go to a group meet some time after this crazy time! I don't think I could ever pull the trigger without at least testing it in person.

sheedapistawl wrote:Did you install the forte chamber and carrier? Alignment might move with the stock plastic - mine degraded a tad bit after 3 months I think

If installing ditting steel burrs, did you install 3D printed spacers?

I had the same issue - screwed up the sanding job with the spacers - and then just caved and threw in some foil shims, no problems and this puppy is now making EKSpresso - casually hits 22% EY on any light roast, 24-25% on anything medium, no fines to speak of, its a Ghetto Monolith
image

I have a vario with steel burrs and forte chamber/carrier and did the alignment mod. I didn't shim the burrs initially (didn't know we needed), but I noticed that they became misaligned about 3-4 months after using it.

At present the lower burr wipe is 100%, the upper is 80% (was 95% before). I was thinking of just using some folded foil to shim up the 'low' areas (per this video ~7min in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-cf0Iack5Q)

is that what you did too for the foil?