I managed to get my hands on one to test for a few days recently.
Here's a couple of pictures of the latest iteration of the Bentwood since there are not many around -

shadowzenith wrote:I managed to get my hands on one to test for a few days recently...

Interesting, what are your thoughts regarding taste of espresso and pour over?

I've only tested for a few days (loaned from the local dealer) so cannot comment on whether it will beat an EK43 or any other grinder for that matter. Taste is a personal preference anyway. However there are some pros and cons (in my opinion) in which i will share below -

Pros

• I like the size and aesthetics. It looks cool.

• Grind size adjustment by micron (burr distance) is convenient and easy to communicate instead of some random arbitrary number on many grinders.

• I did not open it up since it's not mine but the way it's built is supposedly similar to a Mazzer ZM which means tight tolerances and no alignment issues to be expected.

• It can grind very fine if you want to for very light roasted high density beans.

• The cooling system (not sure if there are any fans inside) is very quiet.

Cons

• The grinder vibrates just like an EK when turned on so if you put a cup on the base for a couple of seconds it will shift position for sure.

• The metal chute retains some grinds up to 0.5g on average if it's very fine (< 100 microns) behind the clump crusher thingamajig (apparently it can be removed).

Now on to the very subjective taste perception, it's okay for me but coming from a Mazzer ZM (with espresso burrs fitted) i didnt find a noticeable improvement. This is also similar when i use it for V60. I still believe that there is no single grinder available in the market now that can do both espresso and filter excellently without compromises.

streezz wrote:Hello everybody

Taste-wise I think it is for sure above the Mahlkoenig EK43, unfortunately at home I have no possibilities to make a comparison. I can only recall back to some shots from my previous Baratza Sette and the in-cup quality with the Bentwood grinder is far beyond.

What I know from the coffee community is that it was recently used at several barista and brewer championships with great success.

I am not involved into the business of Bentwood but I believe this company has potential for the future and therefore I am trying with this post to make this fantastic grinder more popular for the advanced home-user.
So give it a try and get in touch with www.bentwoodcoffee.ch, I am sure they have now a full stock to serve you with grinders as coffee shops do not invest a lot at the moment due to the actual circumstances with the virus (Corona), at least in Switzerland...

All the best,
streezz

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Hi,
this is a great post, regardless of so many members bashing your effort. I appreciate seeing this grinder. This is one beautiful and well designed (unlike many others) piece of machine. I believe it will raise enough interest in users who can and will pay for that, not only from functional point of view but the design too. If I could collect grinders, this one would definitely be in my collection. I will keep my eye on it!
Enjoy your grinder!

Cheers!

This grinder is supposed to be one of the best ones out there and seems to be popular in Europe. Wonder why its not sold in US.

ConFlatExp wrote:This grinder is supposed to be one of the best ones out there and seems to be popular in Europe. Wonder why its not sold in US.

Popular would normally indicate it's widespread, that is really not the case, I cannot even mention one guy I seen or heard about owning this grinder. And I can only mention
One reseller who actually stock them. This grinder is by far the most expensive 64mm grinder out there. it's more expensive then the EK43, Mazzer ZM, Kafatek Monolith Flat, Levercraft Ultragrinder, Lagom P100 and as expensive as the new Ditting 807 Sweet Lab, making it twice the price of the Lagom64 and a $1000 more then the Mahlkonig E65 GBW.. If it where around the price point of the Lagom or just a tad more I'm convinced it could indeed sell well, but at this price point, you can get far better grinders, for a small amount more you could even get the Titus Nautilus or Kafatek Monolith MAX, that is absurd.

The Lagom64 and Niche are both on the other hand very popular in Europe.

But reality is they priced themselves out of the market.

malling wrote:Popular would normally indicate it's widespread, that is really not the case, I cannot even mention one guy I seen or heard about owning this grinder. And I can only mention
One reseller who actually stock them. This grinder is by far the most expensive 64mm grinder out there. it's more expensive then the EK43, Mazzer ZM, Kafatek Monolith Flat, Levercraft Ultragrinder, Lagom P100 and as expensive as the new Ditting 807 Sweet Lab, making it twice the price of the Lagom64 and a $1000 more then the Mahlkonig E65 GBW.. If it where around the price point of the Lagom or just a tad more I'm convinced it could indeed sell well, but at this price point, you can get far better grinders, for a small amount more you could even get the Titus Nautilus or Kafatek Monolith MAX, that is absurd.

The Lagom64 and Niche are both on the other hand very popular in Europe.

If you are interested in bigger burrs rather then good coffee do not buy a Bentwood

I know someone from kaffee-netz.de who replaced his perfectly alligned EK with the Bentwood and is more then happy with it: https://instagram.com/ek43spresso?igshid=19coksgksr0wy
As his instagram handle suggests he is a big advocate for the EK43, however he stated multiple times that he gets better coffee from the Bentwood.

Also a couple of fellow enthusiasts from Kaffee-netz.de are in the process to group buy a Bentwood. I believe they are more then 5.

That said it surely is a niche product, but I will wait for some reviews before I judge it.

As a sidenote Kafatek grinders are basically inexistent in Europe, but I do not think that this is caused by a lack of quality. I would even go as far as to say there are more Bentwoods in European coffee shops than there are Kafatek and Weber grinders combined

coffeeOnTheBrain wrote: I know someone from kaffee-netz.de who replaced his perfectly alligned EK with the Bentwood and is more then happy with it: https://instagram.com/ek43spresso?igshid=19coksgksr0wy
As his instagram handle suggests he is a big advocate for the EK43, however he stated multiple times that he gets better coffee from the Bentwood.

I believe Denis is also a member of HB. From many of his posts, too biased to believe for me.

There is also a reseller in Taiwan. They also advertise it as "far better taste than the EK43 produces". I think it is only the strategy of Bentwood. From the beginning, I don't think EK43S produces any super high quality espresso or pour over, even it is perfectly aligned with the SSP burrs. "Taste better than the EK43 produces" is not a big deal to me. Nothing attractive.