I've had great shots with the Apollo, on par with the Niche Zero. I use a spritz of water to alleviate static. Also, if you wait a full minute after grinding, give a firm whack on the bottom with the palm of your hand, you should have very few grinds left on the burrs.

They do not recommend RDT in the (very short and sweet) manual, but now I have two recommendations from users, I guess I should try it some time soon

Well, I went and did it. Something is deffo wrong with me. M-47 Classic ordered.

Oh well. Maybe I can compare them. In a month or so. I am sure it will be fun... the Apollo is getting better. Tomorrow I'll do a less dark roast, we will see how it does with that. Hard to grind light roasts on the Pharos, despite having bench dogs fitted.

Hi!

I got my Apollo grinder yesterday and I'm struggling a bit with getting a grind setting that works with my Cafelat Robot. When trying 17 g of coffee and between 5 to 7 notches from zero (with a firm tamp and stirring to break the clumps) the extraction seams way to fast and its impossible to reach 6-8 bars without massive squrting. 4 notches, on the other hand (20 clicks from zero,) works better but takes more than 100 revs and about 50 seconds to grind. Much longer than I read in reviews and threads online.

I'm quite new to making espresso so I might be doing something wrong, or does it sound like the grinder isn't working properly?

Do you have any thoughts? Would really appreciate some advice since I don't have a clue

What kind of coffee are you using? How fresh is it? When you say zero, is that the point where the burrs are locked?

I'm using a quite dark roast coffee bean, this batch maybe not fresh enough for my grinder. How do a know when the burrs are locked? The lever turns no matter how much I tighten the ring. When I mean zero I mean the point where I can't turn the ring more clockwise.

Interesting, I can tighten mine enough such that the handle doesn't turn. In any event, you need to try a freshly roasted coffee. It takes me about 30 seconds to grind an 18g dose.

If you feel the grinds, how fine would you say they feel?

In general, a Turkish grind feels like finely ground wheat flour. It will stick on your fingertip like eye shadow or cocoa powder.

An espresso grind feels finer than sand but coarser than flour.

A Turkish grind should choke your machine, regardless of which machine it is. Unless a) the beans are dark and very stale and/or have been exposed to dampness or b) the grinder burrs are very new and need to be broken in. In this case it may be a combination of both, so if I were you I would keep on grinding, and get a lighter, fresher roast.