Hi,

I am wondering if there has been any comparisons done between Kafatek MC4 and WW Key grinders.

If there was not and no one has both grinders, I have an MC4 and live in San Francisco, and would be happy to have my grinder participate. Lol.

That's the comparison I've been hoping to see. Thinking, MC4 owners are not likely to be among the initial group of Key buyers. It'll require a loaner or meetup. I have a Key coming, but I'm nowhere near you. If there's a MC4 owner on Maui......

Exactly my question too. Isn't the MC4 a two stage burr design? What would be the best all-round grinder for dark roast all the way up to light roast? I understand the Max is absolute king for light roasts, but not good for dark/medium roasts.. what would be the lesser evil to have if you want to enjoy dark all the way up to light roast (if you only have space for grinder): is the Max so bad at dark roast that you can't even enjoy it? While being good at light. Or the MC4 or Key, being excellent at dark but incredibly bad at light roast? Is there a grinder that can do everything good enough?

My current first generation HG-One is really bad at light.. just too many astringent components, I just can't get anything good out of light roasts. But medium and dark have really great body. Alignment is pretty bad I guess, I've tried my best, but can't get past a certain point since every time I lock the inner burr with the screw it gets pushed sideways and no amount of alignment can mitigate this, so looking at a replacement. MC4 or Key or maybe Flat or Max with Shuriken Sweets.

As others have said, it'll be tough to find someone who has both outside of a meetup. I'm interested in this comparison as well and started a similar thread. From the Key reviews that are out there, I would say that you're probably set with the mc4. The mc4 is a unique design that many are describing as a flat like conical in that it cleans up the bitterness/acidity that are sometimes found in machines like the Niche, while also bringing more clarity to the table. That two burr system is definitely unique and it looks like Denis hit a home run as not many people have had negative things to say about the mc4. I think the benefits of the key over the mc4 are the aesthetics and some like the workflow of the magic tumbler, and it's slightly cheaper/shorter wait.

I won't bring up customer service as that apparently causes all the mods to close threads lol.

Reports like that really push me towards the MC4, it seems like a good allrounder. Will be pairing it with the ACS Vesuvius Evo Leva, so hopefully the flexibility of both systems can get the best out of both dark roasts and light roasts, with neither being excellent but also neither being unenjoyable.. that would be good enough for me.

From everything I've read about the mc4, I think all owners would call it "excellent" for most roasts. You gotta remember at this level you're looking at end game setups. Now is it better for light roasts than something like a flat max or p100, I would guess that most would go for those big flats. However, that doesn't mean the mc4 would be anything less than stellar regardless.

Ok.. so if the MC4 is 'stellar' with light roasts, and 'excellent' for all other roast levels, maybe the sum is better than the Max which should be 'excellent' for light roasts but 'not well suited' for dark roasts. In the case of someone like me who only has space for one grinder and enjoys dark -> light roasts equally?

On topic: concerning the Key, if it's anything like my HG-One (same burr and design), I'm not convinced it can get satisfactory results from lighter roasts. So that one is out for me, too limiting.

My dream setup:

Lol. The overall sentiment of what I wrote, adjectives aside, is that from all reviews that I've read, the mc4 is an end game "all around" grinder. Is it the absolute best for light roast? No. Can it perform well and make most discerning espresso hobbiests happy? From what I've read, yes.

This is based on my research on HB, Kafatek forums, and the few YouTube reviews out there. Hopefully we'll have more opinions and comparisons.

La JP wrote:From everything I've read about the mc4, I think all owners would call it "excellent" for most roasts. You gotta remember at this level you're looking at end game setups. Now is it better for light roasts than something like a flat max or p100, I would guess that most would go for those big flats. However, that doesn't mean the mc4 would be anything less than stellar regardless.

I have P100. Any grinder I would ever want to see next to it would be MC4. I have for my needs, ultimate flat, MC4 is probably best conical (for now).