It is stepless, per their Instagram account. It's confusing that they're saying it has 35 steps, but they're really just referring to the markings on the dial.

The burrs are not the same Ditting burrs used in the Vario/Forte either. Should be interesting to see how they compare. Alicorned grinders are some seriously tough competition to beat in the cup.

Is Mahlkonig missing the mark? I feel the trend is single does. The price seems good but that being said the market is crowded at that price point.

SteveRhinehart wrote:The burrs are not the same Ditting burrs used in the Vario/Forte either.

Where can I find this information? I thought it uses the Mahlkonig Vario Home steel burrs which is the same geometry as the Forte BG's but different material.

SteveRhinehart wrote:The burrs are not the same Ditting burrs used in the Vario/Forte either. Should be interesting to see how they compare. Alicorned grinders are some seriously tough competition to beat in the cup.

This could be good news or bad news. Have you seen any pictures of the burrs? I wonder if the Ditting burrs could be swapped in.

https://roestfrisch.com/magazin/mahlkonig-x-54-home wrote:Der Totraum bei der X54 bewegt sich zwischen 4-6g bei der Espressovermahlung. Je gröber desto weniger bleibt in der Mühle.

I really hope that doesn't mean 4-6g retention. At least it might be less if single dosed.

SteveRhinehart wrote:... The burrs are not the same Ditting burrs used in the Vario/Forte either. Should be interesting to see how they compare. Alicorned grinders are some seriously tough competition to beat in the cup.

MK X54 vs. Forte BG
RPM 1050 vs. 1950 (Baratza Vario 1350rpm)
Grind speed 1-2.8g/sec vs. 1.2-2.4 g/sec

Sounds like the new burrs are more aggressive. At 1050rpm, the Forte burrs would be dead slow - the Vario grinds s-l-o-w with the steel burrs - not that I mind given the taste in the cup .

myke2241 wrote:Is Mahlkonig missing the mark? I feel the trend is single does. The price seems good but that being said the market is crowded at that price point.

I can see both arguments. Among enthusiasts on this sub, we know single dosing is king. I think Mahlkonig knew that these customers are not their target because the x54 probably has retention problems just like the other models with this design. It's also a lot easier and cheaper to repurpose an existing design than start from scratch.

I would bet that the market is not represented on this sub and a huge number of people and businesses (not cafes, work break rooms) would rather have this simple to use hopper based grinder and they don't know or don't care about the features of single dosing and low retention.

Heard pricing is $849 USD here stateside.

baldheadracing wrote:MK X54 vs. Forte BG
RPM 1050 vs. 1950 (Baratza Vario 1350rpm)
Grind speed 1-2.8g/sec vs. 1.2-2.4 g/sec

Sounds like the new burrs are more aggressive. At 1050rpm, the Forte burrs would be dead slow - the Vario grinds s-l-o-w with the steel burrs - not that I mind given the taste in the cup .

A similar to faster grind speed at almost half the revolution speed, might mean a larger outfall between the burrs, which if so, means less consistent grinds, more boulders and a higher coarseness at its finest setting:

Flat burrs have a different geometry than conical burrs (which is obvious when looking at them), the main focus here being the outfall depth. The outfall depth is the size of the hole created on the side of the burr when the tertiary cuts are aligned. The larger the outfall depth, the faster the burr will grind and the less consistent the particle distribution will be.

https://coffeetechniciansguild.org/blog ... so-grinder

iBrew wrote:More competition for home grinders is a great thing for us. Whats Baratza going to do? they can't just sit on their old grinder lineup with all the new players coming.

Baratza seems to enjoy micro and macro stepped adjustments over one universal step-less knob. What's interesting with this new grinder is it probably has the Vario steel burr in and essentially this is Mahlkonig's Vario's upgrade path (and I believe the Mahlkonig's Vario is discontinued) where with Baratza it is the Forte. Baratza may be forced to get a new top teir upgrade as well and maybe this time it can be steppless.

the X54 is essentially the same price point as the Vario (you can still buy them for that price) but upgraded look in line with their E65s and E80 form factor (just a mini version) they should have called it the E54 but maybe they wanted to separate it from that series as it's not a commercial grinder and I'm sure performs very differently. I'm disappoint it's not a GbW but hoping that down the road it will another tier will come out, maybe the X54w or whatever they want to call it. a GbW and steppless (which I actually think it is steppless) are certainly features that would make this more convincing. Also the hopper is way to big for home use. how much coffee do they think home users are making? Hoppers should never be bigger than the machine can handle in one go without risking heating and I'm not convinced this is the case with this grinder. it should be a short hopper with bellows attached (like Eureka's new blow up system for the atom) and it's disappointing a company like this can't be more forward-thinking instead they choose the features that are more cliche. it's an easy enough pivot and maybe they are testing the market right now.

Tj. wrote:I can see both arguments. Among enthusiasts on this sub, we know single dosing is king. I think Mahlkonig knew that these customers are not their target because the x54 probably has retention problems just like the other models with this design. It's also a lot easier and cheaper to repurpose an existing design than start from scratch.

a well-designed bellows corrects this. Eureka has made a bellows for their atom that is used with beans still inside the hopper and it works. it's just a collapsable rubber collar that fits between the hopper and lid and you press down on the lid to force air downward and blow out retention. it's a simple add-on to dramatically reduce grind retention. They work but I think what's mode important is the manufacture is actually starting to make these things for single dosing applications rather than rely on after-market mods and I think that speaks a lot to the direction and culture of both manufacture and customer demand.