Monolith - End of Year Production Run Changes - Page 5

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
TallDan
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#41: Post by TallDan »

Well, I guess I''ll be one of the first to find out about these burrs! :shock:

Qrumcof
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#42: Post by Qrumcof replying to TallDan »

Me too (just won a flat). The comments on the new burrs convinced me to go ahead and get it (that they've already went through a bunch of prototypes to get it right). I didn't think to see how quickly they sold out, but less than two minutes (could've been seconds for all I know). Dennis must be a good guy because he could easily charge $1000 more for these and people would still buy them..

I'll have a used ML flat for sale in a few months.

TallDan
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#43: Post by TallDan replying to Qrumcof »

I went MAX. I don't know why my wife puts up with me. It might have something to do with how good her lattes have been lately. Yeah, I'm sure that's it.

baristainzmking
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#44: Post by baristainzmking »

Qrumcof wrote:What I read was the flat does, but the new MAX doesn't have a choice in burrs.. With the max you get the burrs optimized for light/medium roast's (I personally was a bit disappointed because I like dark roasts, LOL). And I believe existing customers can buy MAX burrs for $600 if they want to upgrade...
Actually the new Max will have a choice of burrs. You can pick medium/light burrs for light roasts. You can pick the Medium/dark burrs for the more developed roasts.
Julia

DaveB
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#45: Post by DaveB »

baristainzmking wrote:{snip} You can pick the Medium/dark burrs for the more developed roasts.
Having probably read every post ever made about Monolith grinders on the forum going back to the brand's inception, the consensus indicates that the flat is better for lighter roasts relative to the conical. When the Max arrived it was said to take the advantage to another level. From the Kafatek site:

If you are looking for grinder that will take your light roasted beans to next level this is it. We recommend Monolith Flat MAX to anyone that enjoys light roasted espresso and need the absolute best. If you drink medium/dark roasted espresso we do not think that MAX provides meaningful advantage over our Monolith Flat.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around why anyone would want burrs optimized for medium/dark roasts with this grinder. Seems like a high premium was paid (over the regular Flat) to better exploit light roasts.
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baristainzmking
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#46: Post by baristainzmking »

DaveB wrote:Having probably read every post ever made about Monolith grinders on the forum going back to the brand's inception, the consensus indicates that the flat is better for lighter roasts relative to the conical. When the Max arrived it was said to take the advantage to another level. From the Kafatek site:

If you are looking for grinder that will take your light roasted beans to next level this is it. We recommend Monolith Flat MAX to anyone that enjoys light roasted espresso and need the absolute best. If you drink medium/dark roasted espresso we do not think that MAX provides meaningful advantage over our Monolith Flat.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around why anyone would want burrs optimized for medium/dark roasts with this grinder. Seems like a high premium was paid (over the regular Flat) to better exploit light roasts.
" Monolith MAX will also ship with my Shuriken™ 98mm burrs also designed and made by me in our shop in Bellevue. Price of grinder remain unchanged. I could offer these optimized for Medium/Dark roasts if I see there is interest. Default set is optimized for Light/Medium roasts."
Julia

DaveB
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#47: Post by DaveB »

Saw that as well. Definitely a head scratcher!
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viveur
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#48: Post by viveur »

Spitz.me wrote: As for wondering if there is a real obvious $600 benefit to having his custom burrs in the Max, well to assume that it won't just be a marginal improvement would go against common knowledge of what you're really buying at the top of the market segments. This is perhaps one of the major drivers of just making them a default burr. I would place a hefty bet that almost no one would be able to tell you which burrs were in the Max for their espresso. What do I know? As with anything it's better to try for yourself then to ask someone for what will surely be a biased perspective.
I don't have the space and money for 2 Max's side by side, so I'm pretty much going to have to trust what others say about the new burrs.

Agreed that it's likely to be marginal. For Denis that's obviously worthwhile: make the grinder as good as possible, since he's continuously building new ones. For existing Max owners, indeed, perhaps not worth switching. BUT: most Max owners are already crazy so it wouldn't be surprising if a bunch of people upgrade.

Qrumcof
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#49: Post by Qrumcof »

DaveB wrote:Having probably read every post ever made about Monolith grinders on the forum going back to the brand's inception, the consensus indicates that the flat is better for lighter roasts relative to the conical. When the Max arrived it was said to take the advantage to another level. From the Kafatek site:

If you are looking for grinder that will take your light roasted beans to next level this is it. We recommend Monolith Flat MAX to anyone that enjoys light roasted espresso and need the absolute best. If you drink medium/dark roasted espresso we do not think that MAX provides meaningful advantage over our Monolith Flat.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around why anyone would want burrs optimized for medium/dark roasts with this grinder. Seems like a high premium was paid (over the regular Flat) to better exploit light roasts.
The reason I wanted the medium/dark burrs is because I favor dark roasts.. Good to know there is no expected improvement over the flat. The main reason I wanted the max was because of the expanded grind setting scale. And at that price point grinding faster would be a plus as well..

In for a penny in for a pound; I would swap pre-orders, if I could get the dark roast burrs.

EDIT: I just asked this question on the kafatek list.
[Denis]: "could offer the dark burrs on the MAX if there is interest?"
If the burrs do not exist yet and require a production run, or if we could simply ask for them (even though it's not an option on the pre-order). .

mivanitsky
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#50: Post by mivanitsky »

Denis will make and sell Shuriken MD burrs for MAX if there is sufficient interest. Posting here and on Kafatek forum said interest will be helpful in this regard. As he is already needing to produce and test three new burrs for the end of the year batch, the 98mm Shuriken MD, as the fourth burr, is likely not going to be ready. Priority is replacing the functional equivalents of the three burrsets currently used on MAX and Flat.