Seacoffee wrote:I grind into the basket but move it round so the grinds fill various parts of the basket rather than just leave it central to form a mound.

I forgot to ask: do you use the Kafatek dosing funnel? A different funnel? No funnel? I'm wondering whether distance between the chute and basket is a factor.

I'm strongly considering ordering a Monolith Flat in Denis' next round of orders, but was wondering if users and owners might be willing and able to answer two questions.

First, has anyone performed laser diffraction particle distribution analysis on the Monolith flat? I know that each Monolith is tested for extraction yield and TDS, and that the results there have been impressive. However, the consensus seems to be that although extraction yield is a valuable criterion for assessing grind quality, wildly different particle distributions (e.g. - narrow unimodal, disparate bimodal) can produce identical extraction yield and TDS metrics. In short, I'd be curious to see just how unimodal the Monolith Flat's particle distribution is at its optimal RPM, and how that compares to others in its class (e.g. - EK43, R120, Peak, EG-1).

Second, although the Kafatek website describes the Monolith Flat as being able to "[g]rind from the finest Turkish coffee to French Press, Espresso, Mocha, and Filter coffee," I have seen no user reviews or first impressions on the grinder's performance with french press. Can anyone speak to the Monolith's performance and ease of use for french press? And, can anyone attest to the ease of, accuracy of, and methods for switching back and forth from radically different grind settings such as espresso and french press? I realize that the margin of error for coarse grinding is higher than with espresso, so scrutinizing over french press grind quality may seem petty. However, one of the greatest potential appeals of the Monolith Flat is that it might perform excellently at both espresso and french press, which happen to be my two favorite brew types.

Thanks in advance for the honest feedback.

Here is the last thing I did to modify (cosmetically) the first edition of the Monolith Flat. In some ways it looks closer to the black top current version.

This is the burrs as they looked without cleaning, ever! It is the first time the chamber has been opened and I was pleasantly surprised to see how little was inside the burr area.

coffeekid wrote:I'm strongly considering ordering a Monolith Flat in Denis' next round of orders, but was wondering if users and owners might be willing and able to answer two questions.

Given the expense and availability of equipment, I think it might be a while before laser diffraction particle analysis gets done on the Monolith grinders.

But the folks over at the Socratic Coffee website have been using a sieve technique to compare the particle distributions of various grinders. Their results make some sense in light of what's known about the grinders, but they may not be definitive. There's some question as to the accuracy of sieving, but my understanding is that there are issues with laser diffraction analysis, too -- like how to count small particles that are stuck together. You might try contacting Socratic and see if they plan to analyze the Monolith grinders. One of the Socratic founders, Jeremy, has been posting here under the name SC_Jeremy. Try PMing him.

I can't attest to the Flat's performance for French Press, but I can attest to the fact that it switches easily between espresso and the setting I use for my vac pot, which is in the same ballpark as drip. The espresso setting doesn't change when I go to vac-pot and back. I'm very happy with the taste for both brew methods. I realize French Press is likely to require a greater deviation from the espresso grind, but given the design and tight tolerances of the Flat, I can't imagine the results would be different for French Press. Hopefully someone who has tried it will chime in.

I haven't actually tried a French press with mine yet. Maybe I will this weekend though. I have done a coarse grind for cold brew, and the grind looked good and the brew turned out great. Every day I adjust it from my espresso range to where my wife wants it for her daily drip pot. Returning to espresso is always repeatable.

I think this grinder comes very close to the holy grail of the true "do everything" grinder. Its not a bulk grinder, and so will probably not perform quite as well as a bunzilla or similar things. Ergonomically with the portafilter forks, adjustment range geared toward espresso, and small hopper (depending on how large a press you make you may need to grind in two batches) it is obviously primarily designed as an espresso grinder. Dual duty is never going to be optimum for any grinder, but this one does it pretty well. Well enough that it is now the only grinder I use at home.

It works well for Moka Pots too

Does anyone have any hints for moving between filter/espresso. I seem to get mine stuck a lot(have to retighten the bolt. Run the grinder. Untighten) takes a lot longer than i would expect to move between the two.

jaredw wrote:Does anyone have any hints for moving between filter/espresso. I seem to get mine stuck a lot takes a lot longer than i would expect to move between the two.

It has been a while but I thought it was almost 1 revolution larger.

Yeah, it is just moving between the two that takes time. The burrs sort of stick. In some cases ive gone to move it back, tighten it, and the grinder has stalled.

Are you doing something to force the excess grounds that are not spit completely out, like thumping your palm on the loading cone after each grind?