Olympia Express 'Mocha SD' grinder offering

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

The new recently promoted 'Olympia SD' grinder is now previewing before sale in September.
It's Olympia's offering of a low retention grinder single dose grinder, And being promoted as less than one tenth of a gram retention.
It seems from the advertised dimensions are the same width and 300 watt motor used in the previous Olympia Mocha grinder/glass hopper.
Do we have a new offering from Olympia or just a makeover of the previous model. I hope not.
Any thoughts or observations.

The previous Mocha model was also promoted as a low retention grinder but was displayed in a video as not being so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib6mCP_7jkk

It's quite small and would be a perfect companion for the Olympia Cremina or Maximatic espressos machines.


drH
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#2: Post by drH »

To the extent that it's helpful, I posted quite a bit about the non-single dose moca. I'll paste that here as a refresh:
I've had quite a few grinders over the past few years including a Mignon(50mm), Atom 75 with SSP, Niche Zero, and Comandante.

The Olympia Moca has the same "feel" as the Cremina and the Maximatic, in that it's heavy, the case is metal, the hopper is very thick glass, and the cap on top of the hopper is machined metal. When I looked at the photos I wondered whether the adjustment knob and the collar that connects to the hopper were plastic.. but no, all steel or aluminum.

I can't speak much to the motor, but I believe it's a 300W, off the shelf part, but it has seemed powerful enough to do the job.
I have read others complain that it doesn't grind fine enough but it certainly does. The range of the adjustment knob covers a relatively small change in grind sizes.. but they include instructions that tell you how to remove the knob cap and set it to a finer or coarser range. During the first two weeks, I found myself grinding finer and finer as the burrs seasoned and then I had to make the adjustment to a finer setting (a really simple thing to do with a hex screwdriver)

So there is no problem with grinding very fine, but it's clearly designed as an espresso-only grinder. There's no easy way to move from espresso to filter and back.

It's also clear that they expect you to fill the hopper rather than single dose, and I did that for awhile. Eventually I decided to use RDT and single dose anyway. I found that this works fine, but the Moca wasn't meant to be a zero retention grinder, so expect to purge a few grams of beans whenever you change beans or grind settings. I also find that the static can make some mess unless you RDT.

As far as grind quality goes, I'm really happy with it. Taste-wise I think it stands up well to anything I've had before, and I prefer it to the Niche. I did a few informal side-by-side tests and both were very good but I just tended to prefer the clarity from the Moca, but others may have different opinions with different beans.
I never had a chance to do a side by side comparison to the Atom, but from memory, no huge taste differences jump to mind. But, the Atom had much less static, ground faster, was quieter, and the grinds were visibly very fluffy. The Eureka grinders also get points for being easy to disassemble and clean. I've seen videos online about taking the Moca apart and it looks like a project. Finally, I don't want to say the Moca is loud, but there is certainly no attempt to dampen the noise. Every other grinder I've owned was quieter.

All of that said, I really like the Moca because it's so small, the taste is great, and aesthetically it fits well with Olympia machines. I don't mind purging a few grams when I change settings, and, aside from that the grinder has been very consistent: by that I mean that once I dial in a certain grind to espresso yield in 25s, the shots have been repeatable. I also really appreciate the high quality metal and glass parts (the plastic Eureka hoppers always irked me on what were otherwise such great machines).

And of course, everything depends on what you hope to get out of it. I tend to like medium roasts and so 65mm flat steel burrs are fine. I have a feeling that if I begin experimenting with lighter roasts I'm going to be wondering what I'm missing by not having a Ditting 807 or a Monolith Flat.
From Olympia Maximatic update.

drH
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#3: Post by drH »

A recent update on the non-single dose model is that I had the exit chute clog a few times while I was single dosing, forcing me to open the grinder to clean it. Getting inside is a bit of a chore, but it's all fairly straight forward.

Unless you have pressure from a full hopper, grinds can get stuck behind the declumping flap and potentially clog. I asked Olympia about this and they said that flap has changed a few times in recent years- so they are clearly iterating to improve and single dose model will have some changes compared to my version.

When I use the Moca with a full hopper - it's excellent- no static, no mess.
I'll wait until the SD gets released and ask Cerini about it. From a workflow standpoint it could be a huge improvement, and it is so small. I'm optimistic.

BlackCarrera

#4: Post by BlackCarrera »

Interesting, I always toyed with the idea of sourcing a vintage Moca, and try converting it to a single dose grinder. Then I thought well the newer one might be better, but more expensive. And here we are! Haha Olympia Express seems to be more proactive and interesting in recent days. Hmmm, I'm more of a conical guy though.... Still interesting and worth the watch and speculation.

Shakespeare (original poster)
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#5: Post by Shakespeare (original poster) »

So, am I mistaken... this single dose Mocha grinder is not a new addition to the Olympia lineup?

Seems that the postings are about the old hopper Moch grinder...Has anyone have personal experience with this new model?

I assumed that this was a New model...or....is it just the same Olympia grinder placed on an angle with a different single dose (hopper) top for the beans to enter.

drH
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#6: Post by drH »

I think you are right that no one has tried it yet. It will be interesting to test how different it is.

metaphysicalist

#7: Post by metaphysicalist »

I just found the newly released Moca SD from the FB of Olympia Express.

https://www.olympia-express.ch/en/products/moca-sd

Width 14,6 cm
Depth 22,0 cm
Height 28,5 cm
Weight 5,4 kg

Equipped with 64mm flat burrs, selling for CHF 1,350.
Good looking and smaller, lighter than the Lagom P64.
It could be the second expansive grinder with the burrs in the size around 60mm in the market.

bas

#8: Post by bas »

looks good!

no variable rpm?

hope they have improved the grind adjustment mechanism.

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EvanOz85

#9: Post by EvanOz85 »

Over $1,400 USD and no variable RPM? Hard pass.

pcdawson

#10: Post by pcdawson »

Just wondering what grinders at this price point DO have variable rpm?