Orphan Espresso Apex Grinder

#1: Post by **hankua** » February 13th, 2018, 8:53 am

Well the cat's out of bag, OE posted on twitter: "First cup of coffee brewed with the Apex grinder"

Last month I stopped by with another HB member to catch up with Doug and Barb, where we heard all about the big burr grinder in development. They laid out some of the rough casting parts and explained how they go together. As the picture shows, the Apex will have a set of big ghost/crushing burrs and is a dedicated hand grinder. I believe it's intended purpose is everything BUT espresso prep.

#2: Post by **jbviau** » February 13th, 2018, 11:47 am

Thanks! Yes, I've been following the various teases on social media. Lately I'd started to feel the urge to take the next step up from my manual grinders and/or the Preciso for filter brewing, so this comes at a good time. I'm curious to read more details, of course, and grateful that Doug & Barb are so driven to keep innovating.

#3: Post by **Marcelnl** » February 13th, 2018, 11:57 am

seems they are using a burr geometry that I have seen in the 'coffee shops' in my country that are about 'weed' not coffee.

#4: Post by **OldNuc** » February 13th, 2018, 12:18 pm

All of the old cast iron/steel hand and motor drive shop grinders from the past used a ghost burr. They produce a very consistent particle size and next to zero fines. Will not grind into the espresso range however. The will get fine enough that a 1.5-2.0 BAR espresso extraction would work.

#5: Post by **IMAWriter** » February 13th, 2018, 6:06 pm

Doug and Barb rock the coffee planet...again.
Now the patient wait begins..., unless the cat jumped back into the

bag.

#6: Post by **maxbmello** » February 13th, 2018, 6:39 pm

Will be anxiously awaiting this release as well!

#7: Post by **ripvanmd** » February 13th, 2018, 9:08 pm

On the edge of my seat....

#8: Post by **CwD** » February 13th, 2018, 9:16 pm

OldNuc wrote:All of the old cast iron/steel hand and motor drive shop grinders from the past used a ghost burr. They produce a very consistent particle size and next to zero fines. Will not grind into the espresso range however. The will get fine enough that a 1.5-2.0 BAR espresso extraction would work.

Interestingly on my Jericho badged Fuji R-440 the grinds look completely free of fines, but they quickly show up if you try to sieve. I think the ghost burrs just have better fines integration instead of throwing them off separately. Regardless, I'm interested in this for making these strange burrs much more publicly accessible than the large, hard to get, and expensive machines that offer them now.

#9: Post by **OldNuc** » February 13th, 2018, 10:37 pm

Don't know about the Fuji 440 but the '30s vintage shop grinder I have used for better than 20 years to grind for a commercial BUNN machine is effectively fines free at that coarser setting setting. That is what makes them attractive for coarse grinds.

#10: Post by **maxbmello** » February 14th, 2018, 6:43 am

Doug shared a photo on twitter using this grinder and seiving the fines. There were hardly any, so I don't think it is about integration, just very consistent coarse grinding capability.

I have an old grindmaster with ghost tooth burrs that kinda sucks, interested to see how this turns out. So far, very promising looking!