Here's the wrap up I promised. It's taken a while to get to everything, but I was hoping to point out some of the stuff not on their site yet, namely the very cool LED lights under the dosers.

Lot's of details here on the RPM changes ( using 4 different voltage measurements).


There is a treatment given to all their burrs simply called "pre-wear" to deliver them to the consumer relatively broken in and ready to go, out of the box, whether they're coated or uncoated.

"Red Speed Lucidate" Burr Treatment here. Basically, lower friction equals cooler grinding temp of the resulting grinds, and an extended life of the burrs as well.





The Master "M10 Conic DYN detailed here.



The updated Pro Barista.



But most of that is just current site data available to everyone. I'm playing back my audio interview with their reps and wanted to point out some other things that aren't even mentioned yet on their site, which is the very nice LED lighting on the discharge chute for dosing in low lighting. It's a nice touch, especially for folks who want to make a beverage maybe in the evening, without a lot of bright light on, or like in my case, where my bar is softly lit by accent lights, I don't need to have all my bright overhead kitchen lights on which is nice.


This LED feature will be an option at some point this year and a standard feature after the third quarter of 2014 (projected). There's one on each side of the basket, for optimal lighting. It's a feature that Compak owns alone, no other grinder manufacturer that I have found has such a design incorporated as a stock feature.



They've incorporated upgrades to their electronic dosing timers on the doserless grinders, with more precise timing, for more precise dose control. Instead of dose timing of 0.10 second timing on the previous Fresh model, they now go down to 0.010 (hundredth) of a second. The smooth touchscreen interface is easily cleaned, highly visible and a great ergonomic angle for optimal visibility.



I'm not certain if this is a brand new feature or if I've just missed seeing it reported before, but I noticed for the first time a different small hopper that fits all their models, equipped with a trap door style gate on the bottom. It's finished nicely in a bead blasted finish that won't show fingerprints and should be a nice feature for those of us who single dose. It will come stock as an accessory to the grinder, nice touch there. The best feature of it is that it's not soft aluminum. You can torque it down with their hopper lock, holding it in place, without damaging it, because its steel rather than aluminum.



The updated esthetic of the finish, with a slight matte coating, certainly looks much nicer than previous options, it's coated thick enough to prevent scratches better, and much easier to keep clean looking. There's more color options coming as well. It's silky smooth to the touch and quite attractive.



A big change when going to the Essential line, borrowing from the Fresh line, was the large worm gear knob that the Fresh featured for grind setting. The Fresh line will continue to have this as the adjustment mechanism, and it was transferred over to their Master series, that includes the DYN, build in tamper. But the Essential line's greatest development is the burr alignment feature and change back to a standard collar grind adjustment. The alignment feature is not carefully worded out on their site, but promises better burr alignment, which is of upmost importance to grind quality.

The "Master" models, found in all lines, allows for more cooling and ventilation, as discussed previously. Very important for a busy cafe and conserves energy since it's not always on, with the exception of the upper back fan that is always on to keep the grind chamber itself at the lowest possible temp during rapid use. All this with only adding about ~ 3" of total extra height.

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the report. Nice stuff!!

I have a question for u (or anyone else please), seeking for advice as you have seen this new line.

I just bought a K10 PB in the last 2 weeks (just before SCAA) and still in the return window. I have not opened the box as I am finishing the kitchen remodel. I wonder if you think there is a significant advantage on the new line as to return this one and wait a few weeks for the new models to arrive. What do u guys think?

Thanks for your help

Rgards

John

You're still looking till late June, maybe early July before these hit, and the lights might not even be available for certain until late 3rd quarter. It's your call to make.

Another excellent report Tom--how are you fingertips holding up from all that typing?

I wonder if Compak is paying OE royalties for the mini-hopper?

TomC wrote: "Red Speed Lucidate" Burr Treatment here. Basically, lower friction equals cooler grinding temp of the resulting grinds, and an extended life of the burrs as well.

Any ideas if these can be bought from Compak as a set? from what I can gather it's basically a 71mm set with a slightly smaller outer diameter (to 68mm).

Regards,
dsc.

dsc wrote:From what I can gather it's basically a 71mm set with a slightly smaller outer diameter (to 68mm).

I think I would switch this around: 68mm conical with 49mm OD inner burr is the standard that is used across a ton of grinder manufacturers (Compak, Fiorenzato, Macap, Elektra, maybe others). Mazzer is the primary outlier with their 71 mm OD outer burr for a near-identical 49mm OD inner burr.

Fair enough, curious if Mazzer does it on purpose to keep sales on their burr sets high or whether it's due to their manufacturing process and the two-piece outer burr approach.

Regards,
dsc.

shadowfax wrote:I think I would switch this around: 68mm conical with 49mm OD inner burr is the standard that is used across a ton of grinder manufacturers (Compak, Fiorenzato, Macap, Elektra, maybe others). Mazzer is the primary outlier with their 71 mm OD outer burr for a near-identical 49mm OD inner burr.

^ This.

And no specifics about sourcing burrs separate of buying the grinder, but I have my contact I can ask. I'll let you know shortly.

beer&mathematics wrote:
I wonder if Compak is paying OE royalties for the mini-hopper?

No. But, they did buy one.

dsc wrote:Any ideas if these can be bought from Compak as a set? from what I can gather it's basically a 71mm set with a slightly smaller outer diameter (to 68mm).

Regards,
dsc.

Just now confirmed; the Red Speed Burrs from Compak will be available from our own site sponsor, Chris Coffee but don't currently show up. You'll have to call them and inquire.