We have 2 new categories on our site. Reg Barber Handles and Reg Barber Bases. We get a lots of enquiries asking for just bases or just handles and we would do this over the phone, but now they have their own home.
Or perhaps you have some new baskets or a new machine that wont take your existing base or you'd like to try a different base shape then head over here and choose your base.
We now have updated our site to accept Paypal. Along with our secure online payment system provided by PayPoint you can also use your Paypal account to pay for purchases.
With the British Peso finally gaining some ground back against the Dollar and the Euro we can afford to pass those savings onto you. We have reduced prices on all ACF Cups and Saucers buy 10%. If your old cups are looking tired or you just want some reallyquality cups and saucers from the Official WBC Cup Supplier the head over to our ACF section on Coffee Hit
Ive been talking to Terry and Brian at Espresso Parts.com for a while about bringing some of their innovative products over to the UK and Europe.
Well our first package arrived yesterday (07/04/09) and was opened within 30 seconds of being signed for!
First out of the box was the Scace temperature device. We used one at Ristretto on Joes Synesso Cyncra. Straight away we knew it was an invaluable tool for engineers, cafe owners or coffee geeks. With the prevelance of PID double boiler machines it also offers a useful tool to calibrate your PID reading with the actual brew point temperature. Weve given buyers two options, it comes in either a E61 naked poratfilter, or a custom OEM La Marzocco naked portafilter. We have found an engineering company that is going to convert OEM factory portafilters to naked for us. We will also be offering a service where you send in a spare portafilter you have lying around and will make it naked. We hope to have this service up and running on our site in 3 weeks.
For more details on the Scace and its capabilties see EspressoParts.com
The second product out of the box was the Custom Steam tip for the La Marzocco. Espresso parts have been engineering this tip for nearlly 2 years. It prvides much more control over the steaming of milk.
Next item was the Elvinator. This doser mod for Mazzer dosers elimantes the curse of the Mazzer throw. It now allows the Mazzer to dose smoothly and cleanly into your portafilter.
We also brought over some of their famous tampers. This one is the Lava Deluxe tamper. Its has a 58mm convex stainless steel base. A really nice feel to it.
We'll continiue to work with the guys at Espresso Parts to offer UK customers the latest in espresso innovation.
Today (4/3/09)I got the chance try out the new Mahlkonig Vario home grinder. This is not meant to be comprehensive or technical review, but should be enough to give you some impressions on what this grinder is about. The test was conducted at Ristretto’s training room in Wimbledon. Joe is the guy to turn to for fantastic mobile coffee.
The first indication that a lot of thought had gone into this grinder was the packaging. Most grinders come in a big box with some foam or cardboard at the bottom and top ‘holding’ the grinder in position. The foam encasing was fully surrounding the grinder and inside were three separate compartments, one for the grinder, one for the hopper and another for the portafilter holder. No chance for the components to bash each other and break. The most likely part to break during shipping of a grinder is the hopper, so the packing reassured me that we won’t have too many broken hoppers reaching customers.
Out of the box this thing is small. At only 370mm tall and 125mm wide it is by far the smallest grinder in the home grinder category. The size is perfect for kitchen work tops. If ever your wife (or husband) complains that your coffee grinder is too big on the kitchen worktop then this will keep them happy.
As can be seen on the left photo the at first glance the control panel can look daunting but once you try it out and get used to it its very easy to operate. There are 3 buttons labelled Espresso, Filter and Press, by default they are set at 10, 20 & 30 seconds respectively. They can be individually programmed. They control the amount of time the grinder will run, they don’t adjust the grind, you still need to change the macro setting to your chosen brewing method. There is a little bit of playing around to get your times how you like it then once you have worked your times make a note of them on paper. Because if you unplug the machine it will reset back to factory settings. To set the grind time you just use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the tome on the display and then keep pressed the button (espresso, filter or press) for 3 seconds and it will programme that button.
There is also a manual option. You press the manual button hit start to start the grinder then start again to stop it.
The Sliding levers on the sides of the control panel move the grinding burrs to adjust your grind. There are 10 macro (right hand slider) settings and 20 micro (left hand slider) settings. One notch on the Macro equals 20 notches on the micro slider. You only need to adjust the micro slider to dial in espresso. When you want to grind for other methods just move the macro slider.
Now for the coffee….
My first instinct with this grinder is that it wouldn’t grind fine enough for espresso. So my first test was to take it to the finest possible setting. I ground and levelled off a Double basket in a La Marzocco portafilter.
I locked it into Joe’s 2 group Synesso Cyncra and turned the paddle to extract and…well nothing. I let the pump try to ram water at 9 Bar through the coffee for 25 seconds but not even a drip of coffee was visible. Well it past that test, it choked a Synesso Cyncra. Impressive. Now id tried to see how much I had to back it off to get the extraction I was looking for 50ml in 25 seconds.
I took the Macro slider back down 3 full settings from the top and the micro slider one up from the coarsest setting.
This is what I ended up with. I’ve levelled the basket but not tamped.
A really nice grind that looked about right. This is what it produced.
This shot produced about 65ml in 25 seconds. A little too course.
To get what I was after, 50ml in 25 seconds, I had to go to the very middle of the left slider and 3 down from the top on the right slider. Here's the result.
Taste was amazing. Joe’s coffee certainly helped on that front but the grinder certainly held up its part of the equation.
So to answer my initial question can it grind fine enough for espresso the answer is a resounding YES!! There even more than enough leeway as the burrs become dull to go finer.
Onto the accessories. The grinder comes with a portafilter holder and a bin for use when grinding for press or drip.
They both slide securely into the grinder, but another nice touch is that it’s not crucial for either one to be in place to start the grinder. Fantastic if you have a naked portafilter or don’t want to use the attachments. The portafilter holder can be adjusted via a screw to adjust for your style of portafilter. The idea is great and it holds your portafilter quiet ingeniously.
A problem with a lot of grinders is grind retention. That is coffee that is left behind in the grinder and will come out when you next grind, but is stale and therefore affect the taste of the coffee. After grinding for 25-30 espresso I wanted to see what the retention was like. Here’s a shot of the chute.
Looks OK there. Id call that nearly zero retention.
Next test was to grind for Drip and Press. I didn’t make any adjustment to the micro slider. All I did was move the macro slider to the positions marked on the grinder corresponding to drip and press. Here the shot for Drip
Nice even grind that could be improved with some adjustment. And the shot for Press.
Could be a little courser for my liking, but I hadn’t moved the micro setting to the most course setting.
Conclusion This grinder won’t be leaving my kitchen. It makes my wife happy and it makes me happy. It truly is an amazing grinder. The quality of the grinding is first class with the least amount of clumping ive seen from a doserless grinder. It’s a great all round grinder in a small package.
Nearly all grinder and espresso machine manufacturers have increased their prices for their products for 2009.
But I say nearly all...Anfim manufacturers of the Super Caimano, Caimano, Best and Haus have kept their prices at last years levels.
The Anfims have been a slow burner in the espresso industry but have really started to get noticed.
From their home/light commercial range the Anfim Best is, in our opinion, up there with the Mazzer Mini but at nearly £100 cheaper is certainly a grinder to put in the mix when deciding your grinder. This grinder is very solid and has the famous Anfim dosing compabilities.
For commercial premises the Anfim commercials will save you money. By our reckoning you could save between 10%-20% on coffee wastage because of the neatness of the Anfim doser. And no im not exaggerating!! And when compared to other grinders in its categories the Anfim at this price is a great choice for your cafe.
Previously our bulk order discounts were only available to trade customers, we now have opened up the discounts for everyone to enjoy and take advantage of. Whether your a cafe or a group of friends you can now buy larger quantities of our products are greatly reduced prices.
We have also added a Web Specials Category where we place items that are at greatly reduced prices for a limited time.
Head over to Coffee Hit and take advantage of these great prices.
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