Mahlkonig EK Omnia

HarveyMushman And switching between methods regularly isn’t an issue?

No. I switch between pour over and espresso every day. Find dialling in for espresso with new beans very easy. I have a default setting - 1.0 on mine. I will tighten the grind if the shot is too fast and do the opposite if to slow. I can usually nail follow up shots at the second attempt. That said, even 15sec shots aren’t undrinkable but that’s maybe me and my taste buds.

The big plus about the EK is its ability to push extraction yields well above 20% - 23-24% with relative ease. This unlocks the beans sweet elements which help tame the acidic notes associated with lighter roasts. So you can get bags of fruit without it being mouth puckering.

I bought my first EK new in 2014 but my current EKs was bought second hand at considerable saving. If you are patient, and want one, they do come up on eBay etc. The EKs has a reputation for having tighter tolerances than the original EK43. I never had any with mine - maybe I was lucky. I have a dial micrometer from Titus engineering Germany which, when set up, can measure burr alignment. I have helped a few fellow owners service their first gen EKs and not found major problems with tolerances.

This is worth a watch.

HarveyMushman Sounds ideal. And you’re using the factory burrs?

Mine is fitted with SSP Silver Knight burrs. Also has a few mods courtesy Titus engineering Germany - different augur and static burr holder.

This is a good example of what can pop up from time to time on eBay. This one sold in September.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186075979568?hash=item2b52fe1f30:g:170AAOSwr5ZlAA7r&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4KB7DrkSCKHbi8F3fWCfffe6rM92FRzltvf7HaPmfLRVpaSWDmN8EvARW14H%2Flz5U6UubTpT3bVsV%2BQKDpFRAtwERMRCa4Tn%2FDUgwUHX4tPHrXCUovhtBIEE0OwlitbYEC9hqEGoeZ29Skp2NKRoxC%2B%2FXrvAA%2FkLqDRDAxQjiFH4hFUS1xdG8mYTivg4QbWKKe4pX27uYqijaPrDwwBG4g6Cg8ScFp9UllMGsVJICYMolNgMTcy6tJK3j6CGyDA0iYuAySkHoMNcp%2B7uTU41ojTkp4v8o1ZqYCQSzJkxuG0n%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_KDn5GEYw

HarveyMushman Sounds ideal. And you’re using the factory burrs?

When I got my first EK - you had a choice between coffee and Turkish burrs. As no-one had any experience of the differences, I went for coffee and regretted it as I couldn’t grind fine enough for espresso with light roast. Switched to Turkish burrs and problem solved. Reason I didn’t go for Turkish in first place, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to switch to pour over grind, i.e. not being able to grind coarse enough. That wasn’t a problem. Couple of years after I got my EK and probably responding to criticism from the coffee shop world, Mahlkonig quietly introduced Mk II coffee burrs which were more aggressive than the original coffee burrs but not as aggressive as the Turkish ones. Interestingly, Mahlkonig never acknowledged the change. It was sussed by a coffee head putting the Mk I and II burrs side by side where you could see a very slight change in the edge profile.

I think Mahlkonig have stuck with the Mk II burr profile and not altered it. I have a friend with an EKs with stock coffee burrs. Interestingly, her range is about 0.3 - 0.5 stop difference to my SSPs meaning where she would grind at 0.3 on her EKs, I would be around 0.5 ish. It also means she has, when her EK is cleaned and serviced, to ensure the burrs are set to chirping point when zeroing them. She leaves that to me😀

Servicing the EK is very straightforward. I do mine every six months - take off the front burr (very easy) clean and regrease and re-assemble and zero the burrs. Takes half an hour tops.

chlorox The difference in price between the omnia and the 43 doesn’t seem that big. I find it hard to understand why the mazzer ZM and ZM+ are so expensive givne the price of the OMNIA.

Mahlkonig are being very savvy - why change what is tried and tested and valued in the marketplace. History is littered with newer versions, particularly cars, which are a step back not forward. Pricing of the Omnia is also interesting. Always thought the ZM was overpriced - the Omnia will kill it.

chlorox Or at the least to persuade mazzer to drop the zx price to something a lot more reasonable?

I suspect that might well happen. I had a play on one when it first came out and was put off by its tendency to be temperamental. Also, you can’t, as I recall, use the same burrs for espresso and pour over - it’s either or which is not the case with the EK and a deal clincher IMO.