• Grinders
  • Brian Quan's Kafatek video series

JonWoo187 It’s mind blowing how green selection/roast development plays by far the largest part in the equation

Over the last few years, there have been major strides in this area. Take naturals for example - SCAA used to regard natural processing as flawed with taint. Modern processing methods have tamed the heavy boozy fermented notes making natural processing, for me, far more enjoyable.

    Years back, I had the opportunity to test out a GS3 manual. Trying to control the pressure with the manual paddle was impossible let alone replicable. I put some of my failure down to my not having any prior experience but discounted this watching the GS3’s owner have little more success than me. My conclusion - what was the point of the machine having a manual pressure profiling paddle if it didn’t work?

    Systemic I’ve never had any real respect for the SCAA and their retarded ‘standards’… For many yrs I’ve strongly preferred naturals over any other process method for that extreme ‘funkiness’ that just can’t be matched for my taste/texture preference.

    dfk41
    The HB forum proclaimed the k10 as one of the so called titan grinders at the time so I bought two units for home and the office, and they served me well for more than 10 years. Apart from getting jammed with beans a few times and stalling as a result, it served me well and for the dark roasts i used exclusively at the time, they were great. I only found them lacking for flavour note differentiation and separation when I started gravitating more and more to lighter and lighter roasts.

      2 months later

      Systemic

      Theres only one answer to that. The pointy end 🤪

      Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.

      About Me

      JonWoo187

      You miss the point again!

      This is a hobby, to me at least.

      I love the design and engineering ot certain products as much as drinking the coffee!

      I just recently purchased kafatek flat max 2

      Because the coffee it will produce is 5 x better than the niche Duo, every shot. NO

      Because it will be 3 x better than the Mazzer Philos then. NO

      Ok, must be because its twice as good as the Weber Key. Also, NO.

      So as i have all the above it seems like a total waste if money!

      Some of us purchase certain equipment to evaluate and enjoy its design .

      How much of the price of a Kafatek is profit, labor, machining costs and design plus contribution to the ongoing “project”. I can’t put a figure on it, but id say, quite a lot.

      Is that a hidden fact or did someone think the motor was worth 2k alone as its made in japan?! Doubt it.

      Does it make better coffee than my Key or HG-1 prime ….

      On a tuesday and saturday, yes depending what meal i had the night befor!!

      It boils down to what Better actually is.

      So far im thinking it will be a long term purchase. Love the design and over the top engineering but that is one reason i purchased it.

      Did i expect the coffee to taste totally different to any of my other grinders. Obviously not.

      Does the coffee taste different to the Key. Yes it definately does. But which i actually prefer depends what day and mood etc

      Might even try to purchase a mr Puff, cap and wdt tool just to make it complete and to see if its better than the piece of crap Craig decided to sell with it. Should have looked in the box that “has all the original accessories in it”. Should have remembered that phrase, trust noone!

      Im not sure how popular these are on here.

      I am sure anyone they appeal to will enjoy tham for what they are.

      Would i say “ to get great coffee you need to ditch your philos, key, zero etc and buy one if these or you will never taste great coffee” . Most definately not.

      Has anyone regretted purchasing.

      @Systemic

      Should i sell it and get the blind burr 2025 model 🤪

      🤞🏼 Hoping for an answer along the lines of, the blind burrs are great but possibly not worth actually upgrading to (please!).

      Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.

      About Me

        Would you believe I’ve only run a handful of shots through my Max as I’ve been preoccupied with other matters not least of which is taking on the secretary of state for work and pensions I kid you not.

        Am hoping to get some time to be able to get to grips with the Max and see if it performs as well for pour over as it does, so far, with espresso. It’s a lot quieter than the EK mercifully. Our granddaughter who regularly watches Peppa Pig on my Mac workstation which is a few feet from the EK complains each time I switch it on. One thing I immediately noticed is the extractions through the naked portafilter and a joy to behold. With the EK, there were always some bare spots in the basket no matter how careful I prepped. I’ve given up using a metal filter disk on the puck as I think it’s redundant.

        It’s clear the Max makes better espresso than the EK - I will get round to doing some extraction yield tests just for fun. The Max produces more body in longer extraction ratios than the EK which is a big plus. That’s probably down to the blind burrs. Only joking.

          4 days later

          Systemic That’s probably down to the blind burrs.

          Thats it, ordering!!

          No, joking as well 🥰

          Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.

          About Me

          Some interesting sneak peek shots on IG of something new they are making.

          Adrianmsmith

          Your kafatek grinder seems rather close to the edge of the counter top there ! Apart from that, congrats on buying what is reputed to be one of the top level pieces of kit you can get as an expresso grinder…

            chlorox Dunno as Kafatek grinders look to be a bit on the slower side, so I can’t associate them with eXpresso nirvana…

              JonWoo187

              Do you, will you ever have anything positive to contribute to any thread ?

              14 seconds 300 rpm for 19.5g to give a 45g shot in 25 seconds to me is not slow.

              In any case if you actually knew anything, hopefully you would agree (or thats stretching it for you) that speed is way down the list of requirements for a great espresso grinder .

              Accuracy, consistency and giving the correct grind distribution are far more important to me at least.

              But if you cant wait 14 seconds for a shot to grind in a Domestic environment you are probably far to busy to be bothering with the home barista experience.

              Ironically the worst grinder i ever had was the quickest by far. DF83v2. Fast was its only selling point. Inconsistent was the kindest review .

              Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.

              About Me

                Adrianmsmith First of all I was being sarcastic as usual, but have read of some Kafateks taking as long as 1 min for a typical dose. Never had one and won’t as I’m not into single dosing at all, but obviously to each their own and just recalling some complaints I’ve read about them. Possibly those were being used for very fine range grinding…

                Will definitely say if your output is 45g/25 seconds that’s on the coarser side of espresso range which would explain the rather fast 14 second grind time, coffee dependent of course. I’d be more along the lines of 20g in, 18-20g out in 75-80 seconds, but I don’t go down the newb path of having to use a scale/timer for every variable to reach my end goal, bwahaha.

                  JonWoo187 I don’t go down the newb path of having to use a scale/timer for every variable

                  I dont recall the last time i checked the accuracy of the output, as it will be within a g im sure. As the end pressure is set (from when i lat weighed the output) and time is automatically recorded when the shot ends theres no path to go down. Just glance at the time when i go back to collect the shot.

                  The only reason i still have a scale with a timer is i once had an e61 machine and the scale refused to die no point changing it.

                  The good news is you do not have to be violated by drinking my shots, but more importantly vice versa .

                  How many years are you considered a newb in this hobby !

                  Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.

                  About Me

                  @Adrianmsmith ignore @JonWoo187 #647 he went on mine pretty much right away

                  10000000% a troll trying to get a reaction, anyone who knows more that Starbucks, knows that a kafatec grinder is the pinnacle of grinders, I’d say some one is massively jealous,

                  Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -