In all honesty, and I've spoken this aloud at home, this series of grinder review videos have created an excitement for me that I haven't had since I listed to my first Dokken record in '85. I clearly need more excitement in my life, but I do give most of the credit to James for creating such compelling and refreshing content.
@@jameshoffmann I love LinusTechTips because they upload daily and they have like a 40 person crew, so I appreciate the work you’re doing, it must be intense
Can I just thank you James for making proper points about the manufacturing processes behind these grinders. In my own field it's something that gets completely disregarded in the face of a high price, and it's maddening. Value lies beyond raw results, price/performance will always end up favouring the cheapest tool that just about manages the job. I really appreciate that you touch on the difficulties of production and the differences between how each company approaches their products. Can't wait to watch the remaining episodes in the series!
People also fail to consider that value is more than monetary. I may decide to overpay for a product I like because it makes my life easier. Convenience provides value. I may pay for someone to do a job I could do myself, because I value the opportunity to give them work they may need. Or, I may buy a $3k grinder because I like the aesthetic of it. Looks provide value. So many people get caught up in the idea that value only equals money. There's more to it than that.
@@candinmuniz3225 100% In my eyes, value is measured from the level of satisfaction you feel. Naturally satisfaction will change depending on what the individual looks for in a product. You don't want to feel cheated by a purchase after all. The problem with that from a review level though is that it's intangible and ultimately up to personal preference, which is a pain as folks often use it as a stick to beat the reviewer with.
I've had too many grinders, including a modified EK43s and now a Lagom P-64. I can tell you confidently that none of these grinders will improve the taste of your coffee to anywhere near what the difference in price would suggest! The slope of price vs. performance drops RAPIDLY after the Encore. You can argue (as James does) that you pay for quality and craftsmanship, and your money indeed does go somewhere, but unless you're a die-hard coffee enthusiast with refractometer, water treatment and all the other geeky stuff, none of these grinders make much sense!
I was a barista for years and was really passionate about coffee until an eating disorder made it hard to enjoy and I left the industry. Years after recovery, I discovered your channel and your videos have reinvigorated my love for coffee and I really look forward to brewing several times a day. Thank you James !
Me as a coffee lover from Germany really laughed but in an astonished way, cause the pronunciation was on point! Definitely enjoyed this video a lot 🙏🏼 looking forward to the others. Cheers
Thanks for the nod, buddy. Just for reference in the chat, I do think a lot of us knew at the time that what we had on our hands was simply an outlier. Coffee grinders prior to this current generation left so, so much to be desired in design and performance. The lessons learned enabled a lot of the other grinders in this series to exist, because it clearly demonstrated there was market demand for better performing technology. Bit of a shame that Mahlkonig were never really able to acknowledge what they had and properly iterate on an ancient product for the sake of meeting the new demands of their customers, but thank goodness for competition I guess. As you’ve pointed out, there are some excellent options in the field now and the EK is still good for a few applications regardless.
@@skilllessbeast7416 coffee shops can buy equipment and apply for tax deduction, depending on country, but in the end generally they don't need to pay nearly as much as you would have to for buying such machine for home purposes.
There's plenty of cafes here that buy them because it's a "must have", yet the shops don't invest in training their baristas in how to use them. Same goes for those shops that buy stradas and have no clue and just stick to a straight 9 bar profile.
I've been going to Cafe Myriade as a visitor and resident of Montreal on and off since it opened, I had no idea at all about any of this. Really appreciate the work you do so much!
I do own one at home to sit next to my La Marzocco GS3. Did allign the burs to optimize, and after that, it turned out to be the most consisting grinder I have worked with so far. Very good in dialing already known coffee straight from the table of notes I made. very happy with it!
@@jameshoffmann It isn't. In Swedish it would be something like "malakungen", but that's very construed. "Mahlkönig" indeed is German, from "Mahlen" (grinding) and "König" (king).
I greatly enjoy when you give context and recent history about the evolution of the coffee industry, please do it as often as possible. Thank you very much for this serie.
This grinder seems to be the de facto standard in Australian cafes, at least on the east coast. If I'm travelling, seeing one through a window is usually a decent indicator of a decent spot to drop into.
Look at Mr Hoffmann giving us such an amazing series in January, the worst month for earning money on RUclips, coming out of December, the best month! Loving the videos!
I have not had the privilege of using one of these as a daily grinder, but I have used a few EK’s in my time. One interesting trend here in Australia is to leave the EK running non-stop. Cafes will first turn on the grinder when the staff first walk in the door to open up and hour before service. The theory is the temperature will be stabilised, it won’t fluctuate between peak and off peak periods. This leads to more consistent grind size as the metal is all at temperature and has expanded to it maximum. All that being said, consistently I find the espresso from EK’s to be more balanced and generally sweeter. I get the lack in texture, however I prefer overall balance and sweetness as a priority preference.
and me too!!! Café Myriade won the best coffee shop a couple years back I believe. I don't live in Montreal anymore but it seems they have opened 2 other shops.
I've had an Ek43 as a home grinder for a few years now. I was lucky to get one 2nd hand for a decent price. I've modded it by removing the thwacker and replacing with a jar (keeps retention super low and really improves work flow). The hopper is gone and has been replaced with a glass V60. There's some SSP redspeeds in there. I've spent countless hours trying to align it and there's still room for improvement. I think the next stage is to sand the static burr landing surface myself and buy a Titus burr carrier. If I'd had to pay full price and do all of the above I wouldn't have been very impressed. I tend to find that my espresso setting stay pretty consistent day to day and between beans but that could be the SSP burrs working their magic. Great vid James, looking forward to the next couple of days.
I remember seeing this grinder in a handful of coffee shops and thought it was weird everyone had the same one. Given what was said about the distribution, this makes a lot of sense. Thanks James! Great video
Great series James. Really appreciate your insights and style . . . thank you for your diligent and hard work in putting so much information out there for us! At home I use my Comandante. Love the fluffy and consistent grinds and my coffee is wonderful. At my shop I use the Webber EG-1. A few years ago I bought an EK-43 for the shop in Japan while I was traveling in the States. My bad, I purchased a 60hz grinder and in my area of Japan we use 50hz. I sold it to a friend in Shizuoka and that is when I bought my EG-1. I was one of the firs 100 people to own one. I love it but James is right on about the sound of this grinder. And I have to fiddle with it to get all the grinds to pass through when I grind. It is pretty good but the only truly zero retention grinder I have ever used is the Comandante.
I will probably NEVER entertain these grinders seeing as they cost as much as a motorcycle, but there's something about your videos that keeps me coming back again and again Mr. Hoffmann!
Was in a Blue Bottle recently in LA and observed they had two big hopper on-demand Mazzer SJs or Minis, unsure, for espresso, and an EK43 with an Acaia bean doser to single dose for pour over. The espresso was good and I didn’t get the chance to try the pour over but I’ll try to try it next time I’m in there.
I appreciated the context you gave in this review. This is not a grinder for enthusiasts at home, it's for batch grinding. I think a lot of people get caught up in the name and forget the purpose, and end up pining for something without considering it's effectiveness. For example, a Rancilio Silvia CAN pull good espresso. Should I start a Cafe with it? Probably not. Can the EK-43 pull good shots? Absolutely! Should I use it as my daily driver at 5 in the morning when I want a no-fuss, single dose of coffee? Probably not. Great review James! Can't wait for more!
Aesthetically this is my favorite grinder. It’s one of those instantly recognizable pieces like a Chemex. It looks like a steam locomotive and I just love it.
As a native German speaker, hearing pronounciation attempts at umlauts is always a source of intriguing, joyous and good-natured cringe. Probably exactly the same as "ze Germans" attempting to pronounce a smooth "th".
I have a white EK43S for my home use. It is PERFECT for single dose grinding. I bought a small short mini hopper made for EK43 by someone in China which is a size of an espresso cup, compact cute, a great companion in single dose grinding. Grinding is easy to adjust. Cleaning maintenance takes a little time but if I could do it, it couldn’t be too complicated. For espresso, I had to change to Turkish burrs. Best investment for a home barista!
@@vikaskalia8567 I have a hopper that has a handle that has to be turned to drop the beans. My routine is to measure out the beans (18gm), drop them into the hopper, turn on the EK43, then open the hopper by gliding the handle around. Then the beans drop. I’ve seen it called ek43 mini vol hopper. Bought it online at mostly Melbourne (overseas purchase)
@@Doodle-bx9xk thanks for response , have you ever tried with dropping beans first and then running ? Reason I ask is that I find a discernible difference in the cup and now it’s a scratch I’m trying to itch lol .
@@vikaskalia8567 I have not compared those two parameters because I thought that it would be ideal to have the grinder run first before dropping the beans. Read somewhere that this is also better for the grinder. Intuitively, grinding beans bunched up in grinder before turning it on would give more uneven grinds compared to beans falling in while the burrs are running.
I got EK for three reasons: 1. It makes good coffee. 2. I can compare my coffee / roast with others around the world easily as it's so widely available. 3. It provides the flexibility for single does and grinding at large volume (just a free service for friends if they need it). Otherwise, I share the same frustration with many: it's hard to align and there are lots of build up in burrs where the screw holes are. EG-1 will be my next upgrade as it provides the ultimate no-fuss maintenance experience, which I'm very fussy about. Looking forward to the final taste test!
James! Your German is awesome. Was a joy to hear as an American who has been learning German through an electrical apprenticeship here in Bavaria. Cool stuff.
I've had a full height one at home for quite a few years now. I have the nicer swing out hopper gate and haven't had any build quality issues. Even so, James is spot on with the review. I love the grinder but the alignment and cleaning is a faff. I'm happy I bought it (there was nothing else comparable at the time) and wouldn't change it. I think with all these "sports car" grinders you need to do your research and aim to pick one to last the rest of your life. The benefit of the EK43 is you can chat to people running cafes and (assuming you know them well enough!) probably get to play with one before ordering. I should add: I have had to replace the shear plate once since owning it. For a small piece of metal this was more expensive than you might expect.
Wow, what a surprise to hear about Café Myriad! I don't live in Montreal, but this is my go to place when I go there. Anyone loving coffee should visit them when going to Montreal!
One thing regarding cost vs the other options. It's possible to find old EK's for very reasonable prices. They may need a new burrset and a deep cleaning but they're out there, sometimes just listed as "coffee grinder" or something equally generic. I recently found one from the late 90's with nearly new burrs that needed a new power switch, the whole grinder cost me less than the new power switch. In the older models however alignment can be pretty far off so in addition to any repairs you'll probably also need to align the burrs which can take a few hours the first time.
That's the first one thusfar that looks like it might actually be worth the asking price. It's commercial/industrial and made to run all day every day. It's also presumably serviceable without jumping through hoops. It's still more then I'd ever want for a home grinder.
Awesome review, as always James. Mahlkönig indeed is a pretty nice company. We are using an EK 43 in our roastery and we‘re working closely with a sheltered workshop packing and stamping our coffee bags and they did not have a grinder to process grinded coffee for us. At the same time we did not have budget to buy them an own grinder right now so we reached out to Mahlkönig and they sent over a Guatemala grinder for free to the sheltered workshop. That was the best christmas surprise we could imagine. They‘re not just successful but also humans trying to do good things and having an impact to society. 💪🏻
Thumbs up if you know and love the distinctive sound when you can hear a mahlkonig being single dosed. I often catch it walking down busy commercial streets usually with no idea which cafe in particular it is coming from.
Your scrutiny of high-end grinders and coffee-related products will certainly be a factor in raising the bar. I really hope you get more opportunities to advise the teams who engineer these sorts of things.
Hi James! In a fit of madness I decided to choose an EK43S as the sole grinder for our cafe. Can't say I disagree with any point you made here. After a week of being open, the hopper has come unglued and I really do miss the old hinged gate from other EKs I've used. Coffee tastes great, especially after we took the time to shim the burrs for better alignment, and I know it'll be a workhorse for the life of the shop. The big issue that remains for us is how finicky it is to produce consistent espresso, so we are already considering investing in a set of SSP burrs. Love the videos! Look forward to checking out the rest of this series.
Those videos really make my week. In the evening after work I'm looking forward to a nice cup of tea and e enjoying the video. Really keeps me going throughout the day
Mahlkonig USA was able to sell me a "used" EK-43 unit from the 2019 WBC in Boston. Love that thing, makes some amazing espresso. It was calibrated then sealed for the competition, so it worked flawlessly out the box.
My hopper came off right away on my ek43s too. Super annoying!! Mine did come in need of alignment as well. Same experience with some minor retention issues. Sometimes I’ll get out 22 grams when I put in 20. I always put a few beans through of whatever I’m about to grind because you’ll end up with the old grind setting and a bit of the last bean you sent through it. I find it to be a very messy grinder and so have always used the spray bottle to combat that. Pretty excellent summary of everything I feel about the grinder. Awesome video.
I use EK43S at home and as you said the stock hopper is definitely not built for a home setting. So I bought a single dose stainless steel hopper from AliExpress and it worked perfect for me. For a doser I use a Weber Workshop’s blind shaker. It kind of making some coffee chaffs flying here and there, but other than that it works great and always get exact amount of coffee grinds without loss. In summary, EK43S is certainly not built for a home use, but with some proper modding and careful thoughts on your workflow, it can be a great choice as EG-1, monolith or lagom P-64.
All of these grinders are far too expensive for me, I'm not going to buy a single one, yet still I watch. I think that's testament to the quality of James's videos, and the fact that they are keeping me (and, I suspect, lots of other people) sane in these odd times.
My first job was at a farm shop in around 2005. They stocked 10 or 15 different coffees and at least 20 varieties of tea. I would grind the coffee to order with one of these machines which must have been 20 years old then. Nice to connect the dots now and know I was using such a prestigious machine haha.
I love how this video goes into the lore of the EK43, it's legend. It's like a fantasy novel but real. The alignment issue is also legend, a real legend.
I own a ek43 for my business, and what I found is that you can’t switch easily from grinding lots of coffee for bags to single dose, I often find myself aligning the burrs before switching, but anyway I find it easy to align compare to other grinders. Btw I really love that grinder, I’m industrial designer and I love the backstory of this product and the coffee it delivers is just really good.
It's worth mentioning that the popularity of the EK43 has made the availability of mods and aftermarket parts for this machine skyrocket, similar to La Pavonis in domestic use.
Thank you, I had no idea about the history of these prior to Matt’s face being on the side of them. Especially not as far back as the 70’s. I’m no longer in that commercial environment but certainly echo your thoughts about QC and alignment. What might be a grind setting for espresso in one cafe would be completely different in our other cafe just due to alignment. I do have a loving relationship of them though. The moment I’m in a cafe and have not seen the coffee set up and hear the iconic hum and grind from an EK43 I know I’m in a cafe that gives a damn. I’ve always lusted after an EK for home but you’re right it’s not the best fit, a niche zero is probably a better fit for home.
Made for the café, not for the home. Got it. LOL Not sure how many times you pointed that out but I sure got the message. I am continually amazed at the fine points you address. I must conclude that I lack the discernment to determine if something is good coffee or fine coffee or poor coffee, sweet or bitter, textured or not. And that’s OK for me. Still, I enjoy watching your videos, taking a peek into this world that is not mine.
One of the best reviews on the grinder. I love that you raised the point of whether EK is worth as a home grinder. Your German is quite good. Surely Hoffman has some Germanic background.
I have used this in several cafes. It is a good grinder in that context but unless you are making a shitload of coffee for yourself or friends and are already making a mess then this would be bad in a house Great review. I am really enjoying this series
really great grinder and appreciate your german skills :) just a small note: AH means long A, so the brand is pronounced „maalkönig“. btw it translates to something like „grind king“ for those interested. „Malkönig“ with a short A would translate to „painting king“
As fussy as this is I love the industrial styling and design of this. Very much function over purely style and that thud when it starts up you know it means business.
I’m using an EK43s at home for a while and totally love it. It perfectly reacts to minor adjustments, the grind speed for a single dose is unmatched, the lever to clean the chute is just neat, the design is iconic and it (just) fits in my space,... unless I start obsessing about the look of the hopper (which I might replace at some point), I really see no downside for home use (apart from the price which I didn’t pay). I get the point that it is build as a workhorse and expensive, but the other downsides of using it in a home environment seem a bit academic. Looking forward to the big conclusion...
I have used handgrinders at home exclusively. I cannot think of any demand that would require a 1k+ grinder at home. you can't drink 10 Espresso at home anyways. Using handgrinders makes you also experience the coffee making process a lot deeper (which I like). Then you are drinking an Espresso, not only a "Shot". But amazing series anyways 🙂!!
I don't own an EK, but have wanted one since I first tasted espresso out of one. From the first non-dialed in shot I bullied a local barista to use for espresso on her Synesso Hydra MVP, was the first time I could "taste" the coffee. In seconds, all the tasting notes came alive and I could understand what the coffee geeks were talking about-all the notes plus sweetness. Now I've read about the downsides of this grinder, but if I were to buy one, I'd test burrs first and try to Frank at Titus Grinding to modify my EK which appparently solves the downsides. Now I appreciate James shootout test and realize the EK is down the list. However, my experience with the EK has been a taste style match with me=I felt I found what I was looking for. So I'd feel like I was betraying something if I didn't own one for a least a while and perhaps really go crazy and buy a second Titan and compare both for a while.
Hi James Great series of reviews been excited about this for a while now. I would like to learn more about the different burrs I have to admit that I find them confusing. Lucky enough to own an EK43S that I got in March last year. Agree with your review particularly on the workflow- it is ok for filter not so great for espresso. I struggled to dial in espresso when I got the machine I found that it needed a few kilograms of coffee to season the burrs before the grind was consistent shot to shot in the espresso range. Totally changed my perspective on filter coffee they taste so good. I have gone from a double shot guy (typical Aussie in that regard) to drinking mostly filters. If you read up online you find a lot discussion about alignment of EKs, I purchased fully expecting to have to muck about and align it. I got the Titus gauge and pulled it apart and the lower burr alignment was perfect. The carrier is harder to measure but looked perfect (it is a beautifully CNC machined piece) I just put it back together and left it alone. I suspect that the older models had issues that created a cottage industry that is now dependant on them having a reputation as needing work. I see lots of commenters getting freaked out by the prices and fair enough these are some expensive grinders. Home use is not going to wear out an EK, people know what they are and there will always be a second hand market for them. You can buy a second hand one use it for a year and sell it for what you paid for it. I don’t think that many of the home use alternatives hold value as well. So yes expensive but low risk from the perspective that you can easily sell it if you needed to.
Love your videos and really happy to hear about your experience with this specific grinder! My girlfriend opened up her own cafe here in the Netherlands a couple of months ago and bought a brand new EK-43S to grind bags of coffee, for pour over and for the occasional decaf espresso. She's been having lots of issues with the consistency in grind size where she'd be able to pull an okay espresso around 1 and needs to go up to 15-16 for a filter coffee. The local distributor laughed at us when we mentioned the burr alignment, they've put in new burrs twice and used one of those tools to center (only) the moving burr with the latest "repair". We have found out that many local shops have the same issue and someone is planning to drive to Germany with everyone's grinder to get them all aligned properly. The stickers have been annoying me personally as well and the glue on the hopper failed yesterday. We are actually really unhappy with the grinder and were very surprised as all the reviews have been so positive. Hopefully a proper alignment will sort things out.
Having a new James Hoffman video to watch each day is a real treat. Feeling spoiled.
Three down, three to go!
In all honesty, and I've spoken this aloud at home, this series of grinder review videos have created an excitement for me that I haven't had since I listed to my first Dokken record in '85. I clearly need more excitement in my life, but I do give most of the credit to James for creating such compelling and refreshing content.
@@jameshoffmann you are helping make mornings worth while as I wait for my espresso machine to come in
agree :D
@@jameshoffmann I love LinusTechTips because they upload daily and they have like a 40 person crew, so I appreciate the work you’re doing, it must be intense
Can I just thank you James for making proper points about the manufacturing processes behind these grinders. In my own field it's something that gets completely disregarded in the face of a high price, and it's maddening.
Value lies beyond raw results, price/performance will always end up favouring the cheapest tool that just about manages the job. I really appreciate that you touch on the difficulties of production and the differences between how each company approaches their products. Can't wait to watch the remaining episodes in the series!
Wow, two of my favourite worlds collide.
@@zm2281 How do you think I survive the long work days haha
People also fail to consider that value is more than monetary. I may decide to overpay for a product I like because it makes my life easier. Convenience provides value.
I may pay for someone to do a job I could do myself, because I value the opportunity to give them work they may need.
Or, I may buy a $3k grinder because I like the aesthetic of it. Looks provide value.
So many people get caught up in the idea that value only equals money. There's more to it than that.
@@candinmuniz3225 100%
In my eyes, value is measured from the level of satisfaction you feel. Naturally satisfaction will change depending on what the individual looks for in a product. You don't want to feel cheated by a purchase after all. The problem with that from a review level though is that it's intangible and ultimately up to personal preference, which is a pain as folks often use it as a stick to beat the reviewer with.
Good pc's and good coffee. Nice.
James always says that the "workflow is fussy" but the fussiest things in all these videos is always James.
100%
Love him cuz of that tho. Don't be a reviewer if u can't complain about everything.
@@rajrishiparmar1362 but be careful not to get lost searching for the trees, when you were looking for the forest.
But that’s why we watch!!!
I don't think I can argue against this point.
After this week of grinder reviews, I'm going to paint flames down the side of my baratza encore to make it "cooler"!
Just lean it back 45 degrees
quality +100
I've had too many grinders, including a modified EK43s and now a Lagom P-64.
I can tell you confidently that none of these grinders will improve the taste of your coffee to anywhere near what the difference in price would suggest! The slope of price vs. performance drops RAPIDLY after the Encore.
You can argue (as James does) that you pay for quality and craftsmanship, and your money indeed does go somewhere, but unless you're a die-hard coffee enthusiast with refractometer, water treatment and all the other geeky stuff, none of these grinders make much sense!
Flames+Chrome=Class
I was a barista for years and was really passionate about coffee until an eating disorder made it hard to enjoy and I left the industry. Years after recovery, I discovered your channel and your videos have reinvigorated my love for coffee and I really look forward to brewing several times a day. Thank you James !
This week reminds me of my childhood. When I could not wait to come home from school and watch cartoons.
I couldn't help but giggle when he started speaking German. The pronunciation was incredibly good, but also somehow really cute 😂
Me as a coffee lover from Germany really laughed but in an astonished way, cause the pronunciation was on point! Definitely enjoyed this video a lot 🙏🏼 looking forward to the others. Cheers
What, the way he pronounced Strom was VERY British
I'm starting to think that Hoffmann himself could come from Germany.
@@sofronio. he most definitely doesn't
@@sofronio. he is literally THE most British person on youtube 😂
Thanks for the nod, buddy.
Just for reference in the chat, I do think a lot of us knew at the time that what we had on our hands was simply an outlier. Coffee grinders prior to this current generation left so, so much to be desired in design and performance. The lessons learned enabled a lot of the other grinders in this series to exist, because it clearly demonstrated there was market demand for better performing technology. Bit of a shame that Mahlkonig were never really able to acknowledge what they had and properly iterate on an ancient product for the sake of meeting the new demands of their customers, but thank goodness for competition I guess. As you’ve pointed out, there are some excellent options in the field now and the EK is still good for a few applications regardless.
James: "I fee like I can hold these two opinions and have no cognitive dissonance"
Me: I belong in this target audience
I thought the same on this comment
This is the most exciting series!
My favorite cafe in Tokyo uses the big brother to this grinder! How exciting to learn what makes that heavenly cup😊
This series has become a highlight of my afternoons. Thank you for sharing!
The gentle wish for a great day always makes my day great
"And I feel like I'd hold those two opinions and not feel any cognitive dissonance" is the most James Hoffmann sentence, James Hoffmann has ever said
If I see a Mahlkonig grinder at a cafe, I automatically assume that the cafe does good coffee and have never been wrong to date.🙃
Yeah it shows their seriousness of making good coffee.
If I walk into a coffee shop and I see there's no EK I immediately headbutt my barista
Any expensive grunder means that there probably is good coffee. Why would you spend so much money to make bad coffee?
@@skilllessbeast7416 coffee shops can buy equipment and apply for tax deduction, depending on country, but in the end generally they don't need to pay nearly as much as you would have to for buying such machine for home purposes.
There's plenty of cafes here that buy them because it's a "must have", yet the shops don't invest in training their baristas in how to use them. Same goes for those shops that buy stradas and have no clue and just stick to a straight 9 bar profile.
I'm so glad these are uploaded early, can drink my coffee and watch a grinder review. This is a good week!
I've been going to Cafe Myriade as a visitor and resident of Montreal on and off since it opened, I had no idea at all about any of this. Really appreciate the work you do so much!
I do own one at home to sit next to my La Marzocco GS3. Did allign the burs to optimize, and after that, it turned out to be the most consisting grinder I have worked with so far. Very good in dialing already known coffee straight from the table of notes I made. very happy with it!
Still happy with this grinder? I gonna order gs3 but can't find a good grinder... To much options and lot grinder from made in Vs are sold out
r u pulling 1:2 or 1:3
Wow, I'm impressed with James' "Mahlkönig" pronunciation esp. the Umlaut. One the other hand as a "Hoffmann" he should be :)
Too bad he completely mispronounced "Lagom" in the first video of the series..
Just wanted to say the same 🤣
Honestly didn't realise it was a Swedish word. I didn't see anything about it on their website. I am annoyed at myself for missing it!
@@jameshoffmann It isn't. In Swedish it would be something like "malakungen", but that's very construed. "Mahlkönig" indeed is German, from "Mahlen" (grinding) and "König" (king).
@@JohnDoe-bw3tz i think he is talking about lagom being swedish.
I LOVE the sound EK makes when grinding. Not the motor, the sound it makes WHILE grinding. Best electric grinder sound ever
I greatly enjoy when you give context and recent history about the evolution of the coffee industry, please do it as often as possible. Thank you very much for this serie.
These unbiased reviews of enthusiast coffee equipment are invaluable. This is my favorite series yet!
I love how the Option-O Lagom has forced James to mention bigger numbers grind courser (and smaller grind finer) on the remaining grinder reviews.
I’m hoping that Option-O take note and switch things around to conventional numbering
This grinder seems to be the de facto standard in Australian cafes, at least on the east coast. If I'm travelling, seeing one through a window is usually a decent indicator of a decent spot to drop into.
Look at Mr Hoffmann giving us such an amazing series in January, the worst month for earning money on RUclips, coming out of December, the best month!
Loving the videos!
James Hoffman ever since I’ve started watching your videos I’ve been learning so much and have found a passion for Coffee, I can’t thank you enough 🙏
I have not had the privilege of using one of these as a daily grinder, but I have used a few EK’s in my time. One interesting trend here in Australia is to leave the EK running non-stop. Cafes will first turn on the grinder when the staff first walk in the door to open up and hour before service. The theory is the temperature will be stabilised, it won’t fluctuate between peak and off peak periods. This leads to more consistent grind size as the metal is all at temperature and has expanded to it maximum.
All that being said, consistently I find the espresso from EK’s to be more balanced and generally sweeter. I get the lack in texture, however I prefer overall balance and sweetness as a priority preference.
My eyes lit up when you mentioned Café Myriade in Montréal 😍 One of my favourite cafes in the city!!
Me too! Miss swinging by in the morning to grab a cappucino.
and me too!!!
Café Myriade won the best coffee shop a couple years back I believe. I don't live in Montreal anymore but it seems they have opened 2 other shops.
I've had an Ek43 as a home grinder for a few years now. I was lucky to get one 2nd hand for a decent price. I've modded it by removing the thwacker and replacing with a jar (keeps retention super low and really improves work flow). The hopper is gone and has been replaced with a glass V60. There's some SSP redspeeds in there. I've spent countless hours trying to align it and there's still room for improvement. I think the next stage is to sand the static burr landing surface myself and buy a Titus burr carrier. If I'd had to pay full price and do all of the above I wouldn't have been very impressed.
I tend to find that my espresso setting stay pretty consistent day to day and between beans but that could be the SSP burrs working their magic.
Great vid James, looking forward to the next couple of days.
I remember seeing this grinder in a handful of coffee shops and thought it was weird everyone had the same one. Given what was said about the distribution, this makes a lot of sense. Thanks James! Great video
Great series James. Really appreciate your insights and style . . . thank you for your diligent and hard work in putting so much information out there for us!
At home I use my Comandante. Love the fluffy and consistent grinds and my coffee is wonderful. At my shop I use the Webber EG-1. A few years ago I bought an EK-43 for the shop in Japan while I was traveling in the States. My bad, I purchased a 60hz grinder and in my area of Japan we use 50hz. I sold it to a friend in Shizuoka and that is when I bought my EG-1. I was one of the firs 100 people to own one. I love it but James is right on about the sound of this grinder. And I have to fiddle with it to get all the grinds to pass through when I grind. It is pretty good but the only truly zero retention grinder I have ever used is the Comandante.
I will probably NEVER entertain these grinders seeing as they cost as much as a motorcycle, but there's something about your videos that keeps me coming back again and again Mr. Hoffmann!
Really appreciate the bit of specialty coffee history in the beginning. Very interesting 👍
The attention to proper pronunciation across all different languages of coffee product manufacturers is incredible
I love it when he talks in German!
I am not sure if seeing all these amazing grinders is more or less exciting than getting to hear “have a great day” every day!
I just loved you saying ‚Mahlkönig‘ and ‚Einphasenstrom‘, so posh. You even got the Umlaut right. Super series of reviews.
Was in a Blue Bottle recently in LA and observed they had two big hopper on-demand Mazzer SJs or Minis, unsure, for espresso, and an EK43 with an Acaia bean doser to single dose for pour over. The espresso was good and I didn’t get the chance to try the pour over but I’ll try to try it next time I’m in there.
I appreciated the context you gave in this review. This is not a grinder for enthusiasts at home, it's for batch grinding.
I think a lot of people get caught up in the name and forget the purpose, and end up pining for something without considering it's effectiveness.
For example, a Rancilio Silvia CAN pull good espresso. Should I start a Cafe with it? Probably not. Can the EK-43 pull good shots? Absolutely! Should I use it as my daily driver at 5 in the morning when I want a no-fuss, single dose of coffee? Probably not.
Great review James! Can't wait for more!
Aesthetically this is my favorite grinder. It’s one of those instantly recognizable pieces like a Chemex. It looks like a steam locomotive and I just love it.
is it just me? I'm 2 minutes in, and I want a full length video of James speaking German. it's oddly satisfying..
As a native German speaker, hearing pronounciation attempts at umlauts is always a source of intriguing, joyous and good-natured cringe. Probably exactly the same as "ze Germans" attempting to pronounce a smooth "th".
@@geckomoshpit Hearing Germans say 'available' always made me smile.
@@jdo1014 Oh no... you just made me mutter "available" again and again and getting more uncertain every time I said it... 😅
His German pronunciation is hilarious. 😁
@@0THC0 My best guess, from hearing other Germans speak, is something like "a-fäil-äbl". But I hope not, this would be so bad...
I have a white EK43S for my home use. It is PERFECT for single dose grinding. I bought a small short mini hopper made for EK43 by someone in China which is a size of an espresso cup, compact cute, a great companion in single dose grinding. Grinding is easy to adjust. Cleaning maintenance takes a little time but if I could do it, it couldn’t be too complicated. For espresso, I had to change to Turkish burrs. Best investment for a home barista!
Hi Caroline, with the single dosing hopper do you run grinder and drop beans or just drops beans and run. thanks
@@vikaskalia8567 I have a hopper that has a handle that has to be turned to drop the beans. My routine is to measure out the beans (18gm), drop them into the hopper, turn on the EK43, then open the hopper by gliding the handle around. Then the beans drop. I’ve seen it called ek43 mini vol hopper. Bought it online at mostly Melbourne (overseas purchase)
@@Doodle-bx9xk thanks for response , have you ever tried with dropping beans first and then running ? Reason I ask is that I find a discernible difference in the cup and now it’s a scratch I’m trying to itch lol .
@@vikaskalia8567 I have not compared those two parameters because I thought that it would be ideal to have the grinder run first before dropping the beans. Read somewhere that this is also better for the grinder. Intuitively, grinding beans bunched up in grinder before turning it on would give more uneven grinds compared to beans falling in while the burrs are running.
@@Doodle-bx9xk btw , what’s your prep ? Currently I’m shaking dosing cup , wdt and tap down . Might be overkill though for this grinder . 🤷🏻♂️
The QC on anything is something to consider. Especially like you said if you're relying on it for work output.
It is quite a looker. I could see that sitting in my kitchen 😊
You mean James, right?
I’d pay good money to watch James give a running commentary on paint drying.
I guess it would be just a bit fuzzy.
Well there’ll be a preseries on paint types, let alone surface preparation. 😁
"Maybe cold brew if that's your thing"
*looks at you, disgusted*
Ahahaha. Yes Pedro, I noticed that disapproving school teacher expression. If I was a Cold Brewie, I'd be worried... 😄
I misheard him at first as "Maybe cold brew if that's a thing" and I was astounded that he wasn't even acknowledging the existence of cold brew 😂
I got EK for three reasons: 1. It makes good coffee. 2. I can compare my coffee / roast with others around the world easily as it's so widely available. 3. It provides the flexibility for single does and grinding at large volume (just a free service for friends if they need it). Otherwise, I share the same frustration with many: it's hard to align and there are lots of build up in burrs where the screw holes are. EG-1 will be my next upgrade as it provides the ultimate no-fuss maintenance experience, which I'm very fussy about. Looking forward to the final taste test!
James! Your German is awesome. Was a joy to hear as an American who has been learning German through an electrical apprenticeship here in Bavaria. Cool stuff.
So much Hoff, so little time. This is already a great week.
I've had a full height one at home for quite a few years now. I have the nicer swing out hopper gate and haven't had any build quality issues. Even so, James is spot on with the review. I love the grinder but the alignment and cleaning is a faff. I'm happy I bought it (there was nothing else comparable at the time) and wouldn't change it. I think with all these "sports car" grinders you need to do your research and aim to pick one to last the rest of your life. The benefit of the EK43 is you can chat to people running cafes and (assuming you know them well enough!) probably get to play with one before ordering.
I should add: I have had to replace the shear plate once since owning it. For a small piece of metal this was more expensive than you might expect.
I replaced my hopper with an aeropress funnel and took out the knocker completely
“Cold brew If that’s your thing.” 😂
Wow, what a surprise to hear about Café Myriad! I don't live in Montreal, but this is my go to place when I go there. Anyone loving coffee should visit them when going to Montreal!
One thing regarding cost vs the other options. It's possible to find old EK's for very reasonable prices. They may need a new burrset and a deep cleaning but they're out there, sometimes just listed as "coffee grinder" or something equally generic. I recently found one from the late 90's with nearly new burrs that needed a new power switch, the whole grinder cost me less than the new power switch. In the older models however alignment can be pretty far off so in addition to any repairs you'll probably also need to align the burrs which can take a few hours the first time.
That's the first one thusfar that looks like it might actually be worth the asking price. It's commercial/industrial and made to run all day every day. It's also presumably serviceable without jumping through hoops. It's still more then I'd ever want for a home grinder.
Shoot out to Café Myriad for fueling my university studies! 🙌🏻
Shoutout Myriad! Big ups Concordia grads!
Best coffee in MTL hands down!
Awesome review, as always James. Mahlkönig indeed is a pretty nice company. We are using an EK 43 in our roastery and we‘re working closely with a sheltered workshop packing and stamping our coffee bags and they did not have a grinder to process grinded coffee for us. At the same time we did not have budget to buy them an own grinder right now so we reached out to Mahlkönig and they sent over a Guatemala grinder for free to the sheltered workshop. That was the best christmas surprise we could imagine.
They‘re not just successful but also humans trying to do good things and having an impact to society. 💪🏻
Thumbs up if you know and love the distinctive sound when you can hear a mahlkonig being single dosed. I often catch it walking down busy commercial streets usually with no idea which cafe in particular it is coming from.
When a Hoffman video appears, we like and then we enjoy.
I absolutely LOVE using my EK-43 at work. So, so good.
Your scrutiny of high-end grinders and coffee-related products will certainly be a factor in raising the bar. I really hope you get more opportunities to advise the teams who engineer these sorts of things.
Hi James! In a fit of madness I decided to choose an EK43S as the sole grinder for our cafe. Can't say I disagree with any point you made here. After a week of being open, the hopper has come unglued and I really do miss the old hinged gate from other EKs I've used. Coffee tastes great, especially after we took the time to shim the burrs for better alignment, and I know it'll be a workhorse for the life of the shop. The big issue that remains for us is how finicky it is to produce consistent espresso, so we are already considering investing in a set of SSP burrs.
Love the videos! Look forward to checking out the rest of this series.
Does the inconsistency come from the heat produced by repetitive grinding? Or something else
Those videos really make my week. In the evening after work I'm looking forward to a nice cup of tea and e enjoying the video. Really keeps me going throughout the day
Mahlkonig USA was able to sell me a "used" EK-43 unit from the 2019 WBC in Boston. Love that thing, makes some amazing espresso. It was calibrated then sealed for the competition, so it worked flawlessly out the box.
My hopper came off right away on my ek43s too. Super annoying!! Mine did come in need of alignment as well. Same experience with some minor retention issues. Sometimes I’ll get out 22 grams when I put in 20. I always put a few beans through of whatever I’m about to grind because you’ll end up with the old grind setting and a bit of the last bean you sent through it.
I find it to be a very messy grinder and so have always used the spray bottle to combat that.
Pretty excellent summary of everything I feel about the grinder. Awesome video.
I use EK43S at home and as you said the stock hopper is definitely not built for a home setting. So I bought a single dose stainless steel hopper from AliExpress and it worked perfect for me. For a doser I use a Weber Workshop’s blind shaker. It kind of making some coffee chaffs flying here and there, but other than that it works great and always get exact amount of coffee grinds without loss. In summary, EK43S is certainly not built for a home use, but with some proper modding and careful thoughts on your workflow, it can be a great choice as EG-1, monolith or lagom P-64.
I also broke the hopper on day 1, stickers are coming loose. Thanks to Titus Grinding, my EK43s is a joy to use.
This grinder series is great, even if I never will buy a grinder at those prices.
All of these grinders are far too expensive for me, I'm not going to buy a single one, yet still I watch. I think that's testament to the quality of James's videos, and the fact that they are keeping me (and, I suspect, lots of other people) sane in these odd times.
My first job was at a farm shop in around 2005. They stocked 10 or 15 different coffees and at least 20 varieties of tea. I would grind the coffee to order with one of these machines which must have been 20 years old then. Nice to connect the dots now and know I was using such a prestigious machine haha.
I love how this video goes into the lore of the EK43, it's legend. It's like a fantasy novel but real. The alignment issue is also legend, a real legend.
The production levels of his video are pretty awesome.
I own a ek43 for my business, and what I found is that you can’t switch easily from grinding lots of coffee for bags to single dose, I often find myself aligning the burrs before switching, but anyway I find it easy to align compare to other grinders. Btw I really love that grinder, I’m industrial designer and I love the backstory of this product and the coffee it delivers is just really good.
Back to back to back videos ..... and, I have just ordered some of your coffee for my Gaggia.
Oh this is a good week :D
It's worth mentioning that the popularity of the EK43 has made the availability of mods and aftermarket parts for this machine skyrocket, similar to La Pavonis in domestic use.
Thank you, I had no idea about the history of these prior to Matt’s face being on the side of them. Especially not as far back as the 70’s.
I’m no longer in that commercial environment but certainly echo your thoughts about QC and alignment. What might be a grind setting for espresso in one cafe would be completely different in our other cafe just due to alignment.
I do have a loving relationship of them though. The moment I’m in a cafe and have not seen the coffee set up and hear the iconic hum and grind from an EK43 I know I’m in a cafe that gives a damn.
I’ve always lusted after an EK for home but you’re right it’s not the best fit, a niche zero is probably a better fit for home.
Made for the café, not for the home. Got it. LOL Not sure how many times you pointed that out but I sure got the message. I am continually amazed at the fine points you address. I must conclude that I lack the discernment to determine if something is good coffee or fine coffee or poor coffee, sweet or bitter, textured or not. And that’s OK for me. Still, I enjoy watching your videos, taking a peek into this world that is not mine.
I always feel intelligent and classy when i watch james videos
This series is just delightful!!!
Lived in Montreal for three years. Went to Café Myriade at least twice a week. Had no idea of its fame. Great coffee, great sweets and croissants.
Wow, very industrial looking. If I had to choose I'd take that aluminum one! Brilliant design and engineering, and more home use oriented.
One of the best reviews on the grinder. I love that you raised the point of whether EK is worth as a home grinder.
Your German is quite good. Surely Hoffman has some Germanic background.
I have used this in several cafes. It is a good grinder in that context but unless you are making a shitload of coffee for yourself or friends and are already making a mess then this would be bad in a house
Great review. I am really enjoying this series
I love starting every day knowing there's a new grinder review this week to enjoy while I eat my breakfeast!
or late lunch over here
really great grinder and appreciate your german skills :) just a small note: AH means long A, so the brand is pronounced „maalkönig“. btw it translates to something like „grind king“ for those interested. „Malkönig“ with a short A would translate to „painting king“
As fussy as this is I love the industrial styling and design of this. Very much function over purely style and that thud when it starts up you know it means business.
Hands down best series on the platform
Thank you James. Again really useful review. And same annoying things with tall hopper (small version costs 150 EUR) and unstick labels:))
Congratulations on your 700k, you definitely inspired and keep inspiring many people.. therefore thank you !
I’m using an EK43s at home for a while and totally love it. It perfectly reacts to minor adjustments, the grind speed for a single dose is unmatched, the lever to clean the chute is just neat, the design is iconic and it (just) fits in my space,... unless I start obsessing about the look of the hopper (which I might replace at some point), I really see no downside for home use (apart from the price which I didn’t pay). I get the point that it is build as a workhorse and expensive, but the other downsides of using it in a home environment seem a bit academic. Looking forward to the big conclusion...
This week filled with content is a real gem 👌
Congrats on 700k Subs James!!!!
It is well deserved!!!
didnt hear you mention it in the video, so: "mahlkönig" literally translates to "grindking"
I have used handgrinders at home exclusively. I cannot think of any demand that would require a 1k+ grinder at home. you can't drink 10 Espresso at home anyways. Using handgrinders makes you also experience the coffee making process a lot deeper (which I like). Then you are drinking an Espresso, not only a "Shot". But amazing series anyways 🙂!!
Sitting here with major back pain and it is interesting how a coffee grinder review by James is effective as a pain relief
I don't own an EK, but have wanted one since I first tasted espresso out of one. From the first non-dialed in shot I bullied a local barista to use for espresso on her Synesso Hydra MVP, was the first time I could "taste" the coffee. In seconds, all the tasting notes came alive and I could understand what the coffee geeks were talking about-all the notes plus sweetness. Now I've read about the downsides of this grinder, but if I were to buy one, I'd test burrs first and try to Frank at Titus Grinding to modify my EK which appparently solves the downsides. Now I appreciate James shootout test and realize the EK is down the list. However, my experience with the EK has been a taste style match with me=I felt I found what I was looking for. So I'd feel like I was betraying something if I didn't own one for a least a while and perhaps really go crazy and buy a second Titan and compare both for a while.
Hi James
Great series of reviews been excited about this for a while now. I would like to learn more about the different burrs I have to admit that I find them confusing.
Lucky enough to own an EK43S that I got in March last year.
Agree with your review particularly on the workflow- it is ok for filter not so great for espresso.
I struggled to dial in espresso when I got the machine I found that it needed a few kilograms of coffee to season the burrs before the grind was consistent shot to shot in the espresso range.
Totally changed my perspective on filter coffee they taste so good. I have gone from a double shot guy (typical Aussie in that regard) to drinking mostly filters.
If you read up online you find a lot discussion about alignment of EKs, I purchased fully expecting to have to muck about and align it. I got the Titus gauge and pulled it apart and the lower burr alignment was perfect. The carrier is harder to measure but looked perfect (it is a beautifully CNC machined piece) I just put it back together and left it alone. I suspect that the older models had issues that created a cottage industry that is now dependant on them having a reputation as needing work.
I see lots of commenters getting freaked out by the prices and fair enough these are some expensive grinders. Home use is not going to wear out an EK, people know what they are and there will always be a second hand market for them. You can buy a second hand one use it for a year and sell it for what you paid for it. I don’t think that many of the home use alternatives hold value as well. So yes expensive but low risk from the perspective that you can easily sell it if you needed to.
I don't understand much of what I'm watching, but this is so satisfying!
Love your videos and really happy to hear about your experience with this specific grinder! My girlfriend opened up her own cafe here in the Netherlands a couple of months ago and bought a brand new EK-43S to grind bags of coffee, for pour over and for the occasional decaf espresso.
She's been having lots of issues with the consistency in grind size where she'd be able to pull an okay espresso around 1 and needs to go up to 15-16 for a filter coffee. The local distributor laughed at us when we mentioned the burr alignment, they've put in new burrs twice and used one of those tools to center (only) the moving burr with the latest "repair". We have found out that many local shops have the same issue and someone is planning to drive to Germany with everyone's grinder to get them all aligned properly. The stickers have been annoying me personally as well and the glue on the hopper failed yesterday.
We are actually really unhappy with the grinder and were very surprised as all the reviews have been so positive. Hopefully a proper alignment will sort things out.
Just amazing how well made these videos are - great jobs once again James !