What kind of ratios are pulling on it? I just got a 2018 Kafatek flat and I made some light roasts this morning that was honestly probably overly acidic for what I’m used to. That being said I run almost all of my shots for all roasts on as a 1:2 in about 25secs. I haven’t felt the need to fine tune so I don’t. Except for this morning where I’m thinking I should go back to exploring a 1:3 or so. Any input is appreciated.
So I was in your situation and this is what I recommend.
Machine:
Machine Slayer single group. Hands down. Haven't pulled a bad shot yet, looks amazing in stock form.
I considered LMLM but it doesn't look as good as the slayer on the sides. If you're stuffing it in a corner with the grinder hiding it, cool.
Sanremo You has just as many features as the Slayer, a couple more actually, but you have to decide between the style of your kitchen or coffee area. That is the only reason I did not buy this machine.
Water:
Do not buy any of these machines without a proper water setup. Needs depend on region and kitchen design so I won't recommend a specific setup. However, you'll need reverse osmosis with remineralization or you'll be rebuilding your machine sooner than later. Budget about 2.5k USD. Also, keep in mind that if you are only hooking up to your machine for two coffees a day and not using it for day-to-day water use you may have sediment issues from highly infrequent use. Consider adding a water spigot and enjoy the benefits of filtered water in your home to push the volume needed to have the system operate within spec.
Grinder:
Two key considerations ease and convenience of grind by weight (GBW) vs single dosing. Downside of GBW is when I have the occasional guest request decaf, I either have had to have pre-ground an entire bag and packaged and frozen each dose in between grinding. There's about 2 to 3 doses worth of beans in the chute of my grinder. That being said, if you have a favorite roast it's no problem. Single dose doesn't have this downside, but it's more tinkering and more time.
GBW:
-Mahlkönig E80s
-Fiorenzato all ground sense
Single Dose
-Kafatek monolith flat max if you're espresso only
-Titus nautilus if you're pour over or drip
Kafatek has specialized burrs that edged out the Titus for me. I'm espresso only. Nautilus has amazing customization options that go with Slayer, so check their Instagram. Remote power brick is manageable with Bluetooth controller since you'll have a plumbed in machine, but that's the big miss on this high end machine.
-Weber eg-1 gets honorable mention but I don't think the build tolerance and quality matches either other option.
Best of luck, let us know what you pick.
Grinder is a hard ask, perfect grinder technically would be a Sanremo X-One, but it is huge and financially only good sense for a shop (it replaces 3 grinders so at about 8000€ not too bad), coupled with a Sanremo espresso machine and a RO with remineralizing filter for water. Told my misses about this one and she was a little concerned I was contemplating it.
Keeping home aesthetics and size in mind and if I would only want one grinder I’d probably get an EG-1 or Monolith flat Max. Currently have two grinders though, one with hopper (83mm burr) and one single dose for my decaf/specialty drinks. Which I would be unlikely to drop as single dosing I won’t do for groups or in the morning, a large burr gbw grinder would be my choice.
For the espresso machine, a Sanremo you or LM GS3 would offer everything I would want, but honestly a simple flat profile machine with good pid and dual boiler like a LM Mini R or a Micra is good enough for me already. Micra does come with some short comings, the reduced height is a little annoying at times. Mini r was too big for my counter though.
I have the flat max with SW burrs and it's a pretty big disappointment for espresso and filter methods. I am thinking about buying the LM burrs or EKB burrs.
I've searched far and wide and I cannot find a single user account of comparing SW to LM burrs. I know Hoffman had a Max with SW burrs but I don't think I've ever seen him even mention having/tasting coffee from LM burrs before. And I know for sure in a video where BQ tried the LM, CR, and I think SSP brew burrs, there were comments saying they'd let him try their SW burrs but still have never seen a BQ video or comment of his saying he eventually tried the SW burrs. So I'm going to assume they BQ probably either never tried it, or he did and definitely didn't like it to the LMs or CRs, otherwise there would be some sort of documented footage or comments about it.
Absolutely. Z2 looks better, is functionally better, smaller, machined better, not owned by dickheads and they actually appreciate user feedback and incorporate updates.
The angle creates more problems than it solves, which is my biggest hatred with the fucking flat max. Also it's less fun to use, shit always gets stuck in either the top hopper lip or the actual lower hopper or shards of popcorning sprayed everywhere in the lower hopper, and fines glommed up in the exit chute and along the burr edges. I just fail to see why anyone thinks it's so great for espresso anyway. There's less of these issues with filter coffee grinding. Vertical mounted burrs with horizontal feeds are so much more superior, it's just all those frustrations are not visible, they're down in the grind chamber. A few smacks of the top of the hopper tends to push most of it out. The baffles don't work worth a damn on the flat max
I got the launch edition of the z1 and it performs better than any kafatek grinder or the 078 IMO. I have every 64mm burr on the market and it makes those burrs perform so much better than in the shitty ass ode or df64.
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DF54 Series
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Great value for espresso, but clogs and poor for pour-over.
Double0dude
