Page 71 - #59 English

In 2013 I went to Mahlkonig and ran some tests on
the EK43 to figure out why it makes coffee taste so delight-
ful. Turns out it produces many more fines than any of
the other grinders in the test at comparable settings. So,
best-in-category grinder produces more of the ‘evil’ stuff
than any of the others. This was a red flag that kick
started my hunt for more answers.
When sifting my coffee for the 2012 World Brewers
Cup, I was eliminating all grinds below 250 microns. I had
to then lengthen the brew time and increase my extraction
to levels higher than I’d ever seen before (+25%). This
ultra-high extraction tasted super great, and is very simi-
lar to the level of extraction that every fine undergoes
during every brew; maximum. Nearly-maximum extrac-
tion tasted so good I managed to take home the title. So
why do fines get blamed for bad over-extracted flavours
when over-extracted but sifted coffees taste great?
Posit: Perhaps temperature/time/roasting is to blame
for over-extraction, not fines.
Nearly every brew ever made has had fines in it. And
if you think about it, the outer surface of the larger grinds 2
should behave exactly the same as the fines themselves
(It’s the inside of the larger grinds that creates the prob-
lems). This means that a whole lot of the dissolved coffee
flavour has come from “fine-like” extractions. Perhaps,
once the roast is of good quality, it’s brew time and tem-
perature that are coaxing out undesirable flavours of
over-extraction.
Alignment is Key

Grinding burrs need to be parallel, and concentri-
Nearly every brew ever made cally and radially aligned to work properly. The toler-
ances required are miniscule. A misalignment of
has had fines in it. ~0.05mm noticeably changes the quality of coffee
produced by a grinder.
A number of baristas have been experimenting with
alignment of their burrs and seeing extraordinary results.
Ever since I played around with a Versalab grinder and
saw how bad the coffee tasted when the burrs were mis-
aligned, I’ve been very conscious about alignment. Frank
at Titus Grinding has been doing lots of cool things with
the Versalab grinder; improving their alignment and sur-
face finishes.
EK43’s have a little bit of play between the burrs and
carrier/body. This can lead to misalignment if assembled
without care. EK43’s that are aligned well make coffee
that’s blindingly obviously better. (I’m currently working
on a visual guide for proper alignment, and thinking of
building a kit to align the burrs during assembly. Please
let me know if you’re keen to buy a jig that does that.)
Alignment is one of those things that’s (kind of) free,
and can make a massive difference to coffee quality. I
often say VST baskets are the best bang-for-buck improve-
ment you can make to your coffee. I’m feeling like proper
burr alignment could be next on the list.

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