Up Your Coffee Game – Grinders

Next Level Espresso Game

On-demand grinders were once the cutting edge of grinder technology- now they are the staple of 99% of coffee shops superseding the now outdated doser grinder. It’s a no brainer that freshly dosed and ground coffee is a huge leap forwards from pre-ground, but what is the next steps in grinder evolution?

Introducing the Nuova Simonelli Mythos one.

Designed by professional baristas and packed with features that are really useful on the bar. No bells and whistles just a really well-designed grinder.

The Mythos’ arguably best feature is the quality of coffee that it delivers shot after shot. The burrs are aligned in a steep vertical position as opposed to horizontal. This allows very little retention of ground coffee in the burrs, reducing the amount of stale coffee from shot to shot. Slow speed grinding reduces overheating in busy times increasing consistency and quality. A PID controlled heating element in the burrs keeps the grinding quality consistent, reducing wastage from bad shots/dialling in and increasing shot to shot consistency. A specially designed clump crusher creates super fluffy grounds, which helps to increase extraction and create tasty espresso. All these seemingly small things add up to create espresso that is head and shoulders above those created from ‘standard’ equipment. It’s not just the coffee quality that has been considered though.

The interface has been created with the barista in mind. It has 3 preset doses that are easily micro adjustable at the touch of a button- plus a continuous dose. The hopper is low, so super easy to fill even for younger or shorter baristas or high bars. The hopper can’t be removed without locking off the hopper gate, so it’s almost impossible to spill coffee beans all over the floor! The portafilter rest holds the handle steady without the need to keep hold of it- allowing the barista to clean out another handle whilst grinding keeping up speed of service and efficiency. The grinding can be stopped at any point simply by removing the handle and restarted by replacing the handle.

Some other huge plus points are its sleek understated design- it will fit into most spaces that other grinders won’t, and look the part next to most espresso machines without getting in the way of hospitality. Unlike most grinders has very little grinding noise, helping to maintain a calm atmosphere and allowing baristas to engage with customers without being interrupted by a noisy grinder. The mythos already has a huge following from the best coffee shops across the world (keep an eye out for the mythos 2 coming soon!).

Next Level Filter/Retail Game

A second grinder is now becoming a necessity on the speciality coffee scene. Customers are looking to try new and exciting coffees via guest espresso and filter brew methods, as well as demanding freshly ground retail bags of coffee for home. Unfortunately, a second grinder is often an afterthought, with an unrealistic low budget removing the quality away from these offerings that they deserve. Often the best option can be having two grinders, one for guest espresso and another for filter style brews, forcing that budget to stretch even further.

In steps the EK43 to save the day. Skin deep it is a retail bag grinder- but it’s actually a very capable all-round grinder and is used this way by the majority of its happy owners.
Retail grinding is a breeze with the EK43. Open a bag, throw the beans in the hopper with the gate shut, select a grind size and turn the grinder on. Clip the bag on, open the gate and let the grinder do its job. The vibrating bag clip will settle the grinds down neatly into the bag, whilst the vertically inclined burrs will allow every gram of coffee to pass through- virtually zero retention. Simply put, what goes in comes out.

The easily adjusted grind size and zero retention make this grinder really versatile. With pre-weighed doses of coffee, you can efficiently and accurately make a single serve filter brew or guest espresso in a short space of time, all from the one grinder.

Even a kilo of coffee will get chewed up and spat out in no time, and it will cover grind sizes all the way from the finest espresso up to bulk brew and beyond.
Its popularity as an espresso and filter grinder has really bloomed over the past few years and this is due to its ability to grind very uniform particle size. This means that coffee ground in an EK43 can extract much more evenly which produces great balance and sweetness in the cup, whilst reducing those over and under extracted notes of bitterness and sourness creating truly stunning guest espresso shots and filter brews, not to mention what it can do on a batch brewer, really adding great value and allowing great coffee to shine.