If you have spent any time asking questions or perusing the various Internet coffee forums, one bit of advice that turns up everywhere: "The grinder is more important than the espresso machine." Espresso is the highest form of the coffee beverage, extracting every last bit of what the bean has to offer to the palate. For the best to be offered, the coffee has to be precisely ground. The size of the particles have to be within a narrow band of particle sizes, ground with the very minimum amount of dust, and with little or no static cling, and done as gently as possible so that the beans are not overheated so the flavor stays in the coffee. Finally, virtually all grinders designed to be used for espresso feature stepless adjustments so that you never find yourself wanting for an in-between grind setting.

     You have probably read the review linked below this one on the Espresso! My Espresso website in the list of review links, and so you are aware that I acquired a Vibiemme Domobar Super espresso machine in mid-2007. For about the first nine months with the Vibiemme I had been using my Rancilio Rocky coffee grinder. To put things into perspective, at around $300 the majority of coffee drinkers would be shocked at the cost of that grinder. Rocky's replacement burr set costs more than most people would pay for a grinder. The Rocky is an excellent grinder, and one that served my needs for just over seven years. While most of its shortcomings were easily dealt with, when it comes to espresso, one of its problems is that its adjustment steps are about 0.0015" (0.03mm) each. That may not sound like much, but that equals about five seconds of extraction time.

     I had been considering upgrading to a higher quality grinder, dedicated to use for espresso for sometime, and through Jim at 1st-line.com I was able to purchase a used Mazzer Kony grinder. Mazzer is one of the premier manufacturers of coffee grinders— indeed, they actually manufacture burrs used by other companies. Selling at discount for about $1300, this is not your average grinder. The replacement burrs alone are $165!

• If the power switch is left at the first stop, an internal switch on the doser lever restarts the grinder every 12 doses which are dispensed. There is a flap over the exit chute from the grinding chamber that senses when the ground coffee in the doser reaches a certain height and turns off the grinder. There is a second momentary position of the switch that turns the grinder on and leaves it on even if the switch is released, at least until the doser is filled. Otherwise, just turn the switch to the full-off position to stop the grinder.
• The doser has a small mechanical, digital counter to show how much coffee has been dispensed. The counter assumes that you have properly adjusted the doser so that one click equals one dose. For home use it is worthless, if that.
• The doser vanes are easily adjustable so that each click of the lever will dispense between 5.5 and 8 grams of coffee. This is done by having the doser vanes telescope upwards so that by loosening the center nut on the doser vane they become taller.
• The bean hopper, at nine inches tall and eight inches across, holds pounds of coffee— far larger than any home user would ever need.
• At 44 pounds this thing weighs more than most espresso machines!
• At just over two feet tall it will make the standard-sized home espresso machine look like a two-slice toaster.

If you are still following along, consider yourself a coffee enthusiast.

• The 350 watt motor is connected to the burrs by a gearbox that spins the burrs at a relatively slow 500 RPM. A slower grinding speeds means less heat and gentler handling of the beans during the grinding process.
• 63mm conical burrs offer a much larger total grinding area than most flat burr grinders. The conical advantage also gives a more gradual decrease in particle size as the beans migrate downward through the burrs so that, at least theoretically, there is a more consistent particle size with less dust. If you check the Titan Grinder Project you will find graphs of particle size from data gathered using a laser diffraction particle size analyzer. Really.

     When speaking of serious espresso grinding, a weakness of the Rancilio Rocky is the amount of play that can develop in the threads of the upper burr carrier. All threads have some space between them, even if it is microscopic, or else they would be virtually impossible to turn. Rocky depends directly upon those threads for burr adjustment s well as alignment. Many folks have resorted to putting teflon tape on the carrier threads to steady the carrier. One of the reasons I narrowed down my choice of grinders to the Mazzer line was the way the upper burr is mounted. Let's take a close look:

     Beyond the infinite adjustability that such a mounting system offers, without using any tools you can access the grinding chamber and both burrs, and then reassemble the grinder, all in less than 90 seconds, without rushing. The repeatability of the grind setting even after disassembly is extremely accurate as well. While this is a time saver and thus a money saver in actual commercial use, it is a real joy in the home— no tools, no dropped screws, and no wasted coffee searching for the grind after reassembling.

     I did not mount the built-in tamper to the front of the doser and I removed the stiff metal clip from the underside of the grinder that was meant keep the grinds tray in place. The clip was so stiff, and holding the tray in place with such authority that the tray was scratching my counter top when I slid the tray in and out of place.

     Finally, I removed the doser forks which makes it much easier to dose evenly into the portafilter. The bottom needs to be removed for this procedure since the screws holding the forks merely go into loose nuts inside and not into a threaded boss. If you do manage to get the screws out, the nuts drop hither and yon into the grinder where they could create an electrical short hazard.

     Not to worry. All the above modifications can be easily reversed, and the grinder will be reverted back to its stock configuration if I ever decide to sell you my Kony... and then you woke up.

     One thing I did notice right off was that the espresso tasted different, at least to me. While it worked quite well in milk-based drinks, as straight shots, the grinder seemingly changed the taste profile. It became more intense, seemingly accenting the varietal notes, roast flavors, and other tastes while muting the smooth and mellow flavors I savor more. This mirrors the results that some of the testers experienced in the Titan Grinder Project at Home-Barista.com.

     I have since begun changing my blend and roast to match this new setup. I am now roasting lighter for espresso than I have in the past. For quite some time (years?) I had been roasting about fifteen seconds into active second. To adjust the flavor profile, my last roast was taken about ten clicks into second, and I will continue to experiment to find a roast I like, but can definitely see where I might be roasting even lighter than that. I can only conclude that the grind produced by the conical burrs brings out flavors not previously revealed using Rocky.

     I have also begun modifying my blend. I was using a Brazil base of about 33%, added another South American (Peruvian, Costa Rican, Panamanian, etc.), and topped it off with about 20 to 25% Asian or African (often a Kenyan or Tanzanian peaberry). To try to mellow out the taste of my espresso with the Kony, for this last roast I used all South American beans and the straight espresso was much improved. Based on the lighter roast and the taste of this last batch of coffee, I can probably roast even a bit lighter (maybe the first click or two of second) and add about 10-15% African. If that doesn't work, I will post-roast the African a bit darker and try that, or maybe try something else.

     I will say that I am quite glad that I home roast and can easily modify my blends to match my taste, and in this case, to match my equipment as well! This is part of the joy and one of the two greatest benefits of home blending and home roasting (the other, of course, is guaranteed freshness). What would I have done, as an "average" home-espresso enthusiast if I bought green espresso blends or if I bought nothing but pre-roasted coffee for espresso? I very well might have sent the Kony back or sold it. That might be even more true if I predominantly drank straight espresso.

     So, does the Mazzer actually reveal tastes that “lesser” grinders miss? Do other grinders leave tastes in the coffee which end up in the knock box? I can't really tell you what is actually going on other than what my taste buds have seemingly revealed.