For the past two years in the barista community, the constant buzz in terms of new equipment has rested in two places; controlling temperature/pressure and grind quality. It became apparent as Kyle Glanville walked into competition with a yet unnamed Mazzer doserless grinder that there was a new game in town; no more clacking and pulling; no more left dose and excess spillage. Since that time the Robur E has emerged with a glowing electric hopper lid and a not-so-glowing price bracket in the range of what one used to pay for a decent one group espresso machine. As expected, too, the market has followed suit with the development of doserless and doser-ed timer grinders such as Anfim and Compak's K8 Automatic.

The most recent installment of the doserless timer grinder is an offspin of Compak's WBC edition K10 conic. It has a robust motor with low burr speed and a great quality set of conical burrs that produce low heat, high volume grinding with ease. I will note that I am using the K10's prototype and, thus, there are already planned revisions from some of the changes that really need to be made. Nonetheless, I will attempt to paint an accurate picture of the grinder as it stands now along with what you might expect in the future.

Appearance: Little has been done aesthetically to the K10 that you might be familiar with. The grinder sent to us was the painted black casing identical to the previous doser grinders but different than the shiny competition edition. However, the removal of the doser leaves the bullet shaped grinder looking tall and aerodynamic (which might be useful if we were trying to beat land speed record or reduce drag on a porsche). The doser has been replaced by an elephant-like schnozz chute that slopes to meet a thin, sharp fork where the portafilter rests. The distance between the fork and the chute leaves a little issue with updosing, but i'll get to that later. The biggest change other than the doser to the look of the grinder is the addition of a digital timer neatly placed on the lower left part of the grinder body. It reads out in seconds, tenths, and hundredths of seconds in a bright green oel display.


Design: The spout is shaped fairly well and flows freely when grinding, though there is a small amount of buildup at the end of the spout after continual use. I'm not quite sure if there is a slight lip or if the spout is just not smooth enough to pass all the coffee without resistance, but it can collect a gram or so after a dozen cycles. This seems to be exacerbated by the closeness of the fork to the spout. As I mentioned before, using dosages up to 21 g precariously place the piled coffee slightly into the dosing chute, causing excess buildup. I have been assured that this will be in the process of change when the completed model goes to production. The pf fork is also a little of an issue as the metal seems to be thin enough to bend and bounce the portafilter. This leaves opportunity for the portafilter to jostle and bounce coffee out of itself during use. Again, the changes have been planned to make a more rigid resting spot.

The timer is a real win for the grinder as it's exaction through fine tuning in terms of time leads to more costumizable and controllable dosages. Changes are simple and intuitive in terms of time adjustment. simply pressing the "P" button takes you into time programming mode. After holding the button down for a short time it jumps from changing hundredths of seconds to tenths. Holding it further for a few seconds will change whole seconds. Once you've made your adjustment you can simply press "p" again to save your settings. You can dose about 21 g in four seconds or so, which is a little slower than the E, but then the K10 does not have a burr auger.

Wastage/Efficiency: Given that this grinder is optimized for efficiency, there a few concerns about its capability to follow through. The grinder does clump a little bit. Though not as bad as the old mahlkonig k30, which produces hard clumps, it does produce light clumps which tend to roll off a nearly full mound of coffee and spill on to the grinder's waste tray. That added with the obvious residual left in the chute when updosing adds up to relatively acceptable waste for most grinders, yet it leaves something to be desired in the pursuit for hyper efficienct grinding. The waste tray also leaves unnecessary mess for the user because the plastic removal plate sits lower than the grinder body, creating a gap for coffee to become wedged in. This can lead to coffee grounds spillage under the tray and around the base or under the base. this aspect could use considerable revision, though it would be less necessary if there were less waste

Function: The time cycle is activated by pressing in a button located between the chute and the dosing fork with the portafilter. After considering how such a button might function after getting coffee grounds stuck in and around it (which was a problem with the automatic 8) they decided that the production model will be equipped with a finger activated dosing button above the spout to keep it more clean and functional. The huge improvement over the robur e in the production model will be the three way power switch. You can choose to turn the grinder off, place it on for timed dosing or switch it into manual position and dose by pressing the button once to activate and once to deactivate the dosing cycle. Because of the switch in tandem with a button independent of the timer, one can continue to use the grinder even if the timer fails for some reason, which has been a consistent question and concern for those who are looking at the robur e.

In the cup: Though the K10 varies in dosing function, nothing has really changed in terms of consistent, low heat grinding. We put it through the ringer next to our other grinders at the coffee institute including the previous doser model of the k10 and it measure up confidently to the standards of espresso grinding. I will say that we did not have a robur e on bar to compare and contrast, so I am hoping to find someone willing to do a side-by-side evaluation. If not, look for a grinder showdown with pictures and a review after the great lakes jam this fall. We found great clarity in the cup with our standard dosing parameters and were very pleased with its consistent dosing in terms of controllable extraction.

This is all preliminary in judgment, so don't assume my word as the end of it, but I do believe that Compak has done very well in producing a top of the market piece of equipment that rivals the best in doserless timer grinding, and at 1,700 a piece with the digital timer, it's a steal of a deal. You will also be able to buy a timerless model for a pricepoint well below that, though I have heard no confirmed prices. If you've had any experiences with thiis grinder, please share what you've found.