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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Aldrich on January 19, 2012 at 7:25pm

Roburs have phenomenal grind quality, and are IMO the best option for busy bars because of the combo of grind speed and consistency. They do have their drawbacks, the large retention being one, but all grinders do.

That retention will get you in 2 ways: if you have lulls between drinks as mentioned above, you will have to purge coffee so it doesn't stale. It will also get you when you make grind adjustments; you will have to purge the retained grounds before testing said adjustment to get an accurate picture of changing grind size. I have experienced what I would call "transition shots" on the robur, where I get a combination of grounds from before and after the change, but not solely after the adjustment. This means that you will have to grind while adjusting, purge, and then probably pull 2 shots to make adjustments. That's 60+ grams to change your grind.

But all of that's worthwhile on a busy bar. I've worked a bar that consistently did 600-800 espresso drinks a day, first with a super jolly and then with a robur E; I wouldn't try it with anything else now. If your shop isn't at least steady, if not really busy, I'd have to recommend against the robur and for something with a doser (Anfim, Compak K10, etc.) If you install a solid state timer, you'll still get the benefit that the E has on waste, without having to deal with the retention, still having a great grind side, and the benefit of being able to get rid of all of your old coffee easily without having to waste much.

Another option would be getting a Robur with a doser, but I can't speak to whether or not retention is an issue with them. Anyone else able to chime in on that?

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Permalink Reply by Brady on January 19, 2012 at 7:39pm

All Mazzers, and indeed most espresso grinders, leave some ground coffee behind in the throat (between the burrs and the doser or chute). This has nothing to do with the doserless chute - it is a characteristic of the base grinder. Incidentally, the auger on the Robur is on the whole-bean side of the burrset and doesn't grind the coffee... it just helps feed the beans in.

This means that you'll have to deal with purge after idle or adjustment on pretty much any grinder you use. BTW, the grinder that, to my knowledge, best manages the problem of leftover ground coffee is the Nuova Simonelli Mythos. Worth checking out if this is a huge concern for you.

If you are indeed concerned about quality, you ought to consider a Major instead of a Super Jolly. Bigger burrs and less heat issues.

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Permalink Reply by Ty Paluska on January 20, 2012 at 6:38am

It was actually the Kony I was thinking of not the Super Jolly.  Have either of you or any one else heard anything about the Kony in comparison to the Rober?

Brady said:

All Mazzers, and indeed most espresso grinders, leave some ground coffee behind in the throat (between the burrs and the doser or chute). This has nothing to do with the doserless chute - it is a characteristic of the base grinder. Incidentally, the auger on the Robur is on the whole-bean side of the burrset and doesn't grind the coffee... it just helps feed the beans in.

This means that you'll have to deal with purge after idle or adjustment on pretty much any grinder you use. BTW, the grinder that, to my knowledge, best manages the problem of leftover ground coffee is the Nuova Simonelli Mythos. Worth checking out if this is a huge concern for you.

If you are indeed concerned about quality, you ought to consider a Major instead of a Super Jolly. Bigger burrs and less heat issues.

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