I read with interest that WBC (World Barista Championship) has changed the equipment for its competition standards recently in Sep 2008. From next year onwards WBC contestants will have to use the Mahlkonig grinders and the Nuovo Simonelli Aurelia.

More technical and operational features of this machine can be found here in this link.
http://www.nuovasimonelliusa.com/aurelia.html

This is the latest form of grinder. The coffee is grind only on demand. I will elaborate on this equipment as I personally feel that the importance of the grinder has been understated.

The volume to time ratio extraction (30mls in 25-30 seconds) is dependent heavily on the grind of the coffee, the amount it is dosed into the portafilter (or group basket) and the tamping pressure. The grind is key. Without the right grind, we cannot extract the best characters out of the coffee beans or blend. A good blade that does not cause the coffee ground to heat up during the grind is another contributing factor to ensuring that the coffee ground remains optimum for extraction.

Next, the volume of dosing is the other important and rather challenging factor for standard grinders. Most standard grinders uses a lever operated dosing chamber. To ensure consistency in dosing into the portafilter, the dosing chamber has to be at least half-filled. In a less busy cafe where volume of coffee served is low, the coffee ground sits in the dosing chamber may sit in the chamber for more than half an hour and the coffee will lose its freshness, particularly in our tropical climate and humidity. From day one when I operated Geek Terminal, I have insisted on grinding the coffee only when it is needed. This leads to a habit of clacking the lever several times to dose just the right amount of coffee into the portafilter because I wanted to keep the coffee as fresh as possible. In a nice ambience where guests are sitting, the noisy clacking of the lever can be distracting and nuisance.

When I had a chance, I told myself I would seriously consider investing in the Mahlkonig.

With the Mahlkonig grinder, it has solved a few key issues. One, it takes the guess work out of the dosing. Having visited many cafe outlets, I observe that most baristas’ biggest issue was getting the correct amount of coffee into the portafilter. The mahlkonig solved this beautifully and elegantly. Second, the noise from the clacking lever is gone! Cafes or restaurants that want a Barista manned espresso coffee counter will enjoy having this engineering marvel as the quiet ambience of the place will be mantained with only the floating aromas of coffee being present!

Finally, I went ahead to acquire one for Geek Terminal and for the past one week, I have been amazed at the consistency of its grind and dosing capability. Judging from the taste and consistent quality extraction of the espresso, I am glad I made the investment.

If anyone wants to find out more, I will be happy to share. I will also be exploring bringing in a few more in the coming months.

Tags: WBC, Barista, Mahlkonig, Grind on demand, Cafe, Espresso, Consistent, Consistency, Grinder, Espresso Machine