Mazzer Kold Electronic. One of the primary challenges to busy cafes is maintaining consistency when orders are flowing fast. Part skill and part equipment, the barista needs to be aware of what is happening to the coffee and in particular the grinder. These days, we take it as a given that multi-boiler, PID machines remain thermally stable. Worrying about recovery time and shot temps is quite rare unless you are trying to use a 2-group when you should have a 3-group. If you have a quality brand machine and it is setup correctly, with good water filters and clean, then you really don't need to do much except make sure you have the temp correct for the way the coffee is running, e.g. you know the drill, a 1-Deg change can make a difference. Attention turns to the shot times, dose weights and converted volumes - it's here that the grinder tends to let you down. We have some pretty busy cafes that push Robur-E's beyond the optimal operating conditions - 3 or 4 kilos an hour causes excessive heat build up resulting in the need to continually set the grind setting a fraction finer throughout the day - only to wind it back at night and start again the next morning. This is a frustrating exercise and pushes the limits of quality and speed. We have tried a few alternatives over the last 6 months. The NS Mythios-1 Clima Pro had all the hallmarks of a grinder that would be perfect for cafes - minimal retention, clean + perfect dosing and special treatment of heat build-up. However, the results in the cup where not comparable with the large Compak and Mazzer conicals. In the last fortnight, we have run a new Mazzer Kold Electronic on the House coffee in a busy cafe. This is a relatively new concept from Mazzer, although it has been a long time coming. The Kold is not the prettiest looking grinder, but it's built-for-purpose components from the Robur to implement a belt-drive system that is mounted at an offset to create space so the conductive heat from the motor does not rise up and heat the grind-set - a good idea. Performance-wise, we have found the dose is relatively consistent, e.g. within 0.75g which puts it slightly improved upon the Robur-E it replaced (which was up to 0.9g variance). The Kold also appears to be slightly better at dosing into the portafilter without excessive waste - why I don't know as it's basically the Robur-E dosing system (perhaps it's just an illusion and we are in fact still in the "honeymoon" phase). Is it worth the premium over the Robur ? maybe. It's a question that only a busy cafe can answer - if you struggle to achieve consistency when under the pump, then anything (and everything) you can do to improve is worth it.......so in that context it is a resounding YES.
