Etzinger will not be a family identify to many uniqueness espresso customers, however chances are high that you’ve used their merchandise. Each Baratza and L. a. Marzocco have used Etzinger burrs of their grinders, some going again over a decade. That’s what Etzinger is understood for: designing, engineering and production burrs. Some would argue in addition they are advancing espresso grinder burr design each and every unmarried 12 months.
A couple of years in the past, Etzinger made up our minds to increase, and get into the grinder device class with their ETZMAX lineup of business grinders, which might be basically offered in Europe. The following segment used to be entering the rising and intriguing guide grinder marketplace, first with the ETZ-MAN tabletop grinder , and temporarily adopted with the ETZ-I moveable guide grinder.
Etzinger ETZ-I Grinders: Flooring Breaking
Etzinger now has a guide grinder that no longer many of us have observed or used but: the Etzinger ETZ-I. The grinder used to be presented as a prototype overdue final 12 months, and made to be had for basic sale most effective this Might after some minor adjustments have been made in response to prototype comments. Without reference to availability and even exact hands-on use of the grinder, the ETZ-I garnered a large number of evaluations on-line from individuals who… neatly, love to state evaluations on espresso tools with out in fact the usage of stated espresso tools.
There’s been a lot of certain platitudes, but in addition a large number of court cases about Etzinger’s design and engineering alternatives for the grinder. That’s since the ETZ-I breaks a large number of conventions and “regulations” within the guide grinder global.
Burr Housing Design
In all probability most unusual engineering design of the ETZ-I grinder is that it does no longer have a central spindle for mounting and turning the decrease burr, like each and every different hand cranked, handheld espresso grinder lately options. As a substitute, the Etzinger hand grinder’s decrease burr is desk bound (it doesn’t spin) and is solidly fixed to the grinder adjustment collar and housing.
It’s the highest burr that rotates in an ETZ-I grinder, and it does so by means of being fixed to the interior tube meeting of the grinder, which in flip is turned around by means of a crank deal with on the peak of the grinder. The result’s a little of Tron Gentle Cycle magic, if you are going to: take away the decrease burr and grinds catch from the ETZ-I, glance in the course of the peak portion the place the entire beans cross, and you notice not anything however air down the center the place you’d be expecting a spindle to be.
The good thing about this design is sort of no “burr wobble”; an issue that plagues many historically designed guide espresso grinders. Whilst some pricey guide grinders in the marketplace have double spindle designs, double mounting designs and complicated bearing and cargo regulate designs, even the most efficient of sophistication hand grinders nonetheless showcase a little of burr wobble below heavy load, which leads to a much wider variance of grind particle sizes within the output. The Etzinger ETZ-I design just about gets rid of this.
Counter Clockwise Motion
The ETZ-I may be the one guide hand grinder it’s a must to crank counter clockwise (anti-clockwise for my British buddies). It is because you’re spinning the highest burr, no longer the decrease one. This truth by myself has grew to become some espresso discussion board pundits (who’ve by no means in fact used this grinder). I’m left passed, however for many years have spun clockwise on dozens of various hand grinders. That stated, I discovered the usage of this grinder within the counter clockwise movement took just a few grind periods to get used to.
Settings Zealot
The ETZ-I has a loopy selection of grinder settings – 88 of them! – with every atmosphere leading to a nil.02mm (20 micron) adjustment within the burr peak. If that isn’t sufficient, not like maximum hand grinders, those changes are extraordinarily repeatable and reproducible throughout each and every ETZ-I available in the market. If you select a atmosphere of 9+ 2 ticks, and inform somebody to make use of that atmosphere on their ETZ-I grinder 5,000 miles away, they’re going to be the usage of the similar grind atmosphere as you. Etzinger makes use of an actual Vernier scale indicator on their grinders, and adjusting even simply 1 click on at the 88 alternatives is straightforward, particularly when you opposite the grind catch cup and use it to rotate the grind adjustment with extra precision. Each and every clicked place has a tactile, virtually haptic-like comments too.
Different Methods and Refinements
Increasingly guide grinders are applying rare-earth magnets (tremendous robust pull for a small dimension) to stay lids in position, or determine a extra protected grasp at the crank deal with to a central spindle. The ETZ-I grinder makes use of an excessively robust one to stay the grinds bin in position – no screwing it on or off – it simply snaps into position. Magnets are extensively utilized to protected the crank deal with in a degree place as a result of… this grinder design has a retractable deal with that slides about 80% into the bean chamber when no longer in use. The grinder additionally makes use of magnets to stay the flip-top bean chamber lid in position.
The ETZ-I may be designed to be extremely simple to wash. No unscrew this, use a hex wrench on that, take away six washers right here roughly factor to get to the burrs and interior spaces the place grinds would possibly finally end up. Merely rotate the grind variety dial previous its coarsest atmosphere till it traces up with a line at the grinder frame, and pull the decrease burr meeting out. This provides complete get right of entry to to the highest burr (within the peak bean space meeting) and the decrease burr meeting. Tremendous simple and fuss loose.
Grinds Retention
Then there used to be probably the most arguable design selection at the ETZ-I that made some espresso discussion board (and reddit readers) cross apoplectic: Etzinger designed what they known as “the anti-static jig” for this hand grinder, so it might get an output that used to be lightly dispensed, and normally freed from static. And this design works really well. However the design philosophy and engineering in the back of it had an issue: the design most effective purposes as promised when about 1g value of floor espresso (relying on how tremendous you grind) is retained within the grinding chamber (we’ll have extra at the why and the way of this in our overview of the ETZ-I). Sure, this grinder is engineered to retain some floor espresso.
Howdy, at CoffeeGeek, we’re as responsible as any person about speaking and selling retention-free grinders. But when somebody got here up with a machine that gets rid of the want to do a RDT (Ross Droplet Method) to do away with grinder static, and do away with the will for the WDT means, which delays the time you’re taking your floor espresso and feature water via it, and all it prices is 1g of espresso retention (that you’ll simply knock out after with a palm rap towards the facet of the grinder), that sounds lovely excellent.
1g+ retention, then again, didn’t sound nice to the aforementioned discussion board and reddit individuals. They complained with out even the usage of or seeing the grinder. I will be able to’t rigidity this sufficient: only a few other people have observed this grinder, or even fewer nonetheless have used it. Fewer nonetheless perceive the design ethos of the grinder, which is the principle impetus for scripting this submit prior to we put the grinder via our overview procedure.
For some, it didn’t appear to topic that this is likely one of the most effective hand grinders in the marketplace this is just about freed from static hold within the floor espresso. Or that the output has an excessively even and balanced participle distribution. Or that it just about gets rid of burr wobble, giving an impressively even grind output. Or that it eradicated the time-chewing WDT methodology other people use to even out their coffee grinds (at CoffeeGeek, we consider it’s completely the most important to attenuate the time between grinding and pulling a shot with regards to coffee grinds).
We’ve been the usage of the ETZ-I (and a variant, see beneath) for per week now, and I will be able to already state one thing: this stuff do topic. This is a wonderful, floor breaking guide, moveable espresso grinder. Does it have problems? Positive it does (it would use a rubberized grip of types to lend a hand stay issues protected when grinding). However its output is phenomenal, its grinding pace is peak of sophistication, and its talent to wash and regulate may be peak of sophistication.
The ETZ-I Evolves
On account of the court cases about grind retention, Etzinger has long gone again to the drafting board – just a little – at the ETZ-I and made up our minds to get a hold of a variant: the ETZ-U.
The ETZ-I, to be had in each a normal and trim model, may have the anti-jig mechanism in position to ship what Etzinger sought after with this grinder: no static, very good particle distribution and a fairly compacted mattress of espresso that is able to simply drop right into a portafilter, or V60 clear out, and brew with.
The ETZ-U, which continues to be in prototype degree, may have a special burr housing collar that doesn’t have any of the anti-static jig’s design or results. Each .1g of espresso you upload to the grinder up peak will pop out of the ground. Distribution isn’t as ultimate as it’s with the ETZ-I, however shall be on par with the most efficient of sophistication hand grinders lately in the marketplace. Similar with static hold. If truth be told, I’ve been trying out each fashions for per week now, and whilst I do understand a tiny little bit of static problems within the ETZ-U style, once more, it’s no worse than different hand grinders. The ETZ-I alternatively has no static problems in any respect.
Etzinger believes the ETZ-U style might be repurposed for different makes use of, together with use as a pepper or spice mill (in the event that they do that, it will be the easiest pepper mill on the earth! Should you continuously use a pepper mill, you know the way irritating they may be able to be, and the way the standard of the burr units and cranking motion is lovely unhealthy, even in well-known, top finish merchandise like turbines by means of Peuguot and others). Down the street, they may increase and be offering a pepper mill model of the ETZ-U with out a crank arm, and as an alternative with a rotating peak “grip ball” on peak, and an open backside for the pepper to fall instantly out onto your meals.
The ETZ-U selection would possibly no longer even come to marketplace in any respect. However on the very least, it’s appearing that Etzinger is taking note of the espresso and coffee “digerati”, a lot of whom haven’t even used the grinder but. Individually, I believe the ETZ-I by itself is a horny impressive hand grinder, even with the 1g retention. Which may also be simply knocked out into the grinds catch cup with palm rap at the facet or base of the grinder.
We’ll be having a primary search for the grinder very quickly, at the side of a complete overview. And keep tuned to the weblog for a characteristic at the prototype ETZ-U style we’ve got available.
Mark has qualified as a Canadian, USA, and Global Barista Championship Pass judgement on in each sensory and technical fields, in addition to running as an teacher in espresso and coffee coaching. He began CoffeeGeek in 2001.
