In search of the best espresso grinder for beginners, we take a critical look at the Rommelsbacher EKM300 coffee and espresso grinder. We found the grinder in Germany for around 80 euros and in Switzerland it costs 100 francs. That's relatively inexpensive for a coffee grinder and one of the cheapest grinders in our comprehensive espresso grinder test. Before we discuss the Rommelsbacher EKM300 as an espresso grinder, we first clarify the central question for affordable coffee grinders: does the Rommelsbacher EKM300 even grind fine enough for espresso?
Does the Rommelsbacher EKM300 grind fine enough for espresso?
The answer is: no. A typical espresso shot time takes 25 seconds at the default setting. Depending on the espresso and preference, the grind setting and resulting particle size—called particle distribution in technical terms—is adjusted slightly finer or coarser to brew espressos that run a few seconds faster or slower. The grind setting and the resulting particle size form the necessary resistance in the portafilter to reduce or accelerate the shot time.
However, the Rommelsbacher EKM300 is not fine enough with the coffees we used to achieve an extraction time of over 20 seconds. With our test espresso Apas from Brazil, the extraction time was only 15 seconds!
That's far too fast and results in correspondingly poor taste. The coffee tasted sour and aggressive on one hand due to pronounced underextraction, while on the other hand it was watery and had an unpleasantly dry aftertaste. In short: espresso doesn't taste like that.
Rommelsbacher advertises the EKM as a "premium coffee grinder <...> for demanding coffee and espresso lovers" and claims that the coffee can be adjusted from "Moka, espresso" to coarse. This is not accurate, or to put it differently, completely off the mark.
To be continued...
The article will be supplemented.
