Quamar M80 espresso grinder tested – a great entry-level tip for the restaurant industry!

The Quamar is available in different versions and with different names, but internally the Quamar M80E, the Quamar M80 Touch and the Quamar M80 Touch Plus are the same. The grinders differ mainly in their control system. Grinding discs, particle distribution and other performance aspects do not differ significantly. In our test, we took a look at the Quamar M80 E Touch Plus. We bought it from Pro Kaffeemaschinen in Basel.

In Germany and Austria, we saw the Quamar M80 Touch Plus for around 700 Euros. In Switzerland, the top model starts from 800 Swiss Francs. The cheaper model is available for 100 Euros or 150 Swiss Francs less. That's quite exciting!

This grinder test is part of our test series of over 24 espresso grinders for home use. However, the Quamar M80 Touch Plus is more recommended as a good entry-level grinder for gastronomy. We will elaborate on the reasons in this test.

Weight and Power - Gastropower

The Quamar M80 E has many features that a commercial grinder needs. It grinds 33.6 grams in 10 seconds, making it one of the faster espresso grinders. Even under load, the grinding discs barely heat up and remain at an average of 30.5 degrees Celsius. The consistency of the grinder does not suffer – which is often the case with fast espresso grinders. From shot to shot, the Quamar fluctuates within a good tolerance range. The 63 mm grinding discs do a good job.

Equally powerful is the grinder's volume. 88.8 decibels is quite a statement! However, this is one of those volumes that is rather pleasant. Cheaper grinders reach similar volumes, but they sound like they're on their last legs. The Quamar is loud, but it doesn't sound cheap. The grinding discs work powerfully and reliably.

The espresso grinder weighs 11 kilograms and is 56 cm high, 29 cm deep, and 17.5 cm wide. If the height is not suitable, smaller bean hoppers are available for the weighty grinder. But even here, it becomes clear - this grinder is actually designed to make small cafes happy. Accordingly, the Quamar is also designed for up to 3.5 kilograms of coffee per day.

Retention and Single Dosing

At the bottom of the table, the Quamar M80 stands with its retention volume. 10.9 grams remain in the absolute retention area during regular use of the grinder. We define this as the sum of permanent and temporary retention. This flaw can be ironed out by leveraging the grinder's strength. In a busy cafe, the retention is regularly ground out and does not weigh as heavily. If you only pull one espresso a day, you should use the Quamar for single dosing.

Indeed, its performance as a single dosing grinder is good. Despite the large retention, the grinder is almost completely emptied to within 0.2 grams if it runs for 30 seconds. For this, the grinder is used without loading the bean hopper. Instead, the coffee beans are weighed and poured into the grinder in the desired amount. For a double espresso, for example, 18 grams of whole beans are used. A good single dosing grinder will dispense the 18 grams entered. This one delivers good performance here.

However, a truly good single dosing grinder must also perform on a second level. What's interesting about single dosing is also the switch from coffee to coffee, from recipe to recipe. In this discipline, the Quamar M80 loses points. It's not easy to precisely switch from grind setting to grind setting. If, for example, we pull an espresso with grind setting 8, set the grinder to 7.6 for an espresso, and then want to return to grind setting 8, the ejected result is not identical to the particle distribution of the first shot.

How does the espresso taste?

The Quamar M80 Touch Plus delivered really good espresso for us. We were almost a little surprised. To explain, we need to briefly elaborate. We tested the grinder, tasted a few espressos, which were also good. Then, however, the machine suddenly clogged with every shot, right before the flapper.

It took the support of a technician and the replacement of the flapper to get the grinder running again. This took a few days, delaying the test. We are unclear how the flapper defect occurred. Therefore, we do not want to dwell on it further. If you also have a Quamar M80 in any model and have experienced something similar, please write it in the comments.

With a fresh start and a new flapper, we were able to adjust the grind setting without any problems and brew good espresso.

A look at the particle distribution shows a medium main peak and a medium fine content. Not too many fines and no excessive width in the main peak. However, the curves did fluctuate somewhat and deviated from each other from shot to shot, as already mentioned regarding single dosing.

Differences between the Quamar M80 models

The Quamar M80 models mainly differ in their operation. The Quamar M80 E, for instance, has a centered funnel instead of an angled coffee spout. On this model, the controls with buttons are located on the lid of the centering funnel.

The Quamar M80 Touch has a digital display with buttons underneath. As with all other Quamar versions, two quantities can be programmed. The Quamar M80 Touch Plus has a colored touch display and no external buttons. The quantities can be programmed well with it, although the display seems a bit slower compared to super-fast smartphone displays. The coffee quality of the grinders does not differ. So, the question of whether the added value of the color display justifies the additional investment must be considered individually.

Conclusion Quamar M80 Touch Plus and co.

The Quamar M80 is more suitable as a grinder for gastronomic use than for home users. Only then can the grinder play to its strengths such as speed and low temperature under performance. Only then does it also compensate for the weakness of the large retention space.

The grinder is available for relatively little money, making it a real insider tip for the catering industry. In particular, opting for the Quamar M80 Touch is very attractive with a price starting from 529 Euros (seen at Espresso Perfetto).

Those who use the grinder at home will be able to compensate for the problems of the large retention space with single dosing. However, for optimal use as a single dosing grinder, the Quamar M80 is not precise enough in terms of grind setting.