The Rocket Fausto is an espresso grinder in the transitional price range, bridging the gap between home grinders and commercial grinders. With a purchase price of over 1000 Swiss Francs in Switzerland and 800 Euros in the Eurozone, this grinder from Rocket demonstrates its value. Our video review examines whether the grinder truly delivers quality in all categories, right into your cup.
Heavy, fast, powerful - Rocket Fausto
The Rocket Fausto visually resembles many espresso grinders typically found in commercial settings. Measuring 17.2 cm in width, approximately 44.5 cm in height, and 28.2 cm in depth, it weighs in at 11.5 kg. This makes the Rocket Fausto one of the heaviest espresso grinders in our test series. It is all the more surprising that the grinder shifts slightly when it starts up. The motor power seems to be stronger during startup than the grip of the feet.
This power is evident in its speed. In 10 seconds, the Rocket Fausto grinds 30.5 grams of coffee to espresso fineness. This makes it one of the fastest espresso grinders in our test series. A positive aspect is that the temperature of the burrs and the ground coffee does not significantly increase during this process. Over six extractions, we observed a temperature increase of the ground coffee by 0.8 degrees Celsius, though this was within an average range of 31.6 degrees Celsius. This low temperature has no impact on the taste of the espresso.
The consistency of the grinder also proved to be good. With a standard deviation and a fluctuation of 0.21 grams over ten extractions, the Rocket Fausto generally stayed within the target range. The deviation from shot to shot should also be considered in the context of its high grinding speed. We found that faster grinders consistently had more difficulty in producing consistent quantities of ground coffee.
Large retention of the Fausto
Unfortunately, the Rocket Fausto 2.1 represents one of the old-school grinders that exhibit very high retention. 10 grams of coffee remain in the absolute retention zone of the Rocket Fausto Nuovo. That is a lot! When preparing a double espresso, the retention therefore fills more than half of the portafilter. In our article on retention, we provided many tips on how to deal with such retention. Among other things, the coffee should be ground out before each shot. However, this leads to a waste of coffee.
Single dosing is often the solution for many grinders with large retention. However, the Rocket Fausto also performs poorly here with a single dosing retention of 2 grams of coffee. Specifically, this means that even after extensive grinding, the ground grinder retains 2 grams of coffee if, for example, 18 grams of coffee are added. Only 16 grams are ejected from the grinder without using a brush or other aids. On this basis, the Rocket Fausto cannot be used as a single dosing grinder.
Good Espresso!
The espresso from the Rocket Fausto, on the other hand, is really good. (Provided that the old coffee from the grinder is purged, or the grinder is used frequently so that ground coffee does not accumulate in the first place.) The particle distribution also points in this direction. With a main peak of 225, we are narrow and very accurate at the desired grind size. Incidentally, this was also evident when adjusting the grinder. In terms of adjustability and precision, the Rocket Fausto does a very good job. Even if the grind size is adjusted between grinding sessions, a noted grind size can be relatively easily found again, and the result of the grinding is also exactly as it was before. This is excellent! The fine peak is also relatively low and, as expected, led to low bitterness in the espressos.
Conclusion on the Rocket Fausto
The Rocket Fausto excels in core areas such as performance, speed, espresso quality, and operation under load. This makes it well-suited for setups like small catering businesses or shared households with high espresso machine usage. In single households, the grinder tends to show its weaknesses, including its large retention and poor single-dosing performance.
However, as always: it depends on the type of use. The Rocket Fausto clearly has its strengths and offers a great deal of robustness and good workmanship for a higher initial price.
