In search of the best espresso grinder for beginners, we take a closer look at the Rommelsbacher EKM300 coffee and espresso grinder. We've seen the grinder for around 80 Euros in Germany and it's available for 100 Swiss Francs in Switzerland. This is relatively inexpensive for a coffee grinder and one of the cheapest grinders in our large espresso grinder test. Before we discuss the Rommelsbacher EKM300 as an espresso grinder, let's first clarify the central question for inexpensive coffee grinders: does the Rommelsbacher EKM300 grind fine enough for espresso?
Does the Rommelsbacher EKM300 grind fine enough for espresso?
The answer is no. A typical espresso extraction time lasts 25 seconds at the basic setting. Depending on the espresso and preference, the grind size is adjusted slightly finer or coarser to brew espressos that run a few seconds faster or slower. The grind size and the resulting particle size, known in technical jargon as particle distribution, creates the necessary resistance in the portafilter to reduce or accelerate the extraction time.
However, the Rommelsbacher EKM300 cannot grind fine enough for 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 is far too fast and leads to a correspondingly poor taste. The coffee tasted acidic-aggressive due to the pronounced underextraction, and at the same time it was watery and had an unpleasant dry aftertaste. In short: that's not how espresso should taste.
Rommelsbacher advertises the EKM as a "Premium coffee grinder <...> for demanding coffee and espresso lovers" and states that the coffee can be adjusted from "mocha, espresso" to coarse. This is not accurate, or to put it differently, completely off the mark.
To be continued...
The article will be updated.
