In our search for the best espresso grinder for beginners, we take a closer look at the Rommelsbacher EKM300 coffee and espresso grinder. We saw the grinder in Germany for around €80, and it's available in Switzerland for CHF100. That's relatively inexpensive for a coffee grinder and one of the most affordable grinders in our extensive 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 even grind espresso finely?
Does the Rommelsbacher EKM300 grind espresso finely?
The answer is no. A typical espresso run-out time is 25 seconds at the default setting. Depending on the espresso and your preference, the grind size can be adjusted slightly finer or coarser to brew espressos a few seconds faster or slower. The grind size and the associated grain size, known in technical terms as particle distribution, create the necessary resistance in the portafilter to reduce or accelerate the run-out time.
However, the Rommelsbacher EKM300 doesn't grind the coffee we used finely enough to achieve an extraction time of more than 20 seconds. With our test espresso, Apas from Brazil, the extraction time was only 15 seconds!
This is much too fast and results in a correspondingly poor taste. The coffee tasted sour and aggressive due to the pronounced under-extraction, while at the same time being watery and with an unpleasantly dry aftertaste. In short: this is not what espresso tastes like.
Rommelsbacher advertises the EKM as a "premium coffee grinder <...> for discerning 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 another way, completely wrong.
Sequel follows...
The article will be updated later.
