# My humble setup



## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

The long awaited and debated K3. Still getting to grips with it but everytime I use it I like it a bit more.










I got a new milk frothing jug for Xmas as my old one didn't have a spout and despite attempts at latte art I never had any luck whatsoever. On my first go with the new jug i managed something vaguely resembling a rosetta (see pic) all my attempts since have been better and I can do hearts as well


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

Damn you, with your showing off







, I look forward to your critique of the K3 as it was my most likely new grinder before the Ebay madness set in.


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

I like the K3 (It's my first grinder of any sort so I have nothing to compare it to) There are some niggles at the moment though. The automatic dosing does not seem to be very consistent. It appears to change depending on the grind setting. I currently have it set on the lowest dose setting and I'm getting anything from 15-18g for a double dose. I think this may be down to grind retention though as sometimes I clear the chute and other times forget. It does seem like the coarser the grind the more is dispensed though. It is however early days and I've yet to try it with some decent beans. I started off with some costco beans the wife got me and could not get them to grind fine enough for espresso. I got to the point where K3 wouldn't dispense anything with them (so they went in the bin). I then tried the Illy beans and there was an instant improvement however it was now way too fine. A 14g dose was taking 45 seconds to pour (with a light tamp). I just made myself another double shot and have got it down to 32 seconds. This is good though as I adjusted the collar a fair way (almost an inch) to knock 13 seconds off. The markings on the collar are not great but I suspect this will be irrelevant once I'm in the right zone as I only grind for espresso anyway. I'll let you know how things develop. I'm currently wired from caffine overdoes so will have to wait till tomorrow now


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

I would be inclined to run the bag of costco beans through the grinder (don't need to drink them) to help it settle in.

Grinders tend to speed up once a few kilos have been run through.

Most commercial grinders start to work well after 5-10 kgs have been passed through. Not sure of the reasons but assume it is just the parts settling down when operating speeds are reached


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

You will always get a greater grind volume with a coarser grind (it`s physic n` stuff. more space = more coffee), that plus the grinder settling in as Glenn has advised, will lead to a period of demented grinder tweakery. as it all settles in. I, after some foolish grinder bravado statements have found that even with a used grinder there is a learning curve to undetake.


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

I've a couple of hours to kill later so I'll run the rest of the Costco beans through. Thanks guys!


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

I have an eye on the K3 too, so reading your comments with interest. A nice setup you have too.


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

I put the rest of the Costco beans through. The K3 ground the whole bag (nearly a kilo) in no time. Since then I've discovered a couple of things that might be of interest to you (BanishInstant). I've rectified the problem with the dosing. It kept dosing huge amounts (well in excess of 20grams) for a double dose on what I thought was the lowest setting. Turns out instructions are actually useful sometimes







Underneath the K3 (not a good place to put it) there is a small adjuster for increasing and decreasing the dose. It has + and - signs either side of it. In my world I thought that turning towards the + sign would increase the dose and vice versa but it turned out after reading the instructions that it is the opposite. I now have the K3 dosing around 7.5 grams per dose (15g for double) and it is very consistent. If you change the grind settings by a large margin you do have to tweak this again but once set it's very very consistent. I've been away a bit over the last few days so not had a huge amount of time to play about but this morning I managed a double shot with 15g in 26 seconds. I'm still using the Illy so am just having milk based drinks at the moment. I'm on a mission today to get some fresh beans from one of the many coffee shops near where I live so hopefully that elusive dream espresso is not far away.

My general feelings on the K3 so far are it is built to last. It is beautiful looking. Consistent grinds once dialled in correctly and very fast and convenient to use. If you grind for anything other than espresso though and you need to use the K3 for that as well I think the markings on the collar are pretty poor so you would need to make your own markings to get it back to a previous setting accurately. There is also a bit of play/movement in the collar (this does not affect the burrs) it moves a couple of mm left and right before becoming stiff to change the grind. It's not a big deal at all and I've got an idea how to resolve it myself with a small mod but you can easily live with it.


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Anyone have an insde scoop on where to buy a Compak K3 Touch - heard a few bad reviews of Myespresso...


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

I just replied to your other thread


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

MonkeyHarris said:


> I just replied to your other thread


Sorry excitedly double posted!


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## JDM (Jun 29, 2010)

My experience of Myespresso 'aftercare' was shocking, I will never purchase from them again. Best of luck with your search.


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