# Iberital MC2 or Mahlkonig Vario ?



## Hatbeard (Sep 26, 2012)

Hey all, finally found my way out of the introduction section.

I have a gaggia classic being delivered today (hopefully) with a happy donkey naked pf and silvia wand upgrade following shortly after (and a chris king/rapha tamper* and some SM red brick after that but I digress) but I'm still missing a vital piece of kit in the shape of a grinder.

I see the mc2 is highly rated on here by some and it's certainly appealing price wise but i'm not sure if it fits my needs exactly and I have the budget if i want to go as pricey as a vario if I want to.

my requirements are daily shots of espresso on the classic with semi regular grinding of coffee to take into the office for my aeropress, i'll be using it circa 6.30am so noise is an issue and countertop space is at a mucho premium (I live in a tiny flat).

apologies for re-treading old ground (hey at least I made my own mind up about the classic) but what would you guys say is the way to go? spend big and get exactly what I want or go cheap and do ok with what I can and put the extra cash to use elsewhere.

*I'm one of them weird cyclist types and this checked a multitude of my geekery boxes


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## forzajuve (Feb 2, 2011)

Well you wont be taking the grinder into the office with you I take it so grinding at home to take with you for use later is not the best way to get a good brew from your nice SM coffee. I would stick with a single grinder for home use espresso and a hand grinder for in the office/on your travels. A good hand grinder is only ~£30 so the rest of your budget can go on the best espresso grinder you can get, Mignon or second hand Super Jolly would be a good start.


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## Hatbeard (Sep 26, 2012)

I forgot to mention I have a porlex mini already which i'll be using at home initially with the classic until i decide on a grinder but i find that whilst it grinds well it's quite annoying to use regularly.

as far as grinding at home for the aeropress at work i'm happy to compromise a little there as up until now i've been using pre-ground bought from workshop/monmouth and find it's still much better than the other alternative (nescafé).


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

Congrats on placing the order for your Classic. I noticed on the lfgss thread that you had bought the Chris King tamper - looks pretty nice but expensive!

If you ever want to grind for anything other than espresso I wouldn't go for an MC2. It could be 15-20 turns of the dial from espresso to filter/aeropress then the same to get back (meaning more dialling in again). A lot of people are keen on the Vario so that might be a good choice, but for espresso I'd be tempted to try and get hold of a second hand Mazzer, then maybe a second smaller grinder for filter/aeropress etc. Sounds like overkill but I think I'd do my head in trying to dial in the espresso grind again each time.


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## bdt (Sep 13, 2011)

I bought an MC2 when I first got my Classic back in the spring and added a Vario a few weeks ago as I was looking for good home grinder that could also be used as a secondary grinder in our coffee house when we open in a few months. Although the Vario is obviously pricier, the difference between that an the Iberital is like night and day. If someone is stuck with a budget of £130 or so then the MC2 does the job but I find the Vario is better in every respect. Can't really comment on others such as Mazzer as I've no experience with them.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

I've had both. Replaced my MC2 with a Vario and lived to regret it. It's just horses for courses, but I found the Vario plasticky, hard to clean and I didn't like the adjustment mechanism, as it was way too easy for the sliders to get moved accidentally. And it didn't throw consistently weighted doses.

The timer may be accurate to 0.1 of a second on the Vario - but you'll be disappointed if you think that the degree of consistency of the doses that it throws matches that.

Think of it this way - you can set the timer for an exact time. But any coffee is going to have beans of differing sizes, and each dose will have a random mixture of sizes of bean, and they will hit the burrs at random from the hopper. Now, imagine if one dose contains all large beans, and the next all small ones (OK, an exaggeration, I know - but bear with the theory). It stands to reason that one lot of beans will pass through the burrs faster than the other - so in my view, setting the timer in 0.1s of a second is a mug's game. Just my theory, and I am happy to be shot down - but I certainly found that my Vario didn't dispense consistent doses. I subsequently had a Mini-e, and thought exactly the same about that.

For my money the best way to easily achieve consistency of dose is to weigh each lot of beans and throw them in the hopper and grind until they are all gone. Again, that's just what works for me.

For my money, unless you can afford a second-hand SJ, I'd do for the MC2 - as long as you can stand it's ugliness - because the Vario really scores on appearance.


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## bdt (Sep 13, 2011)

Agree to an extent re the consistency of the doses but the problem I find with weighing the beans out and grinding till gone in the MC2 is a pain in the ass as the last few beans always "popcorn" around which is irritating and time consuming. The design of the bottom of the Vario hopper makes it far harder for beans to do this. When I'm looking to dial in and get an extremely precise dose, I find it easier to dose slightly higher (either by adjusting the digital timer or hitting the Start button then interrupt shortly after) then simply removing a small amount of ground beans when on the scale. The uninterruptable design of the timed dose on the MC2 doesn't make this possible.


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## forzajuve (Feb 2, 2011)

To avoid popcorning you can put your tamper over the top of the entry point in the hopper for the last few beans. Weighing in on demand is the best way to get consistency and keep beans fresher for longer.


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## bdt (Sep 13, 2011)

Cheers - nice little tip that. Generally I only put small amounts of beans in the hopper at any one time for those reasons. Not weighed out exactly, granted, but I drink enough coffee that beans are rarely left in the hopper even overnight.


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## Hatbeard (Sep 26, 2012)

lookseehear said:


> I noticed on the lfgss thread that you had bought the Chris King tamper - looks pretty nice but expensive!


total extravagance on my part but it came up the same time I had some spare cash and knowing how hard they are to get hold of I figured it was a sign.

The classic was sitting outside my front door when I got home today (thanks for that hdnl) so I had a chance to unpack it and have a look-see. it's now sitting on the side in pride of place but I'm resisting the urge to fire it up until the wand upgrade arrives on friday.

as far as the grinder goes I think having read the responses above the idea of weighing the dose and grinding til done on the vario is the most appealing of the methods mentioned.


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Might be worth keeping an eye out on this eBay auction.

You'd most probably need to buy new burrs though at around £30.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazzer-Mini-Timer-Espresso-Coffee-Machine-Grinder-/321007040760?pt=UK_BOI_Restaurant_RL&hash=item4abd82b8f8


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## Hatbeard (Sep 26, 2012)

thanks all for your advice, have ordered the vario from coffeehit today. the MM looked great but is too much grinder for our small kitchen I think. I think the vario will do me just fine whilst I get the hang of this coffee malarky.


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