When it comes to top of class single-dosing espresso grinders, Versalab basically invented the category back in 2005. Since then, this extremely engineering based company has been tightening tolerances and improving their grinders to what they are today... nothing short of beautiful in design and function. This first post in the series looking at the Versalab M3 dives straight into the nitty gritty of the grinder, the usage. I want to start here, because, in typical engineering fashion, to understand the grinder, is to understand its function.
John Bicht and Laura Dearborn are the principals behind Versalab, and maybe the first thing to get out of the way is that they're not a coffee equipment company, they're essentially an engineering/design boutique manufacturing company, making better products, whatever they may be. It's always interesting to meet these types because you think their passion is espresso or whatever you may know them for, but then you learn that they've been involved in tons of crazy, often unrelated things and projects over the years, and it's really engineering that is their passion, making things better.
When I first set out with the M3, one of the questions I've had burning in my mind is, "why is it often being left out or overlooked in the top of class single dose espresso grinder conversation today?" As somewhat expected, I believe the grinder is often misunderstood and clouded with misinformation. Maybe because these engineer types are not marketing types, but the more questions I asked John Bicht about my findings, the more I understood where he was coming from and just exactly what it is that he is prioritizing with the performance of his grinder and why. This then boils down to not directly comparing the usage and workflow to its rivals, but re-thinking what's important in that usage and workflow and how it will affect the end result. Because what's really most important in all of this is what is going to make the best espresso, and what grinder is going to best suit the the process of making the best espresso.
Maybe the first example of this is the signature or trademark Versalab "volcano" or donut dosing pattern. The way the grinds fill the filter basket is very distinct, and Versalab states that the grinder is designed to overfill the basket in this manner and then use a strike off technique to level the grounds straight across the basket. This struck me as odd, being a zero retention, single dosing grinder, but then I started to dig into why this is: John's unwavering commitment to starting the shot as quickly as possible after grinding. He suggested that I grind a few grams of coffee onto a plate and smell it every 15 seconds for a minute and a half or two minutes, and note how the aroma of the coffee quickly dissipates. And then note that the dissipating aroma is dissipating flavor, as those aromas are no longer able to be extracted.
To capture that freshness and aroma to create a better end product, the strike off method is utilized as the quickest, most repeatable method for preparing the basket. Simply grind, swipe off, tamp, and pull your shot. The other reason behind this is the inherent particle distribution of this dosing pattern. I kind of uncovered this part on accident, and I'm sure I don't fully understand the particle distribution science behind it, but the way the grounds are distributed into the basket, they don't need or even benefit from redistribution, more on this in a second.
Usage
Admittedly, I am guilty of ignoring Versalab's dosing instructions when I first used the grinder. I was aware of the fluffy volcano that was coming my way, but my initial thought was that I could try some side and vertical taps to maybe settle the grounds in place, no dice, the basket is too full to do so since the grounds are so fluffy. Then, I thought I'll kind of WDT and use some settling taps to kind of stir the grounds into the center and create a more even basket. This was even worse, the extractions were horribly uneven and inconsistent, and it was just such a mess trying to do this. Then I tried what I had seen in a number of videos, that I now realize incorrectly state they're using the "strike off" method, but they're actually using kind of a modified Stockfleth's move of pushing the grounds around the basket with your finger or a straight edge. In general, I'm kind of opposed to handling the coffee and messing with it any more than I need to, so I wasn't wild about this approach either, but same thing, the extractions were very uneven and inconsistent.
So, I tried the strike off method. I used a straight edge, and simply swiped any grounds above the lip of the basket straight into the knock box, then did a vertical thump on the counter to settle the grinds, tamped, and pulled a shot, and it was even. This did not compute, there is obviously far more coffee around the perimeter of the basket than the center, so this doesn't really solve that other than slightly filing in the center crater. I hadn't WDT'd or made sure the distribution was even, but the extractions were. I reported this back to John, but mentioned that the extractions were also fast, most likely due to the lesser amount of coffee in the basket. Because the grounds are so fluffy, when you swipe across, I was left with around 17 grams in an 18 gram VST basket which resulted in underdosing. This could be somewhat counteracted by grinding finer, but I do believe the baskets were a little under-filled, resulting in too much head space. John suggested that I vertically tap to settle some of the grounds before I did the strike off to retain more coffee in the basket.
When I incorporated a vertical settling of the grounds before strike off, the grounds settled quite a bit and not much was left above the basket rim. So, I pulled the shot and voila! I now had my desired dose, an even extraction, and minimal prep. This is how I learned that the particle distribution properties of this grinder are equally important, since although the basket looks "un-grommed" or uneven by today's grooming tool standards, the distribution of grounds is such that it will still extract evenly. I quickly began to enjoy using the grinder, and not needing to RDT, WDT, use a grooming tool, or mess with the bed of coffee. I ground the coffee directly into the portafilter, using the excellently designed portafilter holder I might add, then cycled the grinder once or twice after I finished grinding the dose, carefully lowered the holder and portafilter straight down from the lower funnel, did a couple of settling taps on the counter, tamped, and went.
When I shared a video with John, he even urged to not cycle the grinder and to not worry about the potential hundredths of a gram, but rather focus on the speed of the workflow to not waste the additional 15 or so seconds. This goes back to that message about how Versalab is actually thinking about the grinder, their approach, and its usage differently than the other grinders in this market that require significant prep work. He urged me to not worry about the few hundredths or at most a tenth of a gram that might be in the grinder, and focus on extracting that excellent fresh coffee. And to me, this is really interesting considering all of the other top of class single dosing grinders require redistribution, and sometimes even transfer of grounds. Not having to mess about with any of this stuff was an advantage in its own right, but if it was going to improve the flavor and quality of the coffee, even better, right?
I'm going to hold off going into flavor comparisons until I have a chance to use and compare the grinder with a few more coffees, and perhaps espresso machines as well, but I want to discuss the usage pattern a little more. I made an updated video of my typical workflow with my Compak K10 Pro Barista as well, and working at a very relaxed pace with both grinders resulted in a start to finish time reduction of over a minute with the M3, meaning there's over a minute less prep work needed, and no tools, no noisy doser, and far less time the grounds are exposed to the air, or losing flavor.
The noise and workflow reduction alone are enough to convince most not to buy a K10 anymore, and I wouldn't disagree. But even when thinking through the workflow as compared to say, a Monolith Flat, the amount of time it takes to prep and pull a shot with a Monolith is not necessarily less than the K10, it just felt more elegant or scientific, since you were using tools and seeing an impact on your dose, rather than slapping a doser and sweep, sweep, sweeping. So, then I got to wondering, 'do people like using all of those tools and having to spritz the coffee with water (RDT), use a funnel to dose, stir the grounds (WDT), use a grooming tool, etc., or are those steps simply a concession in order to get top tier quality, zer0-retention, single dose grinding?' I have to think it's the latter, and those steps and tools are the byproduct to make it work. in which case the M3, in my testing so far, has been able to do all along, it's just that they've never marketed it as such.
It's certainly a lot to think about or even rethink how the single dosing crowd is approaching or handling the coffee before extraction. See part 2 of the Versalab M3 review looking at unboxing, design, and the details here.