The Anfim Pratica (P1)
It is common knowledge Anfim is famous for its ‘flavour first’ approach when designing their espresso grinders. The SPII, well known for being a high-volume beast, still manages to stand out in blind cuppings for clarity of flavour and complexity and it can maintain these standards even at the incredibly high volumes experienced in Australian cafes.
The new kid on the block is the Anfim Pratica (P1) which despite the redesigned exterior is classic Anfim on the inside. So how do we get the P1 to find its own place in a mature market and begin to build a reputation of its own outside the shadow of the SPII?
Our sales team hit the coffee trail and set up some evaluation units.
The Pratica hit the demo bench at several roasteries and while initial thoughts were ‘that doesn’t look like Anfim’, as the performance of the Pratica became evident the mindset shifted.
From the get-go customers engaged with the intuitive interface. The initial setup for setting programmable portion controls was easy to understand and the fact there are 6 programmable recipes really increased interest from roasters who offer a range of singles for their cafes.
When the first beans went through the grinder, interest really began to rise, and roasters continue to describe the P1 as “the quietest grinder we have ever used”. They have seen the model be an asset for every café to encourage and really help with customer interaction and communication amongst the team.
What came next, the grind delivery of course. “Fluffy and an even delivery” continuous feedback from the evaluations, which is exactly what had us so eager to present to our network. The dose is centred and consistent within “0.5g variation if not less each time” and an obvious marker of low grind retention.
The main objective of a grinder and especially an Anfim, deliver flavour - “We have always been happy with the flavour results from our grinders and the Pratica maintained that for us. It delivered the flavour we would like from our coffee and with its dose consistency was easy to help train our customers”.
Time to make it on the espresso bar and give this unit a workout. What the baristas loved is the ability to work efficiently and hands free as the dose perfectly falls into the porta filter sitting in the cradle. Also holding conversations without being interrupted each time they had to grind.
Knowing the capacity of the P1 was well under the SPII we were interested to see how the grinder held up on a busy (8kg/day) espresso bar. The Pratica held true to every good quality listed, but performance under a heavy workload challenged the unit. There is no perfect grinder, but there is a perfect grinder for every solution, and this identified to us that the Pratica has found its mark as the best option for a café/espresso bar serving up to 20kg/ week.
The final hurdle, tech evaluation, “easy to train our techs to clean and service the unit, simple to pull apart and put back together”. The adjustable spout is also great for simple removal and to clean at the end of the day. Another favourite from our tech evaluations, the safety mechanism which disables the grinder once the hopper has been removed.
Fast forward from the evaluation and the P1 is now the choice of several roasteries as the main grinder for up to 20kg accounts or on the espresso bar as a second grinder for single origins or decaf. Running 65mm flat burrs at 1400 RPM, means it is also very fast, capable of pumping out 20 grams in around 5 seconds. The handy clip on the hopper can hold brew recipes and flavour notes for baristas and a subtle opportunity to showcase branding.
With the Pratica, ANFIM have managed to keep flavour at the forefront while providing a grinder which is extremely quiet, fast, fun to use, and easy to clean. The Pratica is not a high-volume beast like the SPII, being better suited to the medium volume cafes or as a second grinder for single origin or decaf. And for the home barista? The Pratica, with the optional shorter hopper, would be overkill. Beautiful, beautiful overkill. I fully expect it to a popular choice for the home office.
It's Time - The Cronometro brings a modern approach
Kees van der Westen - BeanScene Magazine
Roaster Smackdown 2019
Precision roasting
Aillio Founders Jacob and Jonas Lillie explain why the use of infrared technology is set to take the guesswork out of roasting and separate fact from fiction.
Scientists have said our best ideas develop in the shower thanks to a relaxed state of mind and release of the organic chemical dopamine. But in the case of Jonas Lillie of roaster manufacturer Aillio, his best idea evolved while brushing his teeth.
Jonas has been trying to find a solution to the moisture build-up and dust collection inside the protective germanium glass of the Bullet roaster he and twin brother Jacob had developed.
The finer details
Anfim and Espresso Company Australia are committed to taking coffee grinding technology to the next level, with science and passion backing its progress.
When Hemro Group Head of Product Development and Design Daniel Hofstetter held an Anfim grinder workshop in Australia in November 2018, the reactions from the crowd were divided. There were nods of heads from those who understood the mathematical explanation of volume-based particle size distribution (PSD), blank stares at the word “sphericity”, and fascinated expressions from those who couldn’t believe how much product information was willingly shared.
“Anyone’s mind blown?” Daniel asked the crowd, pointing to a relating cartoon on the power point slide. “Trust me, the more you look into coffee the less you understand.”
Bringing the coffee world together
Now in its eighth year, MICE is known throughout the Asia Pacific as the largest and most exciting dedicated coffee event. A phenomenal 11,043 café owners, roasters, baristas, equipment manufacturers, service providers and more flocked to the Melbourne Showgrounds in 2018. MICE has grown so much they made the decision to relocate to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center to bring you an even better event experience in 2019!
Espresso Company Australia (ECA) will be showcasing our core range of Specialty equipment with Rocket Commercial and Domestic Machines and a full rage of ANFIM grinders. We are incredibly excited to also share with you a range of new products and new brands that have joined our family. Kees van der Westen, Aillio, HIROIA, NICHE and Le Nez Du Café all will be shown some for the first time in Australia.
We are proud to be showing some new brands to the International Coffee Community for the first time anywhere!
- The new and very cool bespoke and customisable SLIM JIM from Kees van der Westen.
- AILLIO with be showing the new Bullet R1 v2 with the all new Power PCB and IR sensors.
- HIROIA (IoT side to HARIO) will be showing the new and clever Bluetooth JIMMY scales and the Samantha Brewer.
- NICHE will be exhibiting their new ZERO retention coffee grinder.
- Le Nez De Café will be showing the coffee sensory aroma kit.
SEE US AT STAND 77
Click here to purchase tickets >>
PAST EVENTS
Espresso Company and Hemro Group to host two Anfim Grinder workshops
For more information on the Melbourne workshop, click here.
For more information on the Sydney workshop, click here.
A workshop presented by Daniel Hofstetter, Head of product development for Hemro Group. Showcasing the research, development and data Anfim undertake when developing new products with the focus always the end result - flavour in the cup.
"Today’s coffee industry is buzzing with information. It gets more and more difficult to extract the relevant principals to improve his/her own coffee skills or the quality of a coffee business as such.
Equipment manufacturers face the same issue. In order to make their equipment better some leave no stone unturned. Find out what Anfim does in terms of scientific research and development, to find out how to make the best espresso. Brace yourself for a lot of data and see how championship winning equipment is pushed to the next level." - Dan Hofstetter, Head of Product Development Hemro Group
We look forward to sharing the event with you and catching up with drinks.
