Peter and Sherman were the hands-on boys on the Pharos. They were less intimidated by the hardware stacked on top of the grinder than I was. We spent a good 3 hours with it, the Compak 10, the Spaz, and the Cremina. For what it is worth, here are some initial impressions. They mirror what has already been reported in the thread. (Note: Jeff's pics to follow this weekend).
Very impressive out of the box. I love the hands-on appeal to it. That fleeting feeling soon ebbed for me as I watched Peter attempt to dial it in (the Compak 10 admittedly was waiting in the wings for some serious competition). Back (too large) and forth (too small), back and forth. I got impatient and I wasn't even driving.
Con:
^ No immediate points of reference; no markings for adjustment. Best you can do is mentally imagine a clocks' hands and use the handle as a reference point.
^ The back and forth of "too fine, too large" seems to rule this out as anything more than a "set it and forget it" espresso grinder. (Maybe I don't understand the lock nut arrangement. Long thread on HB. I will see if there are less futzy ways of arranging them.)
^ At the espresso level, getting the grounds out of the grounds reservoir is an effort in endurance. A full 60-second of whacking on it with a hammer is needed. Would drive me crazy.
^ Just too high of a putz factor.
^ Difficult to load the beans. There is no pouring into it. You have to schumtz the beans into the openings. (Peter remembered at the last minute that an Aeropress part fills the bill, or in this case, the grinder).
^ Small capacity. 25 grams <?> on a good day.
^ Difficult to keep stable as the beans are being ground. Needs some work.
Pro:
^ The grind size begins to become consistent at pourover grind and points finer.
^ Great Turkish grind in it.
Conclusion?
^ Once dialed in, we concluded that the grind was indiscernible in the shot from the Compak 10. I wonder if the conical burrs aren't Compaks?
^ I am looking forward to playing with it this next week but the high putz factor isn't my way of grinding. Pass. If I win it, look for it to come back onto the board re-sale. At that point, I will attempt to convince you what a great grinder it is with a couple of home-grown mods that you can certainly do <grins>.
Fun evening with Peter, Jeff, and Sherman. Ended with a Lake Cheddar fish fry. Great coffee, friends, and food. Life is awfully good.
B|Java, looking forward to Jeff's pics
