I've been using the Pharos every day since it arrived Last Tuesday. Here's may take:
Pros:
- Above all else the Pharos' grind quality is fantastic. It certainly rivals my Mazzer Mini and blows away any other hand grinder that I have tried. I know the main goal in bringing the Pharos to life was to produce a far superior hand grinder, and I believe they have achieved this goal with flying colors. Top notch throughout the grind range.
- The Pharos is built like a brick outhouse. No part of it feels dainty or flimsy.
- Stepless adjustments are nice.
- FAST grind for hand grinder.
- Cool looking
- Nice sound while grinding.
Cons:
- The coffee delivery mechanism (little funnel thing) is horrible. Hard to get grounds out at finer grinds and messy getting grounds out period.
- Adding beans to grind chamber is awkward.
- Somewhat awkward to hold on to while grinding.
- Needs to be able to hold more coffee in the grind chamber.
I been using the Pharos as my primary grinder since it arrived last Tuesday. Right out of the box, the Pharos is an impressive piece of eye candy. I used it a work for 3 days and everyone was interested in checking it out. Besides the almost standard, "What the hell is that thing?" response most people said it looked like a bomb. Good luck getting this thing to go through with your carry-on luggage.
The grinder is very well put together and feels like it would be here years to come. It's probably something you could pass down from father to son for many generations. The general shape and build of the grinder does make it a little unstable and awkward when holding the grinder in my hand, especially when you first start grinding. I have found that it's best to set the grinder down on its rubber feet while grinding.
As you could have guessed with 68mm burrs in the grinder chews through coffee like nobody's business. Turning the crank is pretty easy, but with finer grinds my arm go tired trying to grind a full grind chamber full of beans. With a coarse grind it's done in no time. The grind quality is outstanding. Very consistent throughout the grind range. I didn't pull any shots using the Pharos but I think espresso fanatics are going to really love this grinder. The adjustment mechanism, although not set up to be adjusted quickly, allows for very minute changes in the grind and I think these settings could be easily repeatable. One has to be careful to securely jam the adjustment knob against the grind arm/crank. If not the grinder will slip a bit and fail to engage the drive shaft as well as changing the grind adjustment.
It also does great with coarser grinds, but I think this is where the Pharos could stand to hold a bit more beans in the grind hopper. A larger press pot, like the 34 oz Nissan insulated press I normally use would require grinding 2+ chamber of beans. This also hold true for the just about any brew method making enough coffee for 2 or more people. Multiple batches wouldn't be such a big deal if loading the hopper was a little more user friendly. With the standard setup you have to add coffee little by little, all the while corralling beans that bounce off the metal top plate of the Pharos and go skittering across the counter. I found it's almost easier to take of the grind arm and add coffee using the funnel off my Aeropress.
With all its glowing attributes the Pharos does have one major Achilles Heal IMHO; getting ground coffee out of the grinder sucks. Removing the rubber plug at the bottom can be hard to do without some amount spillage. At finer settings the coffee seems to want to stick inside the funnel and requires some amount of beating and banging to get out. Even coarser grinds need a bit of violence to empty the grind chamber. All the beating and banging can send coffee everywhere. I ideally the grinder should be placed on top of a sturdy container and then tapped to get the grounds out. Still even then its hard to tell if all the coffee came out unless you are weighing it. Several times I thought the grind chamber was empty only to dump out stash of ground coffee while trying to reinsert the rubber plug.
On its way to Larry tomorrow .....
