And, there we go. If you thought that the Comandante will be reigning over the world of the hand grinders forever, you were… wrong! The competition is drawing near, shit is getting serious and Kinu M47 is one hell of an example!
When I was unpacking the M47 I was sure it’s from Japan. Futuristic design finished with silver and black matt. And „Kinu” alone could stand for some decorative part of a classic Shintoistic costume. Or a musical instrument made from cedar and silk. All right, when all Japanologists are already facepalming here’s the announcement: Kinu M47 is a German grinder!
Underneath the totally non-German exterior lurks the heart of a true German engineering. We’re dealing with a tank here. M47 weights almost 1200 grams. It is as much as five hundred and twenty 1-cent Euro coins. Everything seems to be well-thought, precisely wrought and stable. I can’t say that about these 1-cent coins, though.
Here’s some technical stuff:
– conical 47/32 mm burrs made from high-quality steel, strengthened by a patented “Black Fusion” technology; the producer guarantees the best anti-rust and anti-corrosion protection
– stepless adjustment with a fine thread (M10 x 0.5) and 50 subdivisions; for each division one adjusts the grinding distance by 0.01mm
Any neat solutions? Sure! The manufacturer equipped the ground coffee container with magnets instead of a thread. Quicker and easier! Another thing that makes me smile is an anti-rotational knob for the thumb, placed at the top of the body. It makes grinding with Kinu more smooth and stable. It’s one of those small details that make a difference.
Kinu M47 is also a fairly quick gizmo! It took 28 seconds for a 15-gram pour-over dose for it to handle (with 2 spins per second). It took twice as long for M47 to grind a 15-gram espresso dose. Wait a minute… espresso? Yep. A hand grinder within this price range has to work well with shots. And it does. More about that later.
The cleaning process seems pretty easy and quick:
- Loosen the screw.
- Remove the sleeve.
- Loosen the second screw.
- Clean!
- Screw back.
- No chance to screw up!
Cupping first. Then the pour-over. Finally, espresso.
On the cupping table I have Uganda Mzungu from Gardelli, Kenya Kii from Coffee Republic and two Fjord coffees – Colombia Elias Roa natural and washed Rwanda Macuba. I dial in the grind and ratio to achieve more than 20 %EXT. I just assume that if my coffee doesn’t taste bitter at this level of extraction, the grinder is probably the tops!
I’ve managed to extract all of them between 20.2 – 20.5%. No over-extracted bitterness at all. Each cup represents its original characteristics and terroir. Fruitiness!
I put a washed Ethiopian Banko Fufuate from Audun Coffee into a V60.
coffee dose: 18.5 g
water dose: 300 g
time: 2:50
%EXT: 20.8
It’s sweet. It’s deep. It’s pleasant! Olé!
For the espresso I use Fjord again, and this time it’s a natural Brasilian Pe de Cedro. The shot brews neatly: no signs of channeling, the streams link together quickly and my white cup is clean. Classy! The taste is just nice: sweet, syrupy and transparent. 19.8 %EXT.
The results speak for themselves. Kinu M47 is a world-class hand grinder, I have no doubts about that. The march of progress is on!
