I have known Denis for close to twenty years. We had many of the same grinders, home espresso machines and roasters and learned and shared together. Both of us were going through other well known grinders looking for the holy grail. When he started making grinders around 12 years ago I bought one of his first ones. I fell in love with it immediately and no longer looked at any other brands. His grinders mean so much more to me than a grinder. I currently have a Conical and a Max and I love both of them. Many thanks to Brian for making this extraordinary video. I now have a better understanding of all that goes into Kafateks. Both Denis and Brian did a marvelous job displaying their excitement for these pieces of mechanical art. Thank you very much!
Thank you to Brian and Dennis for showing us behind the scenes of the best coffee grinder ever produced and manufactured. Dennis’ love and passion for engineering such a product is evident in his meticulous craft.
I have an MC5 grinder which has exceeded all of my expectations for quality build and for delivery of extraordinarily consistent grinds yielding tasty, wonderful espressos. The real gem of the Kafatek operation for me is Denis. When I was placing my order for my grinder, I was recuperating from abdominal surgery, and Denis unexpectedly personally communicated with me answering all of my grinder need questions and additionally was amazingly supportive and compassionate regarding my post-surgical recovery. This was an unexpected bonus, and with each daily use of my MC5, I am pleasantly reminded of the amazing man behind this company. Thank you Denis for your humanity, and thank you for my great MC5. Cheers.
It was about 24 years I became immersed in the world of home espresso, and it has now been around 20 years since I began working in the coffee industry. During that time I have met a long list of some of the most wonderful people. Denis reached out to me in a time of need after I lost my home to a fire and treated me like a longtime friend. He has elevated the coffee grinder to a level that has never been seen. In a race, my MC3 (now with Shuricone burrs) would leave my Mazzer Kony it replaced an 'also ran.' He has elevated the coffee grinder to the precision instrument it always should have been. I only wish my father was still alive (he was a machinist who worked on a number of military projects including the Snark and Nike missiles). He would have been astounded to have seen this video and what Denis has done! Thank you, once again, Denis!
I am so impressed by this man, creating this amazing and complex product 100% on his own, and building the company to what it is today, and continues to do it with integrity and passion for the product, and not for financial gain. My coffee hobby is not in a place where I want to buy an end game grinder, but after seeing this if I ever did it would 100% be a flat max.
I've had my Flat Max since Nov 2019. Mine was one of the earliest to come out of this space. I happened to be in Seattle for business and met Dennis at the shop. My grinder was in the line to be tested at the time. That was neat to see! Dennis gave me a personal tour and we talked about the new space and the tools he was setting up at the time. That's the only time I've met Dennis, but he made an impression - a really nice person with a lot of passion for his work. I'm happy to see him and the Kafatek crew doing so well.
My gawd, there's probably over a milly worth of equipment in here. The Haas 5-axis mill, the Zeiss CMM, Rapid robot, Okuma lathe, those alone are like 500K right there before tooling. The knowledge required to program these machines is quite esoteric. These are the kinds of toys I want when I retire.
ive had my kafatek for years now and i can say its been pure espresso bliss each and every day. look no further. and denis is such a kind and passionate person. simply amazing stuff.
Wow!!! Thank you Denis for making such great grinders and thank you for letting Brian come in a film it!! It makes me appreciate my grinder even more!!!
This is AMAZING!! I have always been fascinated by Kafatek and have never been able to really see behind the scenes, a true masterwork, and really high attention to detail like no other. Just the fact they make everything in-house under such high standards is inspiring. Just seeing all those CNC machines and robots makes me feel I want to visit :) and that Matsuura sure looks nice. How did Denis get into making grinders? Thanks!
Great video. As a metal worker this warms my heart. I'm so happy with my conical I received last April. And after seeing the craftmanship I know I made the right choice.
What a place, and what a guy! I love the dedication and extreme attention to detail and QC! It's cool to see where the price of the products comes from.
So cool to see this! Thanks Brian and Denis for showing us what goes into making these. I've owned two, my current mc6 is an outstanding grinder, and a great looking object to have on the counter. Cheers☕️
This was super interesting to see everything involved in the manufacturing of a super high end grinder. Really helps me understand why they are priced the way they are, manufacturing at that insanely high level of accuracy shows you how dedicated they are to making the best product possible. Hope to one day be able to buy one of these grinders, this is absolutely the end game grinder in my eyes.
The precision and attention to detail is insane. Like if you're getting bad shots it's a user error 😂. I speak from experience because Denis has some great personal after sale support even though I can see from the video that he has so much other ish to do.
Pretty cool to see some of the process to manufacture a Kafatek grinder. Impressive to all be made at one location. Surprised the CMM isn't in a temperature controlled environment.
The Zeiss Duramax is designed as a shop floor CMM you can put right next to the machines - ball screw driven so no air bearings and Zeiss's rather excellent thermal comp system. The book spec is 2.2µm, but Zeiss likes to sandbag their catalog, most of the calibration reports (from shop floors!) are around 1µm across the machine's whole volume. For comparison, Zeiss's main metrology lab CMM is the Contura which has a book spec of 1.4µm in a controlled environment, but is really like a .5µm machine (also double the price, and *requires* it's own room with temp/humidity/AQ control).
I bought a Monolith Flat in 2021, as I lean more toward medium rather than true light roasts.I got the LM burrs. It's been amazing. It's a joy to use. Sometimes I get FOMO thinking of the Max, but for now the Flat gets me what I need.
This is one of the coolest vides yet. It shows what makes good coffee is not just the coffee in the cup but everything around it. As well as what you interact with it. I really want one now more than ever. I normal drink dark to medium (Italian style) espresso/caps. Would you all recommend the flat or conical?
Denis, Brian, many thanks for the video. It is fantastic to be able to see where everything is happening and also the team who is building it. And the quality how to manufacture the grinders. Amazing. Thanks!. One question and sorry as maybe a bit simplistic but if you don't have pre-breaker in the grinder, should you pre-break the beans before dropping the beans in the grinder? Is that the main value of the pre-breaker? It is pre-breaker a need for flat, for conical, for both, for espresso, for pour over, for both? Thanks!
Thank you Juan. The pre-breaker from the flat burr has been removed since we have pancake pre-breaker stack above it. So two pre-breakers is redundant and this way the grind path of final fine grinding stage on flat burrs is maximized.
This is a Zeiss DuraMax shop floor model. You are correct on temperature swings, but for our use case where we care about relative measurements between features and not true position measurements as long as temperature is stable during measurements the precision of the machine holds.
Yep. Makes sense. I guess for non identical materials the customer home is worse than the shop so the design has to take this into account. Certainly my early model flat gets 50* temp swings (0-40* ambient+ heating)
Very nice precision grinders made by it seems a Swiss watchmaker. I noticed old school Cafe Kimbo and Carraro beans from Italy both nice. What are those 2 lever machines? Brand
I mean yeah when I realised the EG-1 requires zip ties and cheap plastic parts inside of it to reduce choking on light beans because the motor is underpowered, I was like this is a scam. I'm also super happy I didn't end up getting in on the initial Weber Key that was a hilariously poor design but being sold for an insane price.
sheesh Brian, knocked it outta the park! This was pure porn for gear enthusiasts. Easily the best upload to date. Now, can you top this and make this into a series and pay Weber and Option O a visit 🤔 😅
I have known Denis for close to twenty years. We had many of the same grinders, home espresso machines and roasters and learned and shared together. Both of us were going through other well known grinders looking for the holy grail. When he started making grinders around 12 years ago I bought one of his first ones. I fell in love with it immediately and no longer looked at any other brands. His grinders mean so much more to me than a grinder. I currently have a Conical and a Max and I love both of them. Many thanks to Brian for making this extraordinary video. I now have a better understanding of all that goes into Kafateks. Both Denis and Brian did a marvelous job displaying their excitement for these pieces of mechanical art. Thank you very much!
Thank you to Brian and Dennis for showing us behind the scenes of the best coffee grinder ever produced and manufactured. Dennis’ love and passion for engineering such a product is evident in his meticulous craft.
I have an MC5 grinder which has exceeded all of my expectations for quality build and for delivery of extraordinarily consistent grinds yielding tasty, wonderful espressos. The real gem of the Kafatek operation for me is Denis. When I was placing my order for my grinder, I was recuperating from abdominal surgery, and Denis unexpectedly personally communicated with me answering all of my grinder need questions and additionally was amazingly supportive and compassionate regarding my post-surgical recovery. This was an unexpected bonus, and with each daily use of my MC5, I am pleasantly reminded of the amazing man behind this company. Thank you Denis for your humanity, and thank you for my great MC5. Cheers.
It was about 24 years I became immersed in the world of home espresso, and it has now been around 20 years since I began working in the coffee industry. During that time I have met a long list of some of the most wonderful people. Denis reached out to me in a time of need after I lost my home to a fire and treated me like a longtime friend. He has elevated the coffee grinder to a level that has never been seen. In a race, my MC3 (now with Shuricone burrs) would leave my Mazzer Kony it replaced an 'also ran.' He has elevated the coffee grinder to the precision instrument it always should have been. I only wish my father was still alive (he was a machinist who worked on a number of military projects including the Snark and Nike missiles). He would have been astounded to have seen this video and what Denis has done!
Thank you, once again, Denis!
the tooling they have, in such a small space is very nice. Great engineering and QA team! Great automation!
Denis is a great guy and yes he builds the best grinders ever. And they keep getting better. I’m lucky to have had one for almost 5 years.
you’re blessed to have Denis walk you through his shop, a place of craftsmanship like no other!
I am so impressed by this man, creating this amazing and complex product 100% on his own, and building the company to what it is today, and continues to do it with integrity and passion for the product, and not for financial gain. My coffee hobby is not in a place where I want to buy an end game grinder, but after seeing this if I ever did it would 100% be a flat max.
I've had my Flat Max since Nov 2019. Mine was one of the earliest to come out of this space. I happened to be in Seattle for business and met Dennis at the shop. My grinder was in the line to be tested at the time. That was neat to see! Dennis gave me a personal tour and we talked about the new space and the tools he was setting up at the time. That's the only time I've met Dennis, but he made an impression - a really nice person with a lot of passion for his work. I'm happy to see him and the Kafatek crew doing so well.
My gawd, there's probably over a milly worth of equipment in here. The Haas 5-axis mill, the Zeiss CMM, Rapid robot, Okuma lathe, those alone are like 500K right there before tooling. The knowledge required to program these machines is quite esoteric. These are the kinds of toys I want when I retire.
YES. amazing video. Super cool to see this as an owner of a flat max.
ive had my kafatek for years now and i can say its been pure espresso bliss each and every day. look no further. and denis is such a kind and passionate person. simply amazing stuff.
Wow!!! Thank you Denis for making such great grinders and thank you for letting Brian come in a film it!! It makes me appreciate my grinder even more!!!
This is AMAZING!! I have always been fascinated by Kafatek and have never been able to really see behind the scenes, a true masterwork, and really high attention to detail like no other. Just the fact they make everything in-house under such high standards is inspiring.
Just seeing all those CNC machines and robots makes me feel I want to visit :) and that Matsuura sure looks nice.
How did Denis get into making grinders?
Thanks!
This is full nerd. Thanks for sharing. If i ever get the coin. I'll buy one of these. Thanks for sharing
Great video. As a metal worker this warms my heart. I'm so happy with my conical I received last April. And after seeing the craftmanship I know I made the right choice.
Dennis shows true passion for what he does, and such a nice guy. 👍🏻
So cool! Thank you for sharing this with us 👍
Wow! that operation is so cool. It's great to see end-to-end manufacture in-house.
What a place, and what a guy! I love the dedication and extreme attention to detail and QC! It's cool to see where the price of the products comes from.
So cool to see this! Thanks Brian and Denis for showing us what goes into making these. I've owned two, my current mc6 is an outstanding grinder, and a great looking object to have on the counter. Cheers☕️
Great insight in to why these are regarded as the best and something for us to dream of owning.
This was super interesting to see everything involved in the manufacturing of a super high end grinder. Really helps me understand why they are priced the way they are, manufacturing at that insanely high level of accuracy shows you how dedicated they are to making the best product possible. Hope to one day be able to buy one of these grinders, this is absolutely the end game grinder in my eyes.
Very smart design on the new MAX burrs and the carrier, very cool.
The precision and attention to detail is insane.
Like if you're getting bad shots it's a user error 😂.
I speak from experience because Denis has some great personal after sale support even though I can see from the video that he has so much other ish to do.
Pretty cool to see some of the process to manufacture a Kafatek grinder. Impressive to all be made at one location. Surprised the CMM isn't in a temperature controlled environment.
The Zeiss Duramax is designed as a shop floor CMM you can put right next to the machines - ball screw driven so no air bearings and Zeiss's rather excellent thermal comp system. The book spec is 2.2µm, but Zeiss likes to sandbag their catalog, most of the calibration reports (from shop floors!) are around 1µm across the machine's whole volume. For comparison, Zeiss's main metrology lab CMM is the Contura which has a book spec of 1.4µm in a controlled environment, but is really like a .5µm machine (also double the price, and *requires* it's own room with temp/humidity/AQ control).
I bought a Monolith Flat in 2021, as I lean more toward medium rather than true light roasts.I got the LM burrs. It's been amazing. It's a joy to use. Sometimes I get FOMO thinking of the Max, but for now the Flat gets me what I need.
This is your best video since the long form lever-machines one with Ryan. Fantastic!❤👌
Would love if you could do other factory visits as well.
Great video! Pretty amazing to see where my flat max was made. Need to save some money for conical 😅
I would say some of the best grinders are manufactured there but that's kind of underselling how good they are.
This video along with Pepe’s farm have been so special. GOAT channel.
Best video! Best content! Best grinder!
Dennis is the Man! I own one of his grinders and will never buy anywhere else!
This is one of the coolest vides yet. It shows what makes good coffee is not just the coffee in the cup but everything around it. As well as what you interact with it. I really want one now more than ever. I normal drink dark to medium (Italian style) espresso/caps. Would you all recommend the flat or conical?
thank you brian
unreal vid
Awesome video! One day!
Denis, Brian, many thanks for the video. It is fantastic to be able to see where everything is happening and also the team who is building it. And the quality how to manufacture the grinders. Amazing. Thanks!. One question and sorry as maybe a bit simplistic but if you don't have pre-breaker in the grinder, should you pre-break the beans before dropping the beans in the grinder? Is that the main value of the pre-breaker? It is pre-breaker a need for flat, for conical, for both, for espresso, for pour over, for both? Thanks!
Thank you Juan. The pre-breaker from the flat burr has been removed since we have pancake pre-breaker stack above it. So two pre-breakers is redundant and this way the grind path of final fine grinding stage on flat burrs is maximized.
Thanks. I would love to be able to test it. Thinking about the MC6. Many thanks and brilliant job
@@KafaTek great to see the factory tour. Did you think about some discount codes for those of us who are most impressed... PLEASE 🫣
HOLY SMOKES BLIND BURRS BABY YEEEEESYESYESYEEEES
Wow! I’ve just seen where my Monolith was made.
I'm surprised it isn't temp controlled when going for
This is a Zeiss DuraMax shop floor model. You are correct on temperature swings, but for our use case where we care about relative measurements between features and not true position measurements as long as temperature is stable during measurements the precision of the machine holds.
Yep. Makes sense. I guess for non identical materials the customer home is worse than the shop so the design has to take this into account. Certainly my early model flat gets 50* temp swings (0-40* ambient+ heating)
Very nice precision grinders made by it seems a Swiss watchmaker. I noticed old school Cafe Kimbo and Carraro beans from Italy both nice. What are those 2 lever machines? Brand
Great video that makes me lean towards one of Denis' grinders over an EG1 now. Any hint at what the grinder under the cloth is??
I mean yeah when I realised the EG-1 requires zip ties and cheap plastic parts inside of it to reduce choking on light beans because the motor is underpowered, I was like this is a scam.
I'm also super happy I didn't end up getting in on the initial Weber Key that was a hilariously poor design but being sold for an insane price.
Yayy!
Microscopes for quality control, unreal!!
Impressive
This guy is so passionate and unpretentious.
man’s got that crazy Rick scientist making super smooth hyper flat surfaces from the future vibe
Those are the eyes of a man on a mission.
so cool!
Aw man blind burrs 🔥💸💸🔥.
Maybe after we stop paying for day-care 😂.
What do you are anyone else think the secret grinder is covered up?
Larger conical maybe?
sheesh Brian, knocked it outta the park! This was pure porn for gear enthusiasts. Easily the best upload to date. Now, can you top this and make this into a series and pay Weber and Option O a visit 🤔 😅
Very cool video. Go visit Zerno next 😎
df83 spotted. 😁
Yeah, at one point in the vid he says he owns most of the other single dose grinders out there
World's best is quite a claim
But the Robots are made in China 😅
Universal Robots we use are made in The Netherlands.
@@KafaTekmuch better now
Might be tolerable if you wanna waste time single dosing, but put a hopper on one and then possibly call it excellent.