Specs
| Dial | A large front knob where each tick moves a long way, so espresso sits within roughly one number. The knob has end stops, and an aftermarket knob removes them for cold brew 0:00 |
| Feed | An auger at about 1760 rpm that works as a pre-breaker 18:04 11:08 |
| Burrs | The stock cast burrs from 2015 on handle espresso and filter. Burrs from before 2015 were made for filter. SSP Brew and other sets fit 0:00 2:01 |
Starting settings
These are the settings each creator gave, measured from their own grinder's zero. Use them as a starting point.
| Method | Setting | Context | Confidence | By | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso | 2 | A coarse turbo-style espresso setting used in the Hendon group paper he went through | stated | Hedrick | 26:29 |
| Pour-over | 6 | A fine V60-range setting from the same paper's regrind test | stated | Hedrick | 26:59 |
| Cold brew | 14.5 | A coarse cold brew grind, matched to 35 clicks on a Comandante | stated | ECT | 4:07 |
| Pour-over | 12.5 | EK43 S at the roastery. April brewer with a Kalita 185 paper and a natural Panama Geisha, a little finer than their earlier recipes | stated | Bluebird | 3:31 |
| Pour-over | 12.5 (half a step coarser than the bar's standard 12) | 14 g in 200 g, April brewer, washed Colombian. At 12 the brew ran 3:15 and tasted over-extracted. Called just 'EK' here, and Bluebird's other videos call the same roastery grinders EK43 | stated | Bluebird | 2:57 |
| Espresso | 5.1 | 20 g in, 45 to 46 g out in about 27 s on a Faema at 93 °C, after going coarser from a first setting they didn't give. Called just 'EK' here, and Bluebird's other videos call the same roastery grinders EK43 | stated | Bluebird | 10:33 |
| Pour-over | 16 (the widest setting on the café's calibration) | 20 g in 300 g, April brewer, washed Kenyan. They put it at about 30 Comandante clicks | stated | Bluebird | 2:01 |
| Pour-over | 15.5 to 16 | 15 g in 240 g, red honey Geisha, three 80 g pours | stated | Bluebird | 2:35 |
| Pour-over | 15 | 13 g in 200 g, Origami Air with a V60 paper, natural Panama Geisha. Called just 'EK' here, and Bluebird's other videos call the same roastery grinders EK43 | stated | Bluebird | 3:04 |
| Pour-over | fully open (very coarse) | 20 g in 300 g on a flat-bottom brewer, natural Burundi. Called just 'EK' here, and Bluebird's other videos call the same roastery grinders EK43 | stated | Bluebird | 1:31 |
| Pour-over | fully open (very coarse) | 18 g in 300 g on a Hoop percolation brewer. Called just 'EK' here, and Bluebird's other videos call the same roastery grinders EK43 | stated | Bluebird | 7:40 |
| Batch | 15.5 | 86 g in 1.3 L on a Ratio Six batch brewer, light Guatemalan | stated | Bluebird | 6:06 |
Cup profile
- Stock burrs: sweet, and Lance Hedrick's choice for espresso on this grinder 0:00.
- SSP Brew: extreme clarity, few fines, tea-like and a fast drawdown. It doesn't forgive baked or defective coffee 0:00 10:07.
- A stock EK43 beat a modified Vario on filter but lost on espresso 14:49.
Strengths
- Fast and tough, and the auger keeps heat down 0:00 11:08.
- Lance Hedrick shimmed his rotating carrier to about 1 µm of runout 14:43.
Weaknesses
- Quality control. His had a misaligned burr, a loose key and a bent drive rod that shims can't fix 0:00 8:36.
- Coffee gets held in the plastic nozzle. It's loud, hard to single dose and has a poor espresso range 5:34 22:55.
Verdict
In 2021 it won on filter for Lance Hedrick 14:49. In 2024 he called it the best filter grinder he has owned, though at 98 mm he gives the crown to the Kafatek Monolith 0:00. It got a C in his tier list and is still his dedicated cupping grinder 22:55, and with SSP Brew burrs it's one of his top three filter set-ups 16:21.
James Hoffmann's take
- 2021, reviewing the EK43 S: hugely influential because it allowed higher extractions, around 23 to 24%, that still tasted good. The dial runs 0 to 16, from finer than espresso to coarser than cold brew. Espresso is sweet and clean but light in texture, and usually pulled long, around 1:3. It holds some coffee, needs a purge between settings and often needs re-dialling from day to day. Alignment has varied over the years 0:00 2:00 10:37 11:39 12:40.
- In his 2021 showdown it had the worst retention and was the only one he'd put in a café 22:17.
Daddy Got Coffee's take
- 2023 (EK43s): the grinder whose largely unimodal profile let specialty coffee push extraction higher. With RDT what goes in comes out, near enough. For home use only if you specifically want an EK43 2:31 3:37 4:07.
Bluebird Coffee Roastery's take
- Until 2025 it was the café's workhorse. Frozen 20 g portions were single dosed through an EK43 so it could switch between espresso and filter 2:46.
- Their settings here, about 12 to 16 for filter, 15.5 for batch and 5.1 for espresso, are on the café's own calibration, where 16 is the widest point. Several of their videos call the grinder just 'EK', while others from the channel call the roastery's grinders EK43 (once EK43 S), so those settings are listed here too 2:01 3:31 2:57.
- In late 2025 the roastery sold its EK43s and moved to a Weber EG-1, expecting a clear step up in filter quality 4:02.
Notes
- An aligned EK43 Omnia gave a narrow, unforgiving window across coffees 13:52.
- The paper Lance Hedrick covered used a setting of 1.0 for light roast and 1.3 for dark to match particle sizes 23:28.
- Seasoning data on an EK43 showed most of the change happens in the first 5 kg 3:36.
Sources
- European Coffee Trip: How To Make Cold Brew Coffee At Home (2020-07-15)
- James Hoffmann: The Mahlkönig EK-43S (Episode #3) (2021-01-27)
- James Hoffmann: The Ultimate Grinder Showdown Finale (Episode #6) (2021-01-30)
- Lance Hedrick: IS THIS THE BEST HOME GRINDER?: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BARATZA VARIO (2021-10-01)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: Review: Ratio Six || One touch filter coffee (2021-11-23)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: Grinder Review: Mahlkonig X54 || New King of Home Grinders?? (2022-06-22)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: Brew Guide: Janson Panama Geisha || April Brewer (2022-07-29)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: BREW GUIDE: Colombia Las Margaritas Sudan Rume || A gem from Cafe Granja La Esperanza (2022-09-29)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: BREW GUIDE: Kenya Gatomboya AA || April Brewer (2023-09-22)
- Daddy Got Coffee: The Most INTENSE Home Coffee Grinder You Can Buy: Mahlkonig EK43s (2023-10-09)
- Lance Hedrick: BETTER WAY TO GRIND COFFEE: Deep Dive on New Hendon Paper (2023-12-06)
- Lance Hedrick: GRINDER REVIEW: Timemore 078/064, DF83v, DF64 Gen 2, Gevi Grindmaster, DF64v (2024-03-08)
- Lance Hedrick: You Need To Season Your Grinder: Fact or Cap? (2024-03-31)
- Lance Hedrick: The King of Grinders: Mahlkönig EK43 Review (2024-07-11)
- Lance Hedrick: Grinder Tier List (2024-09-10)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: Brew Guide: Volcan Azul Red Honey Geisha || November Best of Bluebird (2024-11-20)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: Ethiopia Aricha Washed || AeroPress & Hoop Brew Guide (2025-03-20)
- Lance Hedrick: I Tested 12 Coffees on 4 Grinders at the Same Gap. Here's What Happened. (2025-04-18)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: Brew Guide: Burundi Migoti Nat || July Subscription Box (2025-07-09)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: Brew Janson Geisha with Us || July Best of Bluebird Subscription (2025-07-14)
- Bluebird Coffee Roastery: UNBOXING OUR NEW WEBER EG-1 (2025-10-03)
Summarised in our own words from the creators' videos, with every point linked to the moment it comes from. Notchbook isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of these creators, so please watch the originals for full context. Sources
Dialling in from here
- Sour, thin or fast? Grind finer. Why coffee tastes sour
- Bitter, dry or slow? Grind coarser. Why coffee tastes bitter
- Espresso: how to dial in. Filter: pour-over grind size.
Compare with other grinders in the grind size chart, or see every grinder.
Notchbook is a free app that remembers the setting that worked on your Mahlkönig EK43 for each coffee and brew method, and keeps a journal of every brew. Get it free on Google Play. The iPhone app is coming soon. More about Notchbook.