Victoria Arduino mythos 2 - Vs - Mahlkonig E80 Supreme
THE BATTLE
Victoria Arduino Mythos 2 - versus - Mahlkonig E80 Supreme
After much research between the 2 grinders I was unable to find good info on both grinders. I will go into depth comparing both grinders as I have used both in my café extensively.
PRICE (NZD) RRP Mythos 1pt - E80 0pt
Mythos 2 Gravitec - $4995.00
Mythos 2 Non-Gravetic - $4695.00
E80 - $6072.00
Clearly the Mythos 2 wins this being cheaper on both models they offer. above are list prices here in NZ but can vary based on suppliers. Roasters will typically get trade price which is considerably lower than retail.
LOOKS Mythos 0pt - E80 1pt
Obviously this is very subjective
Mythos 2 - Especially in the White colour looks very much like something from Stars Wars - Attack of the clones. The plastic white exterior with the black trim areas, Unusual angles of the body and ribs on the burr housing look somewhat of an eye sore on any café bench. Beside a LM linea it just doesn't fit in very well. It may appeal to some but to me and the majority of offers we still think the mythos 1 ( previous gen ) looked far better.
E80 - I was extremely impressive when first seeing this grinder on instagram. The Black colour especially looks very stealth and screams quality build. Mahlkonig have stuck the the classic cylinder style body with the classic cone style hopper which too me is very functional as we as having a timeless appeal. On a cafe bench it blends in well to most surroundings ' Coffee machines and other grinders '. The polished stainless steel top / adjustment collar looks the shizz but is a finger print magnet. i would of preferred for this to be painted also since it needs to be handled regularly.
EXTERNAL BUILD QUALITY Mythos 1pt - E80 2pt
I will on comment on the external build quality as I have not pulled these grinders apart to access the internal components. Firstly the paint work between grinders is clearly better finished on the E80 hard to convey over text but when you have them side by side it is clear. The feet on the Mythos 2 are rather cheap and nasty and come unwound when you move the grinder around bench when cleaning but they stick well to the bench and it wont slide around much during day. The E80 feet are simpler build and work ok. The E80 motor has so much torque that the grinder slowly starts spinning itself clockwise on the bench so you will find you need to keep moving the grinder straight in busy periods.
HOPPER Mythos 1pt - E80 2pt
The hoppers between these two grinders are extremely different so makes it a little hard to compare. They both hold coffee well and funnel them into the grinder perfectly. Cosmetically they both look good and are built well. I don't like how the lid on the E80 looks like a plastic plate on the top which collects dust and dirt... I much preferred the Ek43 lid which is easy to pick up. The lid on the Mythos 2 looks extremely cheaply made and doesn't resemble any quality like the mythos 1 did which was made of metal. It works fine but the area to lift the lid is rather slippery and cumbersome to handle. The close gate on the e80 worked much better to me and was able to close the hopper feeding grinder more easily than the Mythos 2. The close gate on the Mythos2 would easily get beans jammed in it and make a mess if wasnt closed properly after removing hopper.
CLUMP CRUSHER Mythos 1pt - E80 1pt
When I first received the Mythos 2 the clump crushers installed was a static shit fest! What a epic failure. If the clump crushers was exactly placed in the shoot at the proper angle it would spray coffee all over the show. A few months later I received the version 2 clump crushers which is made of metal and has a different exit pattern which fixed this problem and looks like it will last much much longer. Also I noticed the metal clump crusher needs to be cleaned out less often before it becomes ineffective.
The Clump crusher on the E80 is made of rubber but made completely differently. Its more of a rubber flap design which seems to work without fault. Cleaning intervals before clumping starts seems to be on par with the metal form the Mythos. The only downside is cleaning the clump crusher is a much more involved process as the grinder needs to completely pull apart the burr housing. The hopper has to be removed them unlock the collar and pull off to remove the clump crusher. Once youve done it a few times its actually easy.
SPEED Mythos 0pt - E80 1pt
Both at 1200 rpm
Now this result can be modified slightly but the e80 still wins this no matter what.
18g shot from the e80 can be just under 3.0 seconds depending on the density of the coffee. The e80 does not give the user the abiltiy to change the rpm which I think is ok. I have never felt the need to want to change the rpm.
18g shot from the Mythos 2 is around 10-15 seconds accounting for the 5 second tare process of the scales. Now this can change based on RPM set and if a ramp down is used. The mythos 2 has a ramp down feature where in the last few grams of coffee it will slow the grinding speed down. I turned off this feature
Changing burr rpm has actually been shown the change the particle uniformity of coffee grounds. If this is a good or bad thing is a question I do not have answer to or desire at this time.
EXTRACTION Mythos 0pt - E80 1pt
Now this was one of the most important factors of a purchasing decision of a coffee grinder. Extraction yields can take a great coffee and draw out the best in that coffee or do very little if poor extraction is achieved.
Recipe
24g Dose, 30 Second Shot, 50g Yield, 6 bar pressure
Mythos 2 Average Extraction 20.3% over a 12 shot string
E80 Average Extraction 21.5% over a 12 shot string
You can see the e80 is able to extract slightly more from a coffee with the same brew recipe. This tells us that the burrs in the e80 are better designed or better aligned, producing a more uniform particle distribution.
I did do a quick alignment test on both grinders using a dial indicator on the moving burr attached to the motor.
Mythos 2 had a run out of 0.4mm
E80 had a run out of 0.03mm
TASTE Mythos 0pt - E80 1pt
Obviously this is highly subjective but I feel that my pallet is refined to a high level to give a basic qualitative analysis. Using our espresso blend comprising of a Brazil and Ethiopian coffee both natural process
Mythos 2 - Flavour Clarity was low and after taste was muddy very mono-toned. Sweetness was fair and stood up well in milk based drinks. The lower extraction really showed here once mixed with milk as there was lower strength.
E80 - Flavour Clarity was medium and after taste was clean with good complexity. Sweetness was extremely high which really stood out against the mythos 2. Body was excessively heavy in most cases but this ok once mixed with milk.
We dont use these grinders in our shop for black coffee's. We use our Ek43 for black coffee only so cant comment to far with a single origin coffees in this case.
NOISE Mythos 1pt - E80 1pt
Both of these grinders are extremely quiet and wouldn't bother customers sitting very close to the coffee bar. They are actually both impressively quiet, you have to see them in person to experience it. Gone are the days of noisy mazzer grinders where it was a challenge to hear the customers order at the counter.
CLEANING Mythos 1pt - E80 0pt
Mythos 2 has greatly improve the ease of cleaning the burrs and the grinding chamber. All you need is a Philips head screw driver and undo two screws on the burr housing and the whole front comes off easily to clean the chamber. The bonus is you dont loose your grind setting. Pulling out the clump crusher is also greatly improved over the previous generation and can be done independently of the burr cleaning.
The E80 is more involved which requires pulling multiple parts off the grinder which is a little more complicated and wouldn't trust a barista to do by themselves without multiple times training. The locking mechanism is quite challenging to remove. It is definitely more time consuming and you will loose your grind setting as you have to re-zero the burr adjustment to zero.
SOFTWARE Mythos 1pt - E80 1pt
The software on the Mythos looks crisp and modern. Utilizing a touch screen which is responsive and fast. The menu layout is a little disjointed and not as simple as it could be. In the menus you are able to change all the settings needed and view metrics on grinder use. The major pitfall is the scale calibration menu. Scale calibration is over complicated and does not have good instruction in the manual how to set.
The software on the E80 is extremely simple and clean. Very user friendly with a dial wheel rather than a touch screen which to be honest i prefer over a touch screen. The menu layout is simple and the graphics look modern. The only thing I wish was available is the ability to program in the dose weight to a dose mode just purely for metric so I could see how much coffee was ground each week.
CONCLUSION Mythos 7pt - E80 11pt
After using both grinders for a 3 month period I have clearly come to favor the e80. I just felt that the overall user experience is far nicer than the mythos and fits into our business better. Yes it may be expensive but I believe its worth it for better tasting espresso that is considerably faster. Being a coffee roaster taste is paramount and must be of top priority which I felt the e80 really focus's on rather than gadgets that do little to improve quailty that the mythos tries to focus on.