Etzinger Grinders Review and Comparison

Etzinger is an interesting brand. They produce high performance commercial espresso grinders, niche home products, and have collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry. Earlier this year we welcomed their unique brand of innovation to our catalog and today I wanted to offer you a closer look at both the Etzinger brand and their grinders. We’ll also take a look at some current and upcoming Etzinger accessories to help you decide if they’re the right fit for you. To start, we’ll begin with some history.

The History of Etzinger

Etzinger has been producing coffee and espresso grinders in the European principality of Lichtenstein since 2018 with the debut of their etzMAX grinder. Both the company and the grinders owe their namesake to Christian Etzinger, an engineer, and the owner and founder of Etzinger AG.

And while Etzinger hasn’t been making grinders for all that long, their other area of expertise just so happens to be the manufacturing of burrs and historically they’ve partnered with major brands like La Marzocco, Baratza and Breville to produce components for their grinders.

In 2015 we got our first preview of one of Etzinger’s key technologies, the rotating ring conical burr when Baratza announced their upcoming Sette series of grinders. The Sette’s would ultimately release in 2017 and received a bevy of rolling updates from Baratza as the grinders entered the wild. Only a year later Etzinger would release the first etzMAX series grinder and it’s immediately apparent that the Settes shared a common lineage with the considerably more robust etzMAX grinders.

Etzinger and Baratza

Before getting too much further, I want to take some time to discuss the relationship between Etzinger and Baratza in order to establish where they overlap and where they don’t. Etzinger is a Lichtenstein based company whose products are designed and manufactured within Lichtenstein.

Baratza is an American company (now under the umbrella of Australia based Breville Group) who are headquartered in the United States and produce their products in Taiwan. Where the two companies have collaborated is through the incorporation of Etzinger components and technology in Baratza grinders.

The Rotating Ring Burr AKA etzJET

Etzinger’s core technology is the rotating ring, stationary conical burr design that is featured on all of their electric etzMAX series grinders. Conical burr grinders use a pair of asymmetrical burrs, one in the shape of a cone and the other in the shape of a ring that surrounds it.

In nearly all conical burr grinders, the cone rotates and the ring remains stationary. Coffee is ground and pushed out of a chute and this is an affordable and efficient design used on many entry-level grinders.

Etzinger upended this convention by attaching a motor to the ring burr instead, calling the mechanism etzJET. The benefit of this design is that by moving the motor out from beneath the cone burr, the grinder could be redesigned to allow coffee to simply pass through the burrs and fall directly into the portafilter (or other vessel) beneath the burrs. It also allows the bottom burr to be completely removed for cleaning and produces some very high grinding speeds.

Another benefit of the design is that the cone burr can be easily swapped out for a different cone with different cutting properties (such as better particle distribution for filter brewing or pre-crushing teeth for easier grinding) and you can also more easily access the cone to install shims in order to bring the burrs closer together in order to make the grind even finer.

The Etzinger etzMAX Series

The etzMAX series is Etzinger’s flagship grinder line and is available in both weight-based and time-based configurations. These grinders are all housed in solid aluminum and feature straight thru grind design thanks to the rotating ring burr.

Each etzMAX also features three programmable doses (either by weight or by time) that can be customized to your liking within 1/10th of a gram (on weight based) or 1/10th of a second (timed based) increments for precise dispensing. Let’s take a look at the core features of the series as a whole.

As you can see from the chart, the etzMAX LT and LM grinders are primarily intended for use as home prosumer level grinders that can also function in a limited capacity for commercial use in low volume environments or applications (like decaf grinding or lower volume specialty grinding). The etzMAX X is intended for full commercial use with a more powerful AC motor and more aggressive cutting geometry for faster grinding and unlimited motor life.

Macro and Micro Grind Adjustment: Etzinger’s grind adjustment mechanism on the etzMAX makes use of both stepped macro and stepless micro grind adjustment via a pair of sliding wheels beneath the front panel. The top wheel makes large macro adjustments (0.1mm per numeric adjustment) for significant burr movement while the bottom wheel makes much smaller changes (0.01mm per numeric adjustment).

One full rotation of the micro wheel is equal to just one click of the macro wheel. This design allows you to easily set and return to a particular grind setting while still making very small and precise changes to the grind. The entire bottom cone burr assembly can be removed for easy cleaning.

Adjustable Portafilter Holder: The fully removable portafilter holder that can be adjusted to secure portafilters of varying heights for hands-free grinding. You can adjust the arms by pressing on the back of the assembly which frees them to slide up or down as needed. The arms use a set of screws that can be tightened to prevent the arms from moving once they’ve been set.

Locking Hopper System: Each etzMAX grinder also uses the same mechanism to lock the bean hopper in place. A set of arms wraps around the front of the hopper and a lever on the right side opens and closes the bottom shutter to stop the flow of beans. The lever is conveniently labeled with the word “Open” so it’s easy to tell when you can safely remove it. By removing the hopper and the cone burr, you can fit a brush through the opening to clean the burrs.

Universal Accessories

Each etzMAX grinder comes with a set of universal accessories that are used to maintain the grinder and enhance the user experience. We’ll start with the universal accessories and then take a look at some of the unique additions on a per-grinder basis.

Dosing Funnel: The dosing funnel is designed to sit on top of the portafilter and prevent any coffee from spilling over the sides. It’s tall enough to reach the bottom of the grinds chute and is useful in combatting static. It also allows you to safely WDT your coffee prior to tamping without fear of losing grinds. When using the dosing funnel, the portafilter holder will need to be adjusted to compensate for the funnel but you can still use it and grind hands-free.

Cleaning Brushes: There are two cleaning brushes included with each etzMAX grinder. The first is a long wire brush with bristles on one end and a wood handle on the other. This brush is intended for cleaning the ring burr after removing the bean hopper and lower cone. The brush slides through the opening in the grinder to clean the sides of the ring burr. The second brush is a much smaller wood handle brush designed to clean off the cone burr and cone assembly after they have been removed from the grinder.

Chalk Pencil: This fun tool is used to write information about your coffee / brew recipe on top of the bean hopper lid. The white chalk contrasts well with the black plastic of the lid so it’s easy to read and it wipes off easily with just a bit of water making it easy to clean.

Burr Shims: The burr shims are small metal inserts that can be installed beneath the cone burr in order to push it closer to the rotating ring. Ultimately this will change the grinding range and allow you to produce even finer coffee and can be used to combat the effects of mechanical wear.. There is a 1mm and 2mm shim and you can either or both if desired.

Model Specific Accessories

In addition to the universal accessories included with each grinder, there are a handful of unique accessories that are included on a per-grinder basis based on the features of that particular grinder.

etzMAX LT

Pocket Scale: Even though the LT is a time based grinder, Etzinger still encourages programming your doses to achieve your desired weight. Each LT grinder comes with a pocket scale and carrying case that is accurate within 1/10th of a gram and can be used to weigh your timed coffee doses and is an incredibly thoughtful addition on Etzinger’s part.

etzMAX LM and X

Because the LM and X grinders are both weight-based, each of them ships with an included 500g calibration weight in order to recalibrate the scale as needed to ensure consistent and accurate dosing.

Optional etzMAX Accessories

In their default configuration, the etzMAX grinders are designed for on-demand espresso grinding. While you could adjust coarse enough for other brew methods or load less coffee for single-dosing, Etzinger thought about that and designed several accessories to improve their performance for other workflows.

Filter Cone Kit

The Filter Cone Kit is designed to modify the performance of the etzMAX to be able to produce a coarser grind with a better distribution for filter coffee preparation. This optional cone has a unique design with eight cutting surfaces giving it an octagonal appearance from the top.

To install, you simply remove the existing burr cone and swap in the brew cone, making it easy to change between methods on the fly with the stepped adjustment keeping it easy to return to previous settings.

The kit also includes a platform that installs in place of the portafilter holder and a massive catch cup for dosing into.

Single-Dosing Hopper

As its name suggests, this single-dose hopper installs in place of the stock hopper, allowing you to load single doses of coffee at a time. This accessory is best used with the etzMAX LT grinder as its time based operation allows you to program a very lengthy grind cycle to simply grind through all of the coffee in the hopper.

etzFLEX Hopper Stand

The etzFLEX hopper stand is an accessory that can hold 2 or 4 of the Etzinger 200g bean hoppers depending on the size you purchase. As a grinding platform, Etzinger grinders are designed for easy adjustments so you can make changes without losing previous settings.

The etzFLEX allows you to conveniently store hoppers for easy access. Whether you're switching from regular to decaf, or experimenting with different blends and single-origins, you can store your coffee in a hopper and swap on-demand.

Etzinger Manual Grinders

The etzMAN W

The etzMAN W is one of the most unique manual coffee grinders I’ve ever seen. The design is essentially a manual etzMAX grinder, exchanging the etzJET motor for a manual crank that is turned by hand. At Whole Latte Love we carry the weight based version of this grinder, hence the “W” in its name.

The grinder has a built-in load cell that actively weighs the coffee as it is ground into the portafilter. You can set your desired dose to one of the three buttons on the panel within 1/10th of a gram. When you begin grinding, the scale will actively record the amount of coffee ground, and an alarm will sound to alert you to slow down grinding as you get closer to your desired weight.

etzMAN Accessories

The etzMAN W includes all of the same universal accessories as the other etzMAX grinders but also includes several items unique to its application as a manual grinder.

etz-I Diamond Burr Cone: The etzMAN is the only grinder that includes a second (entirely optional) burr cone that can be installed in place of the included AP Espresso Cone. The etz-I Diamond Burr Cone is featured on the handheld Etzinger etz-I grinder and features a set of pre-crushing teeth that make it easier to grind coffee by hand. This cone is also better for more all-purpose grinding for brew methods other than espresso.

Grinder Glove: The included glove is intended to be worn on whichever hand is not turning the arm on the grinder. Its intended use is to make it more comfortable to hold the etzMAN grinder which features several angled and pointed edges so you can better stabilize the grinder.

Suction Cup Feet: Unlike the other etzMAX grinders, the etzMAN also includes a set of section cup feet to secure it to flat surfaces for greater stability while grinding.

The Etzinger etz-I Hand Grinder

One of the coolest things about the Etzinger etz-I hand grinder is that they managed to incorporate their signature rotating ring burr design into it. Just like the etzMAX series grinders, the etz-I grinder has a stationary cone burr and rotating ring. However, it's not just any cone. The etz-I features an aggressively altered version of the Etzinger's AP burr cone called the DC cone. This cone is designed with layers of pre-crushing teeth to make it easier to grind coffee by hand.

The etz-I is capable of producing a full range of grinds from Turkish to cold brew with 89 individual stepped settings. Adjustment moves the burrs with a satisfying "click" and handle is collapsible for easy transportation. Here in the office, the etz-I has been frequently used by members of our sales team to grind their personal coffees from home, often seeing use for single shots of espresso and for pour over.

At the base of the grinder, a magnetic catch cup removes to transfer your grinds to their final destination and is designed with a set of three posts on the bottom of the cup that can be used to adjust the burrs with greater precision.

A last note about the etz-I is that it comes in two styles, original and trim. The trim style is designed for users with smaller hands and has a smaller circumference for easier gripping. Both styles have the same capacity in the grinding chamber and the grinder can comfortably grind 20-30g of coffee at a time.

The Etzinger etz-ICaRe Capsule Refill System

The etz-ICaRe is a fairly niche but very impressive accessory for the etz-I grinder that is intended for use with Nespresso Originaline espresso machines. It is a capsule refilling system that connects to the bottom of the grinder and includes four refillable, gasket sealed stainless steel Nespresso compatible capsules.

The capsules are inserted into the etz-ICaRE system which attaches magnetically to the bottom of the etz-I grinder in place of the grounds catch cup.

As you grind, coffee falls directly into the refillable capsule and there is a built-in tamper to compress them once you’ve finished grinding. The entire kit comes with a scale to dose coffee for your capsules, a set of spare gaskets for your capsules, a lid remover tool to open capsules back up for cleaning and a cork mat. The kit can be purchased individually or bundled with a grinder.

Final Thoughts

If I'm being honest, I feel like I've only begun to scratch the surface on these incredible grinders. If you're looking for speed, easy adjustment and dead simple cleaning, Etzinger's etzMAX series of grinders are a great option. For manual grinding, the etzMAN is super unique, and the etz-I is one of the most well-made hand grinders I've used in a long time. If you've been looking for an alternative to the parade of flat burr grinders on the market, stop what you're doing and check these out.

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