Malwani Livi (benchtop hand grinder)

[tompoland HRH Find all posts View Profile Close tompoland]

Well she is finally here. Ordered June 30 2021. Tracking number assigned March 4. Arrived today in a box that was crushed on top, presumably from the weight of other packages. But full credit to DHL, it showed now signs of having been dropped.

Packaging was better than it has been in the past, based on posts in less prestigious forums such as HB, but still not as good as most other manufacturers who custom cut foam and double box.

The Livi arrived in a large box and was wrapped in a combination of thick wrapping paper, plastic bubbles with air and Styrofoam balls. The packaging did the job of protecting the machine but I suspect only because it was treated with some respect by DHL handlers to whom I am eternally grateful.

Tomorrow I'm removing the Italmill 83mm conical burrs and replacing them with Mazzer Robur burrs.

Then I'll be seasoning the burrs and after that I'll put her through her paces and let you know what I think.

I bought the grinder because I think it's beautiful and its workflow looks good enough and it is engineered to high quality, German, hand crafted standards. And if you think it looks good in the pics, it's even more gorgeous close up.

I intend to pair it with the Strietman CT2 for medium to dark espresso.

[level3ninja Lighter than medium roast Find all posts View Profile Close level3ninja]

Finally! The wait doesn't seem so bad when it arrives unscathed.

[tompoland]

Yes it was a relief after reading about less fortunate recipients on HB. Whew.

[Bosco_Lever Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bosco_Lever]

Very nice Tom.
Before replacing the burrs, aren't you tempted to give them a go?
Evaluate the difference between them and the Mazzer?

[Viandr]

I guess such a comparison would be interesting

[tompoland]

A disturbing thing about the fake burrs is that they arrived rattling around together in a plastic bag which I thought was strange. Wouldn’t a burr set need to have packing between the burrs to prevent damage from them bumping together? Or is it quite normal to let them co-mingle?

[Dimal]

No, that's definitely suss mate.
Might have to think about returning them just based on the careless packaging...

[338 .... Find all posts View Profile Close 338]

Tom that grinder is beautiful and a great match for your Strietman. I would keep it even if it didn't work! Both of those machines remind of early levers - a time when engineering had to work but also look good while it did. Of course you have the other end of the spectrum, the Decent, unbelievably capable and nothing wrong with the looks but I reckon as many people as have fallen in love with the looks of a NAS box have fallen for the Decent.... That Malwani and Strietman combo, it would be hard to imagine someone who didn't appreciate them

[tonypepperoni]

An absolute beauty!

[CleanFinish Lever flow profile Find all posts View Profile Close CleanFinish]

Congrats Tom! You should definitely give the Itamil burrs a spin. They should even more 'traditional' vs the mazzers...maybe a good match to your darker roast/lever/syrup coffee setup?

[tompoland HRH Find all posts View Profile Close tompoland]

Very nice Tom.
Before replacing the burrs, aren't you tempted to give them a go?
Evaluate the difference between them and the Mazzer?

I asked DaveC (well respected retired engineer, consultant to espresso manufacturers, coffee forum founder etc etc) about the Italmill versus Mazzer. Easiest to post his response here:

The Italmill burrs have an inferior profile, burr cut, power consumption to turn and grind quality. To me the differences are marked. I can tell the difference between the Mazzer and Italmill blindfolded (and have done). It is why I recommended them for the Niche.

I'm still give the Italmill burrs a spin while I wait for the genuine Mazzer burrs to arrive (had to order from the USA, not easy to get here in OZ)

Dave went on to say that you can tell the genuine Mazzer conical burrs because they have "Mazzer" laser etched onto the outer burr as per attached and that they have done that for decades. So if you don't see the name Mazzer on the burr, then they are after market copies such as Italmill.

[tompoland HRH Find all posts View Profile Close tompoland]

In one of my posts above I refer to "the fake burrs" but I didn't give the context.

The “mazzer” burrs that I bought to replace the Italmill burrs that came with the grinder, are actually Italmill as well, so identical to the ones in the grinder already. They were sold to me as genuine Mazzer. Not so. The supplier's sales page state that they are Mazzer burrs and the invoice repeats the same claim.

It will take a couple of weeks (at least) to get this sorted out with the supplier so in the meantime I’ve start seasoning the current set of Italmill burrs and I've made a few pours. I've ordered genuine Mazzer burrs from Europe because I can't find any in Australia and I doubt that the supplier will be able to source them and I don't want to wait while they flaff around.

I discovered that the burrs were Italmill and not Mazzers when reading a thread on a less illustrious forum (HB) that had pics of both burrs side by side. To my horror the “Mazzer” burrs from the Australian supplier were identical to the Italmill burrs that came with the grinder. I had searched for information about installing the Mazzers and stumbled on the thread complete with pictures of both burr sets side by side.

Even worse, the practice of passing off Italmill burrs for Mazzer burrs is widespread, both here and overseas. Site sponsor Dipacci are one of the very few who make it super clear in the large type font of the product description title that the burrs after "after-market". That level of integrity separates them from most others who boldly declare the Italmill burrs to be Mazzer. Some will state "Mazzer compatible" in the fine print or cover it in the FAQ at the bottom of the web page. That's not good enough.

So if you are buying burrs, beware of the fakes. Mazzer burrs have their name laser etched on the burrs. Apparently they have done this for decades.

[tompoland HRH Find all posts View Profile Close tompoland]

Looks like there will be a happy ending with the fake burrs episode. Someone at the supplier's office saw the email I sent pointing out that the "Mazzer" burrs sold to me were actually Italmill and called me to apologize and said he is sending the correct Mazzer Robur three phase burrs by courier along with a return envelope for the burrs that sent previously. I offered to pay the difference in price between the Italmill burrs and the Robur but he did not accept my offer. So next week I will have two sets of genuine Mazzer Robur three phase burrs. Never mind, alls well that ends well etc.

And it's not that the Italmill are bad burrs as such (good but definitely not great), it's just that they don't produce coffee to the consistently high full flavored (assuming correct bean/roasting) standard that the Mazzers produce.

[Mono]

Good to see the retailer going the extra mile to right a wrong….thumbs up

[jasiano Member Find all posts View Profile Close jasiano]

looks very nice indeed. The wood accents definitely pop!
and speaking of pop.... it's got a pop corning prevention lid by the looks of it - would that ever be needed with a hand crank grinder?

[tompoland]

Definitely needed. At 133rpm beans will fly for sure. But then again, my biceps are a thing to behold ... (not).