Video Overview | Kinu M47 Phoenix Manual Coffee and Espresso Grinder
The M47 Phoenix packs Kinu's signature precision grind performance in a full scale, lighter-weight body. Like the M47, the Phoenix features a 47 mm conical burr set and precision grind adjustment, with dual bearings to center and stabilize the grind system. It's also much lighter than its predecessor, with the incorporation of ABS plastic in place of steel. The result? A grinder that looks great and performs superbly, at a lower weight and price. Check out the Kinu M47 Phoenix in this video, as Steve shares on the latest grinder from Kinu.
Transcript
Hey, guys. This is Steve with Prima Coffee. Today we're taking a look at Kinu's M47 Phoenix, which is their newest hand grinder, which offers the same precision and performance that you know of from Kinu's grinders in a much lighter package. So much like the original M47, the Phoenix features 47-millimeter conical steel burrs. In fact, it's the same burr set that they use in the M47, the M47 Traveler, and, of course, the M47 Phoenix. So, all have the same conical steel burr set which is coded in what they call a black fusion treatment, which is going to extend the life of those burrs, give you better performance for longer. Also, just like the other grinders, we have the same precision adjustment mechanism. So, it is a stepped mechanism, it's 50 steps per revolution, and each of those steps corresponds to 1/100th of a millimeter of vertical movement between the burrs. So, you have a very nice, discreet way of adjusting your grind settings, and everything's clearly marked on that dial there.
Kinu M47 Phoenix Manual Coffee and Espresso Grinder
40-50 gram capacity
Featured Product
So, really easy to replicate your settings, move between, you know, let's say you're doing a smaller batch or drip versus a big Chemex or something like that, you can move back and forth, and know exactly where you're going to be. We have a little bit of a difference in materials in the Phoenix versus the original M47. So, the M47 was kind of known for being this big, beefy, all-steel grinder, really high quality and, you know, had quite a heft to it. We've actually kind of forgone a lot of the steel here. We have a steel casing around the body, but a lot of the internal structure's actually ABS plastic. So, we have molded plastic struts on the inside with a funnel on top, we have a molded plastic grinds catch down below, and the result there is that we have a much-reduced weight to his grinder. So, it only comes in at about 1.6 pounds, which is a little over 700 grams, so somewhere between 715 to 720. So, we have a greatly reduced weight, but we also have an improved capacity, so we're seeing about 10 to 15 grams more coffee being able to fit into the Phoenix versus the M47.
So, this guy holds about 40 to 50 grams of coffee in the hopper, and then down below we still only hold about 30 to 40 grams, depending on your grind. So, we have a full range of grind settings available to us as well. You can go anywhere from Turkish to pretty coarse actually, you know, somewhere even up to...you could do batch brew if you wanted to. We do find, however, that the flavor is best at espresso settings. So, the burr set seems to produce a more, sort of, clear and consistent grind at finer settings, so when you're grinding for espresso, you are able to get really good flavor, clarity, good body out of your shots. But once you start getting up into coarser drip grinds, even like a, kind of, medium-batch Kalita Wave, somewhere in that sandy, kind of coarse salt texture and up to a Chemex brew, you do start to see a little bit more muddiness in your flavors, so it seems like there's a little bit more fines being produced in the grinder. Overall, still a very high-quality product.
The substitution of ABS plastic for the steel supports in the middle of the grinder might seem a little concerning, but we have a lot of support going on in there. It seems like there's still a great alignment between the burrs. You don't hear any burr rub even at fine settings, and we do still have a steel drivetrain, the shaft holding the burr is steel, we have steel bearings inside, so there's still quite a lot of high-quality craftsmanship going into this grinder, even though some of the materials are less expensive. So overall, the Phoenix is going to be a fantastic product, and I'm actually going to show you just a little bit of grinding here. I got 20 grams of beans and I'm grinding at a bit of a drip setting, so as if I were to brew to a V60. Turning's very, very easy. We can quickly go through a 20-gram dose. Espresso, obviously, if you're going finer, is going to be a little bit more effort and a little bit more time, but you can still make pretty good, quick work of your dose.
It's not too strenuous to dial in an espresso recipe even if you're grinding 20 grams at a time. And overall, our grind consistency is quite good. You know, even at the, sort of, fine drip setting, I can visually see that the consistency is pretty good. There's definitely a little bit of dust in that coffee, but I mean, like I said, the consistency does appear to be best at espresso settings and get a little bit less ideal once you start going into those drip settings. We haven't really been, you know, disappointed with our drip brews. It's just that the flavor, sort of, quality seems to shift as you go coarser. So overall, still a great quality product from Kinu. We think a lot of people are going to love this. And right now, since the M47 is still kind of a little bit of in a weird place, Kinu did have a fire at their factory, hence the name Phoenix, it's rising from their ashes, this product is a little bit more available in the meantime while the standard M47 is kind of getting back up on its feet. So, that is the Kinu M47 Phoenix. Thanks for watching.
