Staff Picks of the Month - Acaia Orbit Coffee Grinder
From an event coordinator, to a financial advisor, and even working at multiple cafes throughout his career, Imran has pretty much seen it all. "Coming from event management background, dealing with people has become second nature to me. However, it was my cafe background that got me into the coffee industry." After more than 2 years of working at Lamarsa as the sales specialist, advising clients on coffee equipments and coffee in general is something many of his clients can attest to.
Imran knew what was up when we approached him. "It's my turn for staff picks of the month, right? You guys are just in time!". We walked towards the demo bar, and the Acaia Orbit Coffee Grinder was already set up and ready to grind.
"I'm sure you've already seen this one; the Orbit by Acaia. It is Acaia's first ever coffee grinder, a smart flat burr grinder with unique features". The Orbit landed quite recently on our side of the planet, after much anticipation. Sure, it may look like another high-end-"microscope" coffee grinder, but look into the Orbit and you'll realize there's a lot more to this single-dose coffee grinder than meets the eye.
"The Orbit is a single-dose, all-purpose coffee grinder, equipped with stepless grind adjustment. It comes with a set of Mazzer 33M 64mm flat burrs, and of course, you can always upgrade to a set of multipurpose SSP burrs."
It weighs about 5.6kg, and is sized just nice for any home countertop. For a 64mm burrs grinder, the Orbit has a compact footprint too. The finishing on the Orbit feels nothing short of premium, being made of die-cast aluminium for an accurately-defined, smooth and textured-surface.
"Everyday, customers walk into our showroom, seeking our advice on setting up a home coffee bar or on their existing coffee bar setup. And once in a while, there comes a customer interested in the manufacturers behind our products."
Imran was more than happy to share us a bit of the background on how the Orbit came to be. The formidable grinder was designed in partnership with the esteemed Weber Workshop, the company responsible for creating the EG-1, the Key, and the HG-2. "That is why the EG-1 and the Orbit shares some similarities in terms of design. Both companies also have history of working together for the Bean Counter."
Clearly, it is not Acaia's first rodeo in the coffee grinder scene.
There is a single button at the front, with interchangeable colours to indicate the status of the status of the grinder or performing an action. You can also connect the Orbit with the companion Orbit app, allowing you to fully customize your Orbit by adjusting button actions, RPM profiles, and other settings.
The integration with the Lunar scale is what sets the Orbit apart from other coffee grinders. Once connected, the Orbit can grind the precise amount of coffee you need for each brew with the grind by weight feature. Our findings were pretty close to zero, with the occasional 0.1 margin. It is not perfect, of course, but the inconsistencies are rare and practically negligible.
As for the retention, the hopper on the Orbit does not come with a bellow attachment to blow out any leftovers in the chute. However, that is where the Auto-purge comes in. After each grind, the burrs will perform a fast reverse spin, then a forward spin to reduce retention. This is a feature that can only be found in high-end grinders, of course.
And if you are not satisfied with the Auto-purge, there is a good ol' knocker right behind the chute for that peace of mind.
To see how well it performs, Imran proceeded to brew espresso and filter coffee. The stepless adjustment switches between grind size easily with just a turn of the dial. Clear notches are ingrained on the dial, making it convenient to track the grind size. To our delight, both cups deliver flavours and aroma that one would expect from a high-end coffee grinder.
"Being an all-purpose grinder, I have had my fair share of grinding for espresso and filter. I have even tried grinding for cold brew just to see how well it performs for coarser grind size, and the Orbit did not disappoint."
The Acaia Orbit is definitely a must have for any coffee enthusiasts. It looks really gorgeous from any angle, with a premium finish that always feels pleasant whenever in use, and the smart features are something that not a lot of coffee grinders can provide. If you're worried about the energy consumption of the Orbit, the Orbit was also developed with Acaia's in-house technology over the years, built to reduce energy consumption and yet deliver industrial high performance and smarter grinding.
*Place a pre-order for the Acaia Orbit now and receive a COMPLIMENTARY Acaia Lunar worth RM1,100 at no additional cost. While stocks last.
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