Orphan Espresso Pharos #375 68mm Conical Burr Grinder - In The House!

Like most of us who enjoy espresso, I understand the importance of the grinder in the process. I have good grinders already, but there is a bit of mystque surrounding the 68mm conical burr set among the online espresso community. Like my Malkhonig K30 ES, grinders using this burr set cost more than a thousand dollars (see the Compak K10 available here on ROASTe for example) save one - the Orphan Espresso  Pharos.  This is a manual grinder that costs less than three hundred dollars new - still a chunk of change.

One came up for sale recently in one of the forums and I did not hesitate. After a couple emails and a trip to Paypal, all was set and my grinder set about it's UPS trip to North Carolina. I received my OE Pharos #375 today and immediately set about adjusting the grind for espresso to pull shots with my QuickMill Silvano (thanks ROASTe!).  Shot #1 took 17 seconds, shot #2 I cut off at 45 seconds (even though it was still happily espressing one drop a time), shot #3 was a repeat of shot #1, and finally shot #4 was on the money. 

18g cranks out in 50 - 60 very quick turns with these beans - getting the grinds out takes almost as long as grinding though - the price I pay for having titan conical quality for less than the price of a Baratza Preciso... 

I can still taste the cocoa from those Brazilian beans I roasted with my heat gun and metal bowl back on April 5th - what a treat! This lot is the Brazil Cup of Excellence Lot#: 9 Antônio Fortes Bustamante - Fazenda Paraíso that I purchased last March. I stored them properly I guess (humidity and temperature controlled environment) because they still rock! 

I scheduled work for myself for the next 5 days so I will stick these beans in the freezer and run some tests with the Pharos, Malkhonig K30 ES, Baratza Preciso, KitchenAid w/Mazzer Mini burrs, La Pavoni PBC and my KyM Turkish mill next week - a mini grind off - I need to order some espresso beans that are popular and available here on ROASTe so the review will be easy to relate with. 

Edit: My selection is Rawanda Coko Cooperative from Mt. Air Roasting from here in Asheville, NC - bright n' light to showcase these burrs ; )