Compak E8 vs E10: Which Grinder Should You Buy?

Compak’s Essential On Demand line of espresso grinders has a long history. Each new grinder in the line brings a myriad of improvements that make them easier, faster, and more powerful.

In this post, we’ll compare two grinders from the Essential On Demand line: the Compak E8 vs E10. We’ll showcase the changes between each generation by discussing the following:

• Which features are the same in both grinders.
• What differences there are between them.
• Information on how much they cost.
• Our advice on how to choose between them.

Let’s jump right into it.

Quick Summary

Compak E8

 

By itself, the Compak E8 is already high-tech and user-friendly. It has a chic touchscreen display that you can use to effortlessly make adjustments to its settings. It also has a powerful 730-watt motor and large 83mm flat burrs that allow it to speedily grind through shots of espresso. This is an amazing grinder for coffee shops, restaurants, and other businesses.

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Compak E10

 

If you thought the Compak E8 was powerful, wait until you see the Compak E10. It steps up the motor power with its 825-watt motor combined with 68mm conical burrs. Like the E8, the Compak E10 is suitable for commercial settings like coffee shops and restaurants.

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Similarities

Stepless Grind Adjustment

Any barista knows that coffee for different brewing methods or coffee of various blends each needs its own texture. You can’t just take any coffee beans and grind them all to the same fineness or you’ll notice a sharp decline in quality.

Stepless grinders like the Compak E8 and E10 make it easy for you to grind to a huge array of fineness levels. You’re not stuck choosing from a small range of pre-made settings.

Instead, these grinders will give you virtually endless possibilities. You can select any fineness setting on a whole scale of them by simply rotating the adjustment collar left or right.

Burr Replacement Alarm

Burrs wear down naturally over the course of time. Even the best burrs in the world will need to be replaced eventually.

If you don’t replace your burrs on time, your grinder will be unable to perform to its greatest capability. You’ll notice it struggling to keep up with demand as it burrs grow duller and duller.

These Compak grinders won’t let you forget to replace the burrs. As soon as they need to be replaced, you’ll be notified by the grinder’s burr replacement alarm. That way, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to keep your grinder in excellent shape.

Read Also: Compak E8 vs E5

Adjustable Portafilter Holder

It’s not surprising that these grinders, which are both high-end options, have portafilter holders. Such a feature is pretty much the bare minimum for a grinder these days.

But we do love how adjustable the portafilter holders on the E8 and E10 actually are. You won’t need to worry anymore about your portafilter resting unevenly in the holder because it’s not the perfect size.

Anytime you use a portafilter of a different size, you can simply adjust the forks on the E8 and E10 to perfectly accommodate it.

Barista Lights

Making espresso takes precision and awareness of what you’re doing at all times. While a skilled barista might claim they’re good enough to practically make a shot of espresso in their sleep, the truth is that they need to keep an eye on it every step of the development.

This can be unnecessarily difficult to do if the lighting in your business isn’t optimal. With the E8 and E10, you can ensure that adequate lighting is provided no matter what it looks like elsewhere in your establishment.

This is because both grinders have barista lights built right into them. These lights provide a clear view of the grinder while it’s in use, allowing baristas to be able to safely operate the machine and visually monitor the development of each shot.

Electronic Fan

One major weakness of many espresso grinders is that they can overheat the longer they’re in use. If you’ve got a long line of customers waiting for drinks, your machine might start running too hot and burn your beans.

Since you don’t want to provide your customers with suboptimal drinks, you’ll want a grinder that can manage its internal temperature. The Compak grinders in this guide are both equipped to do so with their integrated electronic fans that will allow you to continuously grind without the looming threat of overheating.

LCD Touchscreen

The LCD touchscreen has a been a popular feature on the Essential On Demand series grinders for years. It’s not surprising to us that the E8 and E10 both chose to keep this feature.

To access data or make adjustments to the settings, baristas just need to tap the screen. It’s just like using a smartphone or tablet, which makes operating the grinder feel familiar to anyone with even basic tech skills.

Read Also: Mahlkonig vs Compak

Dimensions

The standard versions of these Compak grinders are precisely the same size. Set them set-by-side on a counter, and you honestly might not even notice the difference between them.

Basically, if one grinder would fit on your counter, so would the other. Size won’t be the final reason you decide to pick either the E8 or the E10.

It’s important to mention, though, that there are some changes you can make to either grinder to reduce their height. With the K3 bean hopper on the E8, you can drop its height to a mere 20 inches. On the other hand, the E10’s height can be reduced to 19.5 inches with the single dose cup.

Hopper Capacity

Are you going to have grind coffee or espresso almost constantly all day? Aside from a grinder that keeps itself cool under pressure, you’ll need a grinder that won’t need refills every few minutes.

This is where the hopper capacity of a grinder comes into play. The Compak E8 and E10 both have hoppers of the exact same size: 3.75 pounds.

That’s a fairly generous capacity. You could safely rely on either one of these grinders to keep you supplied with coffee beans during a rush.

Shot Counter

The LCD touchscreens on these Compak grinders are more than just pretty to look at; they contain tons of useful data for business owners and home experts alike. One thing you can find in the touchscreen menu is a shot counter.

As the name implies, it tells you the number of espresso shots you made in a specific timeframe. The ability to view this information lets you know how much coffee grounds you’re going through, and consequently how much you need to buy whenever you restock your supply.

On-Demand Grinding

Part of providing your customers with the best-tasting drinks is guaranteeing that every shot of espresso or cup of coffee tastes as fresh as possible. No one wants to drink a latte or coffee made from stale, old coffee grounds.

Using the Compak E8’s and E10’s on-demand grinding design, you can be certain that you’re giving your customers the best of the best. These grinders grind exactly as much coffee as you need when you need it rather than grinding large batches in advance.

The result is a cup of coffee or shot of espresso that tastes fresh and full-bodied.

Read Also: Compak E5 vs E6

Differences

Motor Power

One major improvement the E10 made to the design of the Essential On Demand line is an even more powerful motor. The motors in this line have been getting progressively more and more powerful with time, and the E10 is perfect evidence of that.

The E10’s motor is a jaw-dropping 825 watts, while the E8’s is a still-impressive 730 watts. In a head-to-head grinding match between these Compaks, you might notice that the E10 is therefore able to grind slightly more effortlessly than the E8 as a result.

Burr Shape

Another huge difference between these grinders is their burr shape. This could easily have an impact on your final decision because burr shape affects the speed, temperature, and grind retention in a grinder. It can even affect the flavor of your drinks.

The Compak E8 has flat burrs. Flat burrs are well-loved for their ability to produce perfectly homogenous coffee particles. Since the particles are all the same size, you’ll get a subtly sweeter flavor in your drinks.

One drawback to flat burrs is that they tend to be associated with higher levels of grind retention. That just means you’re more likely to have leftover coffee grounds inside the grinder after each use, and those stale grounds can potentially get mixed in with other blends or fresh drinks when you grind more later.

So, what’s the alternative? Conical burrs, like those used by the Compak E10.

Many people love conical burrs because they tend to be more affordable than flat ones. As an added bonus, their trademark feature of producing bimodal particles (or coffee grains of different sizes) means that the flavor created by these burrs trends towards the fruitier side of things.

A flaw with conical burrs is that they can be a bit slower than flat burrs. Additionally, they’re not as flexible for experimentation with grind fineness.

Burr Size

Finally, one of the last great differences between these Compak grinders is the size of their burrs. Burr size is immensely important, especially when it comes to grinding on a commercial scale.

Generally, larger burrs can grind shots faster than small ones can. It’s easy to see why: they have a larger surface area that can handle equally larger amounts of coffee beans at once.

In this regard, the Compak E8 is actually superior with its 83mm burrs. The Compak E8’s burrs are 68mm.

Pricing Considerations

Our mission is to bring the best espresso grinders and the best prices together. Majesty Coffee is proud to do the same with the Compak E8 and E10.

You’ll find the Compak E8 in our store for $1,657.60 with just the standard hopper and $1,716.10 if you choose to include a short hopper. The Compak E10 is in our store for $2,222.50 in black and $2,257.50 in polished aluminum.

Which Grinder Should You Buy?

Listing all these features may not tell you exactly which grinder is better for your business. Both are easily suitable for coffee shops and restaurants, so let’s look at some specific situations and reasons you may want the E8 or E10.

If you want the most powerful grinder possible because you’ll be grinding nonstop, then you may want the E10, for instance. Its 825-watt motor is almost exactly 100 watts stronger than the E8’s.

Additionally, if appearance is of paramount importance for you, you may also prefer the E10. Of the two grinders in this comparison, it’s the only one available in more than one color – specifically, black and polished aluminum.  

Price is usually one of the most important things for people choosing appliances. If you want a more affordable grinder, the Compak E8 will be a better fit for you.

Flavors obviously matter, as well. Because of their differences in burr shape, the E8 and E10 will both produce unique flavors. Go with the E8 if you like more chocolatey notes and the E10 if you prefer something brighter and fruitier.

This is our suggestion:

The Compak E8 will work if you’re a coffee-centric business in search of an economical grinder. You have the added benefit of getting it with a short hopper, too, if you need something compact.

We’d recommend the Compak E10 for coffee shops and business that need to power through long lines of customers. It’s also excellent for those who want a choice in the color of their espresso grinder.