Are coffee machine building block sets worth assembling?

Ten popular coffee machine and grinder building block models were assembled over about a week, covering five series: Sicilian Late Autumn, Midsummer Green, Roman Holiday, Summer Twilight Venice, and Milan Early Spring. The sets vary in piece count, color schemes, and fidelity to the real equipment, which includes the Rocket R58, EK43, Slayer Steam EP, Mythos One, La Marzocco GS3, and others.

Each kit corresponds to an actual coffee machine or grinder, so the builds double as a guide to real equipment parameters. Fit and structural support differ between sets, and some take far more patience than others. Basic kits suit beginners, while complex models reward careful assembly. The write-up covers how each block model compares with the machine it represents.

Coffee enthusiasts' passion for peripheral products is never limited to beans and equipment. This time, we got our hands on ten popular coffee machine and grinder building block models available on the market all at once, covering five series: Sicilian Late Autumn, Midsummer Green, Roman Holiday, Summer Twilight Venice, and Milan Early Spring. It took a week to complete the assembly. From basic kits to patience-testing ones, the number of pieces, color schemes, and fidelity to the original machines vary. The article will introduce the real coffee equipment parameters corresponding to each building block set one by one, including Rocket R58, EK43, Slayer Steam EP, Mythos One, La Marzocco GS3, Ultra, Black Eagle VA388, LWW EG-1, Kees Speedster, and Mazzer Super Jolly, while also sharing the actual performance of domestic building blocks in terms of fit and structural support. If you also like coffee peripherals, why not take a look at these interesting little gadgets together.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add private WeChat Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Hello, everyone!

That Ah Rui who specializes in bankrupting your wallet reviews is back again! This time! I spent a fortune!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bought ten popular coffee machines and grinders worth hundreds of thousands

in building block form! Hahahahaha It took me about a week from start to finish, and I got to experience the joy of assembling them!!! Can everyone recognize which brand and which model these machines are?!

Here's the story! As a copywriter who pays attention to the coffee industry, my antennae for coffee peripherals are also very sensitive! So not long after these coffee machines and grinders were released, I snapped them all up! But I kept having things to deal with, so the assembly was put on hold for a while. Until... one day my cat at home clawed open one of the boxes and carried out a bag of parts to play with, that's when I finally started (not because I'm lazy! Really).

The coffee peripherals I bought this time consist of 5 series: "Sicilian Late Autumn Set," "Midsummer Green Set," "Roman Holiday Set," "Summer Twilight Venice Set," and "Milan Early Spring Set." Basic Kit- "Milan Early Spring"

The coffee machine part of this set is modeled after the Rocket R58, and the grinder part is modeled after the EK43. The color scheme uses avocado green & light pink, giving it a very fresh overall look. It has fewer parts and is suitable for beginners to try~ After assembly, it is relatively small and doesn't take up much space. The Rocket R58 is suitable for home use and small to medium-sized cafes. The R58 uses the classic E61 brew head, and the dispersion screen area no longer has screws securing it, so the water flow is more even and stable. The internal dual-boiler design plus a rotary pump provides better stability for coffee extraction and steaming.

I believe everyone is also very familiar with the EK43! It can be said to be standard equipment in many specialty coffee shops and shops that focus on pour-over. This grinder uses 98mm alloy steel flat burrs, has high power, and grinds faster and more evenly, preserving the aroma in coffee beans as much as possible. At the same time, one EK43 can be used for different grind settings, suitable for making different types of pour-over and espresso coffee.

Advanced Kit - "Summer Twilight Venice Set"

The coffee machine part of this set is modeled after the Slayer Steam EP, and the grinder part is modeled after the Mythos One. The color scheme uses lake green & goose yellow, giving it a very refreshing and eye-catching overall look. It has more parts than the basic kit, suitable for friends who have the patience to assemble building blocks regularly~ After assembly, the size is decent and it doesn't take up too much space. The Slayer Steam EP is suitable for specialty coffee shops and cafes with high output. The EP uses an electronically controlled brew head and a professional steam system, allowing precise control of steam volume, temperature, and evenness and temperature during extraction. The multi-boiler temperature control system ensures the stability of continuous brewing temperature.

The Mythos One is an espresso grinder that uses 75mm angled flat burrs, which can minimize retained grounds. At the same time, this grinder has a heating and constant-temperature function, which can reduce the impact of ambient temperature differences on grinding and preserve the flavor of the coffee beans. However, this function also accelerates the dissipation of flavor from beans in the hopper, so if the output is not large, there is no need to store too many coffee beans in the hopper.

Advanced Kit- "Midsummer Green"

The coffee machine part of this set is modeled after the La Marzocco GS3, and the grinder part is modeled after the Ultra. The color scheme uses light brown & grass green, giving it a fresh overall look like a summer lawn. It has more parts than the basic kit, suitable for friends who have the patience to assemble building blocks regularly~ After assembly, there are 4 parts in total. Although the "wire" behind the grinder is realistic, it is a bit gimmicky and comes loose very easily.

The La Marzocco GS3 can be said to be the "little sweetheart" of many coffee people! It is suitable for home use and small to medium-sized cafes. The saturated brew head ensures the reliability of water temperature and the stability of extraction, and the steam wand uses a layered anti-scald design. The internal dual-boiler design can ensure stable brewing temperature and steam for continuous output.

The Ultra grinder may be relatively uncommon in China, but this is a grinder designed by a domestic designer and produced domestically, though it is mainly exported abroad. The advantage of this grinder lies in its use of 98mm HU burrs. Large burrs can grind more per unit time, reduce heat generated by coffee grounds, and preserve more coffee flavor. Another advantage is the independent click controller, which can not only adjust the speed but also program the grinding speed.

Patience Kit - "Roman Holiday"

The coffee machine part of this set is modeled after the Black Eagle VA388, and the grinder part is modeled after the LWW EG-1. The color scheme uses brown and light brown, looking very steady. There are more parts, and the colors between parts are similar, so finding them is a bit taxing!

After assembly, the size is not large, but not small either. The Black Eagle VA388 is suitable for specialty coffee shops and cafes with high output. The T3 temperature control system sets up three layers of temperature control from the boiler to the brew head, ensuring consistent temperature during extraction and preventing different water temperatures from affecting the taste of the coffee. It is also equipped with a high-precision electronic scale to precisely control the yield.

The LWW EG-1 looks like a microscope. It uses DB2 twin-peak burrs, which can make the flavor of single-origin coffee beans more prominent after grinding. The burrs are magnetically attached and the straight-through design ensures that coffee grounds after grinding will not remain in the burrs or grinding chamber. In terms of grinding, the grind setting can be adjusted steplessly, and the burr speed can also be controlled.

Patience Kit - "Sicilian Late Autumn"

The coffee machine part of this set is modeled after the Kees Speedster, and the grinder part is modeled after the Mazzer Super Jolly. The color scheme uses maple red and goose yellow, giving it a strong late-autumn feel. There are more parts, but it is not difficult to assemble, easier than Roman Holiday. After assembly, the size is not large, but not small either. The Kees Speedster is suitable for specialty coffee shops and cafes with high output. The independent PID temperature control system and self-circulating saturated brew head can ensure stability during brewing. It is also equipped with an extraction paddle, allowing manual changes to extraction pressure. You can think of it as a coffee machine that combines automatic and manual transmission! It maximally satisfies baristas' pursuit of controlling extraction pressure.

The Mazzer Super Jolly is an espresso grinder. It uses 64mm high-hardness carbon steel flat burrs. Its Grind Flow Control system (GFC) can reduce static electricity and prevent coffee grounds from clumping. Dual fans effectively prevent the grinding chamber from heating up during operation, maximizing the preservation of coffee aroma.

The above is the introduction to the original coffee machines and grinders of the building block sets!

In recent years, domestic building blocks have made great progress, whether in design or in the fit between parts~ However, the edges and corners of the parts still need improvement.

Among these coffee machine building blocks, the fit of some individual parts is not very good, and gaps between connected parts appear easily. After assembly, some parts may also have insufficient support or come loose, and there may also be missing parts.

If you don't have OCD, then it's not a big problem! After all, I personally think the cost-performance ratio is acceptable~

It's just that your fingers hurt a bit after finishing!!

That's all for this coffee machine review. If you all discover more novel coffee peripherals! Remember to CALL me!!

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.