The Mahlkonig K30 Air is no longer being imported into the US, and will be unavailable through all retailers.
For replacement options we recommend:
Mazzer Super Jolly E
Mahlkonig E65S
Ceado E37S
Contact us for a special “K30 Swap” Discount!
Who Should Buy The Mahlkonig K30 Vario Air?
Small to Large Coffee Shops
When you’re cranking out high-quality espresso drinks, it’s important to have an espresso grinder you can depend on. Offering the perfect mix of cool grinding, consistency, and speed, the Mahlkonig K30 Vario Air is one of the top options for bustling cafes.
It’s every bit as precise as the barista favorite, the original K30 Vario. With a newly added fan system, it takes performance up a notch, providing an optimal temperature inside the grinder for flavor and consistency.
Because this is an on-demand grinder, it’s ideal for providing the freshest coffee and fully developed flavor without wasting ground coffee, which adds up as money saved in the long run.
Dosing for a single seven-gram espresso in under two seconds, this model is built for the busiest shops. Baristas can make one drink after another knowing that the K30 Vario Air is providing consistency and quality from open to close.
Restaurants
If you’re shopping for an espresso grinder for your restaurant, you’re probably seeking to deliver a better dining experience to your patrons. As good coffee starts in your grinder, you’ll succeed with the K30 Vario Air.
Aside from its status as a high-performance grinder, it’s a user-friendly model with hands-free dosing—as soon as the portafilter is in place, an accurate dose is automatically ground.
Every employee can successfully use this grinder, and each espresso is as good as the last. A great cappuccino can do a lot for a restaurant’s reputation among coffee lovers.
Hotels
Simple to operate, the K30 Vario Air enables hotels to bring the coffee shop to their guests.
A cafe model like the K30 Vario Air is designed for the quality and precision that expert baristas need, but with the kind of simplicity that lets less knowledgeable users enhance their results.
Hands-free grinding means less time dedicated to operating equipment, so your staff can spend more time attending to your guests and providing an experience that creates lifelong customers.
Offices
Looking for an espresso grinder for a busy office building? With its fan system and precision burrs, the K30 Vario Air is built for nonstop grinding to serve every employee in the office.
This model’s user-friendliness makes it a prime choice for office employees with little to no knowledge of how a grinder works. They’ll simply place the portafilter in the portafilter rest and wait for the K30 Vario Air to dose out the coffee.
With grinding discs that stay sharp longer than average and on-demand grinding so that no extra coffee is ground unnecessarily, this model can help you keep costs down in the long run.
Description
The K30 Vario Air is the espresso grinder other grinders look up to.
Further developing the potential of the highly respected K30 Vario, the Mahlkonig K30 Vario Air grind-on-demand espresso grinder features an active cooling system that maintains optimal performance at all times.
Adding a fan and air slots to the back panel increases the maximum daily capacity of the K30 Vario Air by up to 100% with no risk of the motor overheating.
Featuring a comprehensive construction that earned the 2005 Red Dot Design Award, the K30 Vario Air is a master of user-friendliness, efficiency, and speed. Capable of delivering a single dose in under two seconds, it’ll help you make superior customer service even faster.
The K30 Vario Air eliminates inconsistency.
With 65mm Mahlkonig precision grinding discs and an easy-turn stepless adjustment collar, The K30 Vario Air ensures that you’ll never compromise the quality of your coffee.
With the fan system keeping the grinding environment optimal throughout the day, baristas have more time to focus on customer relationships and efficiency to provide outstanding customer service.
Mahlkonig is known worldwide for its premium grinders.
Every Mahlkonig grinder is a precision machine built to last.
When you switch to a Mahlkonig, you’ll taste the difference in your espresso—and so will your customers.
Key Features and What They Mean
65mm Flat Burrs
Powerful grinding discs give the K30 Vario Air the power to crush coffee beans at the incredible rate of 3.6 to 4.8 grams per second, easily providing a single dose in two seconds or less while helping to keep grinding cool for quality control.
Fan Cooling System
A back panel with a fan and air slots ensure a highly effective temperature management system. Baristas can grind continuously without overheating the motor with up to a 100% increase in daily output.
Modular Design
The K30 Vario Air is designed to maximize user-friendliness and maintenance with a simple modular design that accommodates a wide variety of businesses.
Illuminated Display
Easy to see and read, the illuminated display assists in programming doses and navigating the menu.
Programmable Single and Double Shots
Program doses by the second for speedy delivery and repeatable results. Programming your espresso recipes instantly gives all users access to the same quality and consistency.
Stepless Grind Adjustment
Slide the adjustment collar to the left or right to change the grind fineness in ultra small increments as needed. This gives baristas the opportunity to dial in the grind accurately for any coffee and get the desired flavors and aromas.
3.3 Pound Transparent Bean Hopper
A 3.3 pound hopper allows employees to be better prepared for peak business hours. It keeps them from having to stock up on coffee beans every time it starts to get a little busier so that they can keep the drink line moving.
Hands-Free Portafilter Holder
The K30 Vario Air holds the portafilter in place while it grinds automatically. Hands-free grinding means that your staff can multitask or get more face-to-face customer interaction time to increase productivity and build your following.
Electronic Shot Counter
Checking in on day-to-day operations as you make important business decisions is easier with a shot counter providing a record of the number of doses ground by the K30 Vario Air.
Grinder Options
Color Options
Offered in classic Black or White, the Mahlkonig K30 Vario Air suits any style of professional decor.
Hopper Options
With the Standard Hopper that comes with the K30 Vario Air, the grinder is approximately 21.7 inches high.
If you have limited space overhead, the Short Hopper will reduce the height of the grinder to 17.5 inches and fit neatly under low shelving.
K30 Vario Air Features & Specifications
| Hopper capacity | 3.3 lbs |
|---|---|
| Grinding capacity | Approx. 3.6 – 4.8 g/sec |
| Voltage | 100-115 V |
| Frequency / Phases | 60 Hz / Single-Phase |
| Motor – rated power, Amps / hp | 4.6 / ¾ |
| Grinding Disc Diameter | 65 mm |
| Dimensions (w x d x h) |
9.5“ x 12.6“ x 21.7“ 9.5“ x 12.6“ x 17.5“ (Short Hopper) |
| Net weight | 28.7 lbs |
| Shipping Weight | 33.0 lbs |
| EQUIPMENT FEATURES | |
| MAHLKÖNIG Information and Control System MICS | Yes |
| Quantity adjustment | Electronically controlled (Timer) |
| Languages in the display | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Universal Port-a-Filter Rests | Yes |
| Overload Protection | Yes |
| Shot Counter | Yes |
| SPECIAL FEATURES | |
| Different Colors | Yes |
| Tamper Static | Yes |
| Hopper design | Can be customized |
| Listings | ETL listed |
Common Questions and Answers
Q: What does “grind-on-demand” mean for the K30 Vario Air?
A: When an on-demand grinder like the Mahlkonig K30 Vario Air grinds coffee, it dispenses it into the portafilter directly. In contrast, a doser grinder grinds coffee into an attached container. The user then operates a trigger to transfer the coffee into the portafilter from there.
The grind-on-demand model is ideal for preserving the freshness of the coffee after it’s ground, at which point it’s much more prone to becoming stale than whole-bean coffee.
Grinders with dosing chambers can be great for businesses grinding large amounts of coffee at a time to use relatively immediately, but it can mean wasting product if you’re not using it all right away, or worse, inferior espresso if it gets cycled into freshly ground coffee for espresso.
Going with an on-demand grinder like the K30 Vario Air ensures that you’re never losing any quality from a freshness perspective as the coffee is always ground for immediate use.
Q: How is stepless grind adjustment in the K30 Vario Air different from stepped grind adjustment in other models?
A: Stepped and stepless grinders both have their advantages for different users and applications. The difference between them lies in the amount of control you have over the adjustment options.
A stepped grinder gives you a certain number of adjustment presets from fine to coarse. You may feel them click into place as you turn the adjustment wheel or knob.
A stepped system like the one in the K30 Vario Air eliminates presets so that you’re turning the adjustment wheel freely. Because of this, you can make changes in any increment you want.
Typically, stepped grinders can be beneficial for beginners and for multipurpose coffee and espresso grinders because they allow you to switch from one end of the fineness spectrum to the other quickly.
The problem, however, is that stepped grinders likely won’t offer the control of the fineness needed to perfect your espresso recipes. If you want the best flavor and consistency, you need a stepless system.
Q: What is the difference between a flat burr grinder like the K30 Vario Air and a conical burr grinder?
A: As a flat burr grinder, the K30 Vario Air creates the highest degree of grind consistency. The coffee is ground into evenly sized particles, which balances the flavors and creates a deep, rich espresso flavor. Often, a sweeter finish comes from a flat burr grinder.
If you’re thinking of a sharper, brighter espresso flavor, you may be thinking of the kinds of results from a conical burr grinder. It produces bimodal particles, or coffee particles of different sizes, which tends to create a purposefully imbalanced extraction that accentuates the brighter notes.
While this is helpful for creating that traditional espresso taste, it’s known to somewhat limit the range of experimentation with espresso recipes. There is also the risk of over-extracting smaller coffee particles and under-extracting larger ones, leading to a higher ratio of bitter flavors.
It’s true that coffee enthusiasts have their preferences between the flat and conical burr grinder types. If you think you might prefer a more balanced flavor profile with a sweeter finish, the K30 Vario Air is the ultimate option.
Extra Resources
ProductSheet_K30Air.pdf
Operating_Instructions_K30_ES_-_K30_Vario.pdf
