Coffee Grinder Upgrade

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Handle9

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#287139 9-Jun-2021 03:32

I've had my current espresso setup for some years and beginning an upgrade cycle. I've currently got a Breville Dose Control Pro grinder and am looking to upgrade this

Currently I'm looking at a Eureka Mignon Specialtia or maybe an Atom.

Ideally I'd like to have something reasonably compact, quiet with lowish retention and consistent grind. I'll be sourcing from Europe in all likelihood. Budget is somewhere around €500-€700 including shipping.

I'll eventually pair it with an E61 HX machine to replace my Breville Infuser. I'm looking at something like a Profitec Pro 500 or a rotary pump machine if I can stretch the budget a bit further.

Suggestions are welcome.

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#2721084 9-Jun-2021 10:01

heading down a similar path after the pump on my 15+ year old delonghi broke. I have been looking at the breville and came across this article: Upgraded from E61 HX to BES920

dfnt

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#2721085 9-Jun-2021 10:13

Some options:

https://baratza.com/grinder/forte-ap/

https://www.nichecoffee.co.uk/products/niche-zero

https://beanbros.co/products/wilfa-uniform-grinder

I'd probably go with the Niche Zero

Check out James Hoffmann for some reviews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgjvLQu5NlE

billgates

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#2721100 9-Jun-2021 10:50

I bought Eureka Atom 75 last month from Italy directly for NZD$1600 incl 5 days UPS shipping. Very happy with the grinder. I bought mine from below place. Click on 'ask for a discount' and they will email you a coupon code. I got 10% off and bought the chrome model with 300gm hopper (1.4KG is for cafe environment size IMO).

Bought my Lelit Elizabeth V3 from a different outfit in Italy and that too arrived quickly and safely. Saved quite a fortune ($1100) buying both locally.

https://www.espressocoffeeshop.com/coffee-grinders/coffee-grinders-eureka/eureka-atom-serie

Edit- I researched between Eureka Atom 75 and Niche Zero. Niche Zero is a single dose grinder so having to make multiple cups of coffee's is going to take more time compared to the atom 75. The burrs on Atom 75 are bigger so can handle variety of different beans from different parts of the world specially high altitude one's that may be more harder.

Do whatever you want to do man.

dfnt

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#2721106 9-Jun-2021 11:05

I would rather single dose coffee than keep it in the hopper anyway, unless you're in a cafe and single dosing isn't practical. The quantity and frequency of home coffee making negates the speed benefits of going with the Atom imo.

Not that I can talk, I've got an EK43s at home..

billgates

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#2721110 9-Jun-2021 11:10

The coffee beans will not go stale inside the hopper for a good week or two. I go through a bag of 250gm which lasts me just over a week. The blow up system hopper on the Atom 75 gets rid of any old leftover grinds before you grind fresh beans if you push it down but I have the single dose button on the Atom 75 on a 0.3 seconds timer for quickly getting rid of stale coffee from overnight. It is a personal preference yes. I still use a tare scale though to measure the grinded beans in the portafilter.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Fred99

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#2721118 9-Jun-2021 11:23

I've used a Mazzer Mini for 10 years. AFAIK the only design change since the 1960s is that you've been able to get them in a couple of colours other than silver or black.
Still on original burrs. (probably due for replacement based on kg of coffee that's been ground, but it's still working perfectly, so I won't bother until it doesn't - note to never buy replacement burrs on line "cheap" - they will be fakes). It's a vastly over-engineered mass of metal with an underworked motor running so slow that the grind remains constant whether you're making one cup or ten (the burrs and motor etc don't get hot), comes with a lifetime warranty for commercial use, contains no electronic wizardry, and seems to be the standard for use in cafes (they mainly use larger Mazzers, but they'll often have a mini on the bench to use for decaf or single origin, special blends etc). I very seldom need to change the grind setting, but if a tweak is needed, then usually get it spot on with one tweak. Maybe that's just familiarity after using it so long, maybe more that when I started making home espresso I used to read forums where people claimed that everything from small humidity changes or time of day or age of beans made big differences. I think it's partly because some of their fancy electronic grinders really aren't as good as they're made out to be.

Good points mentioned above. Bad points - they're kind of slow, maybe 20 seconds to grind a double shot, they have a doser which needs cleaning out (upside to a doser is that thwacking the grounds breaks up clumping), and that without electronics, servos etc, it would be inconvenient to use where the grind had to be adjusted to suit different brew methods, ie if you needed to change from espresso to french press, or if you wanted to change settings frequently to use different beans, you'd probably have to mark the adjuster ring with a felt pen or something unless you've got a very good memory.

sen8or

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#2721119 9-Jun-2021 11:24

Don't have any experience with the grinders, but for a machine, have you considered Expobar?

We have the Minore4 at work, dual boiler with PID on the brew boiler and its about the same money as the Profitec Pro500. Ive used the Pro500 in a demo situation, was very quiet for a vib pump (I think they isolate the pump from the body of the machine reducing vibration) and produced a good brew, steaming wise though the Expobar has more oomph. In our office environment, the machine is about 2 years old now and hasn't missed a beat, we go through about 1.5kg of coffee a week (15 or so coffees a day). Wholelattelove have done quite a few videos comparing the main players in the dual boiler (Profitec / ECM Synchronika, Rocket & Expobar) and whilst design goes to the others, the Expobar holds its own for whats in the cup.

Ive not seen that Lelit, but even locally thats a good price for a dual boiler, looks nice too

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Lias

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#2721193 9-Jun-2021 12:20

I know diddly about this kind of kit, but I have a mate who works for a place that sells fancy coffee stuff amongst other things and he said:

Those Eureka's are the tits. I would like to stock them, but tell your Geekzone friend to get one here: https://www.espresso.co.nz/brands/Eureka.html?sort=featured&page=2 If he imports one he's in for a bad time.

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dafman

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#2721196 9-Jun-2021 12:38

Handle9:

Currently I'm looking at a Eureka Mignon Specialtia

We have the Eureka Mignon Perfetto, purchased from Espresso Ninja in Wellington. We pair with a Rocket Apartmento. The E61 portafilter clicks into place on the grinder, so you can leave it while it doses.

Looking online, the Perfetto has smaller burrs (50mm vs 55mm) otherwise the machines look identical in all other respects.

The Perfetto is a great little grinder. Quiet, reliable, small footprint. The quietness was a selling point for us - when we purchased we demo'ed it against an older Eureka grinder and it was quite a bit quieter in use. It has two digital presets which is great as my partner and I differ on preferred doses.

We've owned it for 2.5 years, never had an issue, would definitely recommend.

BlinkyBill

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#2721198 9-Jun-2021 12:43

+1 for the Mazzer.

Handle9

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#2721229 9-Jun-2021 14:21

dfnt:
Some options:

https://baratza.com/grinder/forte-ap/

https://www.nichecoffee.co.uk/products/niche-zero

https://beanbros.co/products/wilfa-uniform-grinder

I'd probably go with the Niche Zero

Check out James Hoffmann for some reviews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgjvLQu5NlE

Thanks. You can't buy a niche zero for love nor money until August. They are out of stock everywhere, including from niche zero.

Handle9

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#2721239 9-Jun-2021 14:42

Yoban:
heading down a similar path after the pump on my 15+ year old delonghi broke. I have been looking at the breville and came across this article: Upgraded from E61 HX to BES920

I'm not going to be upgrading the machine for a few months. The performance of breville is great but IMO they are ugly compared to an e61 machine. While that's not everything it is a factor when I'm spending that sort of cash. I expect this to be my last espresso machine unless I move to a country which is 110v.

dfnt

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#2721241 9-Jun-2021 14:45

Gutted re Niche.. lots of things are becoming impossible to buy thanks to the pandemic :/

Handle9

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#2721242 9-Jun-2021 14:48

dfnt:
Gutted re Niche.. lots of things are becoming impossible to buy thanks to the pandemic :/

In their case I think it's more they made a decent product and demand is much higher than they expected. They are a startup so these things should be expected.

Handle9

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#2721254 9-Jun-2021 15:04

Lias:
I know diddly about this kind of kit, but I have a mate who works for a place that sells fancy coffee stuff amongst other things and he said:

Those Eureka's are the tits. I would like to stock them, but tell your Geekzone friend to get one here: https://www.espresso.co.nz/brands/Eureka.html?sort=featured&page=2 If he imports one he's in for a bad time.

I'm curious why he says importing them is s bad idea? Seems like FUD to be honest.

I'm not in NZ anyway so will either source locally here or buy from Europe.

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