DF Grinders - DF54 (V2)

online is best and a decent grinder for espresso costs a minimum of £250. look for a df54 it’s excellent as a single dose grinder. online is best, i checked to buy locally but no dice.

We have a gaggia classic pro, df54 grinder for espresso and a moccamaster and baratza encore for brew coffee or French press. We are new but have been pulling nice shots with the Gaggia and df54, making espresso, cappuccino, lattes and incredible iced espresso drinks This setup should be close to your budget and fill your needs

I bought my coffee grinder from [df64coffee.com](https://df64coffee.com) I have the DF54 it’s a flat burr.

To answer your question. I did not find a single reseller for burr grinders here in Mauritius. Except for a shop at Tribeca. I can’t remember its name, I think it was cusinex or the shop next to it. They sold burr hand grinders and the next thing closer to an electric grinder they had was Sage Espresso machines (which has integrated grinder). But their hand grinders were not suitable for espresso so after a lot of research I decided to get the DF54 online. Zero regrets so far.

The DF-54 is around that price and really performs more like a much more expensive grinder IMO. I've had it for 8 months now and have no complaints.

A good hand grinder can work great, but from my own experience if you were trying to grind fine enough for espresso using a hand grinder, you had better have pretty buff arms. I have a DF 54 electric grinder which I do not love, but it gets the job done. I also have an 1zPreso X ultra. I used my hand grinder exactly once to grind for espresso. It took so long and my arm was so tired halfway through that I swore I would never do it again. However, it works great for coarser grinds that I use for drip. And I can take it with me when I travel. So it really depends on how you feel about a higher level of effort to grind for espresso by hand. I have never used the Barraza encore but everyone on here says you need the ESP version to make it functional for espresso. No matter what you choose, you are probably better off shooting for the US $200 and above range to get something decent. Although I’m sure you could find a good hand grinder used or on sale for a bit less than that.

This is what I would do in your position: get a bambino plus and a Varia V6. Here is my logic: I think you would love the Profitec Go (I do), but it will take a bit more time than you have right now to get it heated up and pull a shot. The Go is known for its fast heat-up time, but that’s “fast “ for people who don’t have toddlers. You could use a smart plug to heat it in the morning, but if you leave it on and let it go into Eco mode during the day it will take a couple of minutes to get to temp every time you go back to use it. For me it’s no big deal, but the Bambino will be more immediate. Once your kid(s) is a bit older you might want to upgrade your machine. By then you will have a better idea of exactly what you want. For the grinder I would skip the DF series for two reasons: 1) lack of consistency, and 2) tariffs. Get a grinder right away that you won’t feel the need to upgrade. I have a DF 54 and it is easy to use and pretty quiet, but I’m not happy with the consistency. I’m looking at Lagom Casa or more likely Varia V6, and I am hoping the new grinder I get paired with my Go will be my end game. All the DF machines (and anything labeled Turin or MiiCoffee) are from the same factory in China. The tariff situation is likely to make them much less economical than when I bought mine. Given you already know what you like in terms of espresso taste/quality, I would skip the built-in grinder. You’ll want something that will get you better tasting shots than what you can get with the quality of the built-in.

I got the df54 flat burr for $230. Worlds better then the esp or opus in build quality and looks. Also quiet as hell cause of the flat burrs. I love it so far and hasn’t made a bad espresso. I would go for that if you are looking entry level

Best you can go for is a flat burr grinder. Cheapest option is the DF54 for clarity.

I like this list because I bought the number 1 grinder after doing my research on Reddit and online in general. James Hoffmann did a comparison video of the most popular grinders and the only negative thing he said about the DF-54 that I recall was that he personally doesn't like bellows. He said more negative things about the other grinders he compared. Reviews I saw of the DF-64 said it is the loudest electric grinder of all other grinders in the low to mid price range so that makes it less desirable than the DF-54.

The baratza encore ESP is for, as the name puts it - espresso. It creates too many fine particles. Something like the df54 with flat burrs would be much more usable for both with it leaning more towards espresso.

Agreed, I think if you stack these up side by side considering value for price you’ll find a nice bell curve with a bias toward the inexpensive. The most bang for your buck is the df-54.