Eureka - Mignon Manuale

Is there a reason the mignon manuale isn't suggested anymore?

It's definitely more "prosumer" than a lot of the other cheaper grinders, but I feel just as much as the DF54 that everyone is now acting like is the greatest grinder to ever exist... im thinking about picking up a manuale as a cheap, sturdy, repairable, flat burr grinder since I have an ESP (conical) that does a decent job but I occasionally feel i need more granularity and I do enjoy flat burr profiles now that ive tried them.

I haven't read all the replies to this thread yet. My only advice so far is to NOT buy any of the grinders you have shown. I have a Eureka Mignon Manuale which is very good, but I only use it for light roasts nowadays because I also have a Timemore Bricks 01s which cost me even less but I prefer it. My next step is probably going to be to replace the Eureka with a Timemore 064S or a Lagom Casa. I am just waiting long enough to avoid my wife's annoyance at yet more investment in grinders even though the coffee we share is already excellent!

Go for the eureka and buy the bigger dial. It’s the one that’s built the best , like a tank, and has little to no quality control issues. Unlike the others in your list.

Neither the Shardor, Hibrew, or Casabrews are likely to meet your requirement for a 5 year life. The Baratza ESP has the best build quality of any device on your list, but you can still do better. I'd suggest a Gaggia Classic E24 for the machine, and one of the Eureka Mignon grinders. These are high quality products that should last forever if well taken care of. I wouldn't give a lot of credence to the Amazon reviews. Many people buy espresso equipment (especially Breville) without realizing how difficult it is to learn to use. They get rapidly frustrated, blame their problems on the machine, and give it a poor review. Feedback from this sub and other coffee/espresso forums is much more relevant than Amazon ratings.

Search this sub for "Opus" and note the many issues reported with it. You might want to take it off your list. The other 3 grinders are all solid choices. DF54 and Manuale are worth more than the ESP if you are willing to spend the money.

For that budget I'd go for 3 options depending on preference/workflow. - Turin DF54 (54mm flat burr, single dose, dosing cup) - Fellow Opus (44mm conical burr, single dose, dosing cup) - Eureka Manuale (50mm flat burr, hopper or single dose, direct to portafilter) Those are all great options that are towards the top end of your budget with Eureka coming in a bit higher with the Opus being the cheapest option. IMO the Eureka is probably the best built quality and durability wise.

Pro tip, if you struggle to get a good coffee out of it in a few years, first thing you should try is replacing the burrs. I was going crazy getting 15 second shots with the burrs nearly touching. After replacing them, I'm more than half a rotation of the dial back. Not sure how they became blunt after 4 years of 1-2 coffees a day...

Eureka Mignon Manuale ($450aud, 4 years ago). It was good for a couple of years, but somehow the burrs wore down, and for the last 6 months I've been struggling to get a good coffee out of it. Replaced the burrs ($50aud) which fixed the issue, but I'm still considering switching. The retention is ridiculous (more than 0.5g), so I got the bellow upgrade which helped, but theres still 0.1-0.3g of exchange. Plus, I find the workflow annoying, as the button is plastic and my portafilter is obviously metal, so there is zero friction in pressing the button, meaning I regularly slide off the button causing the grind to stop. The Lagom Casa has nothing but good reviews, so that's my next grinder. As someone who's been down this path, a word of advice; spend more on your grinder than you do on your machine. It sounds crazy if you're just starting, but it's true.

Eureka manuale here, 0 ragrets but very loud! But if I'm spending 500-1000 on a grinder, it'll be another Eureka

For flat burr grinders the Eureka Mignon range has better options imo. Crono, Manuale & Zero are all worth looking into as alternatives for the Ode 2

Stay away from the Opus. The ESP is a good choice, though I feel like the Mignon Manuale/Facile/Notte is the best budget espresso grinder you can get, and SCG has it for $280. ESP for the easy adjustments if that’s important to ya.

I'd personally get a filter-only grinder. Wait for a sale, grab an Ode Gen 2, and buy an espresso grinder when the time comes (DF54 is insane value). The best grinders for double duty are medium-high clarity conical grinders like Comandante, K-Ultra etc IMO. The Femobook A5 and Lagom Casa are a couple electric grinders that are in the same category (I haven't tried either, but they're well reviewed). I previously used a Lagom Mini for both filter and espresso and it was fantastic. The DF54 and 64 both do a decent job at filter, but it's not great. The 64 mm SSP MP burrs are often recommended as a do-it-all burr set, but they are for a very specific espresso profile and they are not beginner friendly for espresso. I didn't enjoy the espresso with them. SSP Cast are supposed to be decent for both, but you're giving up the clarity everyone is always seeking. A couple other decent options that I've tried are Ditting 54mm steel burrs in the Vario+ and Eureka's 50 mm brew burrs in an entry level mignon. The UX is not ideal with either of these setups compared to a grinder designed to single dose. If the Ditting burrs fit in the DF without crazy mods it would be a great option. Edit: I forgot to mention that there are now brew burrs available for the DF54. I'm planning to grab a set to try out once they're available in Canada.