Eureka - Oro Mignon XL

I own 5. I have a. Vario W+. A Eureka ORO XL. 1Zpresso JX pro, Outin Fino and a Cera +. I do most things with the ORO which single doses and with the Argo wheel will move between Espresso and everything else very easily, reliably and accurately. I do hand grind for my flair FP3 with the JX pro because it’s set up for that. At work I use the Outin Fino for everything from Outin Nano to Aeropress, Clever and V60. I bought the ORO new and it has been bullet proof for almost 5 years. It replaced the Vario, which is in my basement. I have been drinking home espresso since 2003ish. I do upgrade but it’s pretty intentional and functionally driven. I’m on my 5th machine (Lelit Victoria bought new 5 years ago) and it is perfect for my use case. The ORO was some serious coin, but it is pretty amazing. Low retention (almost zero with rdt) and infinitely adjustable with the Argo wheel. I grind V60 at 60 and Yirgachaffe for espresso at 6. It returns to the setting. I am interested in the Mahlkoenig X64 SD. I love their grinders. If the ORO ever breaks, it’ll be on my short list.

2 electric and 2 hand grinders. Fellow Ode gen 2 for anything non-espresso, and Eureka Mignon Oro XL for espresso. Hand grinders 1zpresso JX pro and Comandante C40. The C40 was a gift from my parents for helping dad decide what to get for his new post-retirement coffee interest. I sometimes use hand grinder at home when making coffee just for me, to see how conical compares with flat burr of the Ode.

Have owned all the grinders on your list, at one point or another. Agree that Duo might be your best bet. Ability to play with other 83mm burrs is a good hedge against future curiosity. Recommend getting second (filter) burr option, because having the extra carrier for fast(ish) swaps is nice. Cannot recommend the Eurekas. Good build, very pretty, but burrs are proprietary and the grind chamber/chute design is antediluvian. Fine for hopper base on-demand grinding, but crap for single dosing. Even with the mods (tilted base, bellows), retention is terrible. Eureka’s attempts at single-dosing focused grinders are not honest efforts. Just a new model name and superficial accessories. And their new dial is just…stupid. Still not enough ratio to overcome the thread lash in their adjustment screw. The rev counter is nice enough, but a big dial like [this](https://www.amazon.com/ARO-EspressoTM-Eureka-Mignon-Adjustments/dp/B0CLCB8VQ6/ref=asc_df_B0CLCB8VQ6) is much more effective (and not stupid looking, imho) Libra portafilter contact sensor was unreliable. I heard they fixed it, but I had given up already and moved on. When it worked, it was…ok. Weight accuracy wasn’t bad, but irrelevant because it was a hot mess of sprayed grounds. RDT absolutely necessary in my environment (20-50%RH over the year), but the extra moisture caused caking/clogging in the chute. From a taste perspective…it’s ok. Blendy, decent body, not a lot of clarity. Little unkempt and harsh. Good in milk drinks. Niches — good workflow, probably among the best, even compared against titan grinders at 5x the price. Personally, not a fan of Mazzer burrs. Harsh and bitter finish. The Zero doesn’t have any options for their 63mm conical, so you’re kinda stuck. The stock Duo espresso burr was, to me, a cleaner version of Zero profile. Other options: Mazzer Philos. The grinder itself is a bit pricey, and rumor has it that the i200D and 189D burrs are big improvements over Mazzer traditional flavor profile — but it’s a good platform for 64mm burr space, where you are spoilt for choice and the burrs are cheaper than 83mm. Hope that helps

Second a eureka mignon - Italians make good motors

The Flair workflow is a pain, especially when making multiple drinks. I have one and a La Pavoni and the Flair only gets travel use. (Edit: Didn’t realize the 58 has a more “normal” workflow than the classic Flair). I bought my mom a Bambino Plus + Sette 5 years ago and she absolutely loves the setup. The machine hits a real sweet spot as a step up from a Nespresso, as the instant heat is EXTREMELY practical for exactly your use case (early morning pre-coffee caffeination), to the point where I’m shocked that nobody has really nailed that in the “step-up” machines. There are better grinder options today, and you have some choices with the machine (you can find a second-hand La Pavoni around that price range, or any of the options you listed). If I were to swap pieces of my setup for my mom’s, I’m fully confident I’d get a similar (or perhaps better) shot out of her machine with my grinder, but the gap between her Sette and my Mignon XL is serious (though the price sweet spot may be somewhere in the middle).

The Eureka Mignon series will grind to the 190-195 micron range depending on which model.

Eureka XL, Eureka Libra, and Weber Key M1 are the 3 grinders on my bar now and it’s what I found on the secondary market for good deals. If you are patient you can find some killer deals. I won’t say how much I spent on each one but I’ll say that I usually don’t buy a grinder unless I can get it for 50~% off. This way if I decide down the line to sell it I can usually easily recoup my money and pass on the deal to someone else. I have had a bunch of other grinders on my bar over the last few years but they come and go depending on what I can find. I’ll likely swap out one of my Eureka grinders in the near future Iv seen a lot of grinder go up for sale in my area and the two Eureka grinders are to similar in taste. For now the XL serves as my daily, the Libra as my decaf, and the Key is mostly used when I try out some new beans. But I also really like to brew my daily beans with it but it requires more time and energy to deal with vs the 6-7 seconds from the XL.

Ja mám už roky delonghi dedica s vlastným sitkom a pákou (neviem, ako sa to po slovensky správne volá) a eureka mignon mlynček. Do 500€ by si sa mal vojsť.

I got a home grinder initially so that my coffee wouldn’t go stale as fast.  Whole beans last longer than preground.  Part of the bonus was, hopefully, that I could buy a larger bag for cheaper and still get good coffee for less money per cup. Then I got better at dialing in my grind size and getting the smoothest flavor I could, so now rather than spending ten dollars per kilo of commodity-grade coffee, I’m happy spending twenty per 300g of specialty coffee. 🤣 For the same money, you’ll get much better grind quality in a hand grinder than you would for electric.  Get a Timemore or 1ZPresso and it’ll rival electric grinders costing double or triple as much.  It’ll take a bit longer, but with the modern class of hand grinders, you’re only looking at maybe 45 seconds for a 3-cup pot without working very hard (which is much better than multiple minutes in a Hario Skerton). In electric grinders, the bare minimum I’d recommend would be an Oxo or a Baratza.  But I’d rather step up to, say, the DF54, Eureka Mignon series, Urbanic, and some others.

Eureka Mignon, Set time, grind size once. Forever after just press the beaker up againșt the grinder to start grinding so really I would call that half a button. It's consistent, can do just about any coffee and precise. It's built like a tank, lasts like a tank, weighs like a tank all while optically oozing the sleek but rugged luxury vibes of a chrome G-Wagon for your kitchen. Its an expensive, delightfully over-engineered flex of a product, but then this is what this community is all about.