Mazzer Major, with ssp burrs.
Got it super cheap (£300) when Starbucks was dumping them when they switched to super automatics years ago.
It’s a giant tank, but it’s consistent.
Yas! I have a mazzer major v with 83mm HUs which are somewhere between 64mm HU blendyness and 98mm HU clarity and get some incredible shots on the Argos. Slightly modded retention is only 0.2g or so.
I bought a used Mazzer Luigi for $200 and fitted it for single-dose use and threw on SSP MP-style burrs (cheap knockoffs cuz I’m broke). Best decision I’ve ever made. She’s a tank, has less than 0.5g retention, and the coffee is on par with that of $2000+ grinders. I will probably die before this grinder and am considering trying real SSP burrs just to see.
You can probably find a good deal on a Mazzer near you on FB marketplace and even with the real SSPs it’ll likely be less than $400. There are single-dose kits online but they’re kinda expensive to purchase (I think around $150); what I did was have a friend with a 3d printer make the parts in exchange for food lol. Not for everyone but if your goal is quality coffee for low prices, I recommend one of the old tanks.
Definitely get them to look at the used market. There are always loads of used Mazzer commercial grinders on the used market and they are built to last and will be within budget.
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DF54 Series
79% positive of 384 users
Great value for espresso, but clogs and poor for pour-over.
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