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Reddit Reviews
AMom2129I have the Breville and the OK Mokkom. The Breville I use for other grinds; the OK I use for espresso. The OK Mokkom is a flat burr grinder vs. conical, which is what the Breville has. I think the OK Mokkom was the cheapest flat burr I could find (lowest that I've seen it on sale is $161.99.)
BradDaddyStevensSame. This is my first non-blade grinder so I’m no expert, but this thing is awesome. I started researching grinders a year ago, and it’s crazy how much this thing has to offer for $180 vs the options I was looking at for the same price or even more a year ago. Legitimately the only downside is that the brand is relatively unknown at this point. And personally, unless you’re *really* strapped for cash, I’m not sure why you would pick the shardor over the mokkom. The all-metal build quality on the mokkom is excellent and it comes with single dosing bellows, which the shardor doesn’t.
Equivalent-Radio-559I have the shardor and mokkom. I stuck with the latter because it was much much higher quality in terms of quality and burr material. It had less defects and I only had to align the burrs a little bit. Had it for three months, so far I’m very happy with it and there is always little to none coffee grounds stuck due to static. Also came with a single doe hopper, shardor did not. I got like on sale tho so it was 130
extrastupidthrowawayAs I had a Bambino as my first machine and that same oxo before getting the Bambino, the oxo doesn't cut it. I did just get the mokkom, definitely grinds good enough
Fiz101_I have the mokkom, it is absolutely incredible, imo buy that with lebrew sweets or a different burr and it's still going to be less than an 064s
goldiecheekzI just upgraded to the Mokkom and a bottomless portafilter for my Delonghi Stilosa. It’s only been a week (so I’m hoping this holds true) but I am very impressed with the results
inuyasheeI have the Mokkom and just use it for espresso. I like it so far. The Shardor is the plastic body cousin of the Mokkom.
I also have the Mokkom. I've used it strictly for espresso so far, medium-light to dark and I love it so far (bought in Nov). My retention, when I remember to check, has been +/- .1 to .2g.
I love my Mokkom grinder. Easy to use with low retention.
kimgurooFor the budget grinder, shardor/mokkom/GF64. I prefer Mokkom since it’s updated version of shardor.
DF54 but it will be live or hate. Encore. It is what it is. Decent but not wow grinder. Affordable one will be Mokkom/shardor/GF64. I prefer Mokkom. Better than I thought. For $600… you won’t have any upgrade to have espresso machine for the price. Grinder will be better option. Next step up espresso machine start around $1200 in my opinion. Get grinder from above lists then save money as much as you can then upgrade to next level machine. It can be endgame machine. I had BBE impress then got DF54 because of weak grinder. I upgraded to HX machine and it will be my endgame machine and will upgrading grinder soon ($600-800).
I’m better than GPT so I will answer it hahaha. Bambino or bambino plus. Go to TJmaxx/marshalls/homegood You might be able to find bambino for $239 or plus for $349. If you are lucky you can see red tag discount for $169 bambino or $299 for plus or more (someone got plus for $80). If you don’t want treasure hunting then get those when it’s on sale (usually $299 or $399). For grinder, I prefer DF54/encore for $200-250 range. If you want spend a grinder sub-$200 then Mokkom/shardor/GF64. I prefer Mokkom grinder. I had impress but I had to get DF54 because built in grinder was weak. When I change to light roast grinder, it struggled to grind and making huge noises. After I change to DF54, never had an issue. Impress tamping system is convenient but when you have dosing funnel and spring/tour air based tamper, it’s not an issue.
If you are willing to spend over $220, DF54 will be my choice. If you want stay under $200 then shardor/GF64/Mokkom will be my choice. I used Mokkom and it’s better than I thought.
If you plan to upgrade your BBE, then go for DF54/encore/new fellow grinder and use the grinder as a bridge grinder. Mokkom can be an option too since it’s about $160. I had exact situation that my BBE impress struggled to grind light roast beans so I thought about going $300-500 grinder then I thought I might want to grinder about $500-900 grinder when I get new machine so I got DF54 as a bridge grinder. I upgraded my machine 6-7months ago and looking for a grinder $600-900 and leaning towards to DF83V but I want to see bookoo motto80 before I make the decision so I still use DF54 and make decent coffees with it.
Biggest reason was… I didn’t know what my upgraded machine will bring or capable of. So I decided to spend as less as possible for a grinder which will good fit for BBE machine. I am still using DF54 and I used DF54 over one year with BBE impress. Honestly I don’t know how much new grinder will give for my upgraded machine and which grinder will be “the one” yet since I don’t want to rush or even expand my budget to P80/Z1 territory (unlikely it will happen but who knows???). Also I think I can sell $100 for DF54 then I only spend $120 for about 2 years of using so it’s not bad. Some people have $1500+ grinder with BBE or bambino and they said espresso machines do not matter but I don’t believe that. There are limit for BBE/bamabino machine since those machines have less control for each extraction.
Rankings by Use Case
Top recommendations from others in the same boat
Best for Entry-level espresso
Top pick
Multiple Brands - DF54 Series
Best for Light roast espresso
Top pick
Multiple Brands - DF54 Series
Best for Multiple brew methods
Top pick
Baratza - Encore ESP
Best for Pour-over clarity
Top pick
Fellow - Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2 Series
