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Eureka Mignon Specialita Coffee Grinder is defined by its state-of-the-art technology on a quality-built robust grinder. Eureka are well known for bringing features of cafe machinery and packaging them nicely into grinders that would suit any coffee connoisseur.
The grinder has an increased burr size of 55mm for greater productivity and efficiency.
Wondering if I need this for my Breville Dual Boiler…
Had the DB for a month now and grinding with the Breville Dose Control Pro, tried Aldi, Coles and Airjo beans, and rarely get a slow enough shot and pressure to 9 bar even on the finest grind setting. Thought I was getting channeling because of too find a grind, so dialed back and still fast shots. My guess is that the grinder I have is broken and needs a service or something, or it just doesn't cut it for that quality of machine to get a well-timed shot and good pressure…
Great grinder to pair with the BDB
I was strongly considering the Specialita to pair with my BDB, but read that it’s quite finicky to dial in grind settings, even more so if you regularly switch between beans or brew types.
At just under $500 delivered, the Timemore Sculptor 064s offers significantly better value for a lower price currently on Kickstarter. Bigger 64mm flat burrs that can be swapped out with a range of popular SSP burrs, variable RPM, a powerful brushless DC motor, a fines catcher that offers close to zero retention, and a magnetic catch-cup for a really nice workflow.
I’ve personally backed the larger and more powerful 078s, as it’s meant to compete with end game grinders, at a fraction of the price.
Here are some reviews:
Kyle Roswell’s review of both the 064s and the 078s - calls it the new flat burr kings.
Sprometheus’ review of the 064s - calls it the new bang for buck choice
Aramase’s review of the 078 - says that it’s in a league of its own, even at RRP
Curious if there has been a comparison between the 78/S and the EK43? I know, different price point but just curious.
@ddhar: Wow that is a very big difference in price points! I would argue the EK43 is designed primarily for a higher usage in a cafe setting (I know some use it at home but it's a big fella with the standard hopper on) Also it's not setup as a single dosing machine from stock (it has low retention though)
You lost me at kickstarter.
@Maz78: Timemore is an established company and have a reputation for producing high quality, well priced coffee accessories and grinders for the last 10 years.
The 078 grinder has already been out in the market for a year garnering rave reviews. They clearly didn’t need a Kickstarter to raise funds, it was just a marketing exercise.
Additionally, the Niche Zero, which until now has been a firm favourite amongst enthusiasts, also initially launched on Kickstarter - except it was an unknown company with no experience.
All Kickstarter campaigns carry risk with it, but as far as kickstarters go, this is one of the least risky - more of a pre-order than a funding campaign.
@poppingtags: Fair enough.
Got to say though, that Timemore grinder is as ugly as a hat full of arseholes. Reminds of some ugly electric mixer.
They could have at least made it aesthetically pleasing..
@Maz78: Certainly a polarising design, people seem to either love it or hate it - I personally really like it!
There's a lot of form following function as well, for example vertically mounted flat burrs is a hallmark of high end grinders like the EK43 and the Bentwood and helps with achieving near zero retention.
The 64 and 78S look like amazing value,,, if i hadn't bought the comandante c40, the 64s would have been my second grinder….
@maverickjohn: Back a 64 or 78 on Kickstarter and you will get your money back if it's not for you. Once these hit Aussie retail stores expect the price to jump up 40%-60% Just look at what happened to the Niche Zero. People are happily still paying $900+ for a 3 year old Niche secondhand.
@Solrak: I'm tempted on the 64 as I want to get the ssp red burrs https://miicoffee.shop/products/ssp-espresso-grinding-red-sp…. And it's a poor man's lagom p64
I just impulse bought a 064s based on this comment with minimal research. Going based off your word. Thanks and good luck to me!
(Using a Lido-E hand grinder atm with a Breville Infuser)
@db sa: I recommend the Timemore Nano - off Aliexpress (Timemore XC store) - the local seller prices are absolutely extortionate.
I did have good results with this on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0826Z37X8/ref=ppx_yo_d…
Don't get it wet though - mine died after 2-3 months due to carelessness.
I have the Specialitia and it's a great grinder for the money. Agreed it's finicky if you wish to dial in for different brew types so don't, just use it for espresso. I also backed the Timemore 78S and ordered the Niche Duo to compare and sell the one I like the least.
Also, the Specialitia isn't a single doser like the aforementioned grinders so it could be a plus for those that want to dump beans into the hopper and go. It's also very quiet.
Was thinking of getting the Baratza encore ESP that will be out soon, but for an extra $100, the Timemore 64s might be worth the extra spend.
@pufffdragon: They’re in completely different leagues. The ESP
is a very solid entry level grinder but the Sculptor competes with grinders that are 2-3x it’s retail price. If you can stretch, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
@poppingtags: I've sealed the deal. I will be making latte hearts everyday for the next year. Now to learn latte art. 😄
@pufffdragon: Haha, congrats!! Lance Hedrick and Emilee Bryant both have great series on YouTube for milk frothing and latte art, really helped me level up!
Was literally just wondering a few days ago what the latest "niche killer" was. Cheers, might get on board.
@harro112: Lance Hedrick's video linked above provides quite a few comparisons vs the Niche, he thinks the Timemore is better. It's one of the only single dose grinders that can compete with the Niche's workflow imo.
@poppingtags: cheers, yeah i think i'm sold on the 078s. out of curiosity are you considering upgrading from your BDB at any point?
@harro112: In theory, I would love a nicer machine like a Linea Mini, a Decent or even the new Lelit Bianca - but I just can't justify the jump in price. The BDB can hold its own against all of those machines (or even best them in many respects!) and costs significantly less.
Australia also enjoys the unusual privilege of having the cheapest BDB's in the world, likely because Breville is an Australian company. Add the great after sales support, repairability and active user community, and it's very hard to go past it. The BDB may not feel as well-built or as nice to use as some of the other machines, but it has a great workflow and aside from the deep customisation of the Decent, there's nothing that leaves me wanting more. I'll likely use it until it gives up the ghost, or I win the lottery!
@poppingtags: Yep pretty much my thoughts. An e61 DB would be nice for that premium look and feel, but hard agree the BDB is such ridiculously good value it's incredibly hard to go past it - mines nearly 6 years old and shows no signs of slowing down.
ended up sponsoring the 78s. im a little worried that there is nothing else on the market using same size burrs though… what to do replacements.
@Kossac: Timemore have said they'll be selling both the 078 and 078s burrs, so at the very least we'll be able to buy burrs from Timemore. If this ends up being popular in the long run, I could see SSP making 78mm burr sets too.
@poppingtags: Wouldn't bet on it. Eureka make 55 and 65 mm burrs and they don't have aftermarket ones
@maverickjohn: It will depend on how successful the 078 grinders are and whether more 78mm grinders are released in the future. Interestingly Timemore’s 78mm burr sets have a larger surface area than both the 80mm SSP burrs and the 83mm Italmill burrs.
The 78 and the 78s burrs both seem very capable. I personally don’t intend on swapping burr sets, but for those who do the 064s might be a better buy.
@poppingtags: The thing is these Burrs haven't been trialled. We don't know how good the uniformity is. For that reason a 64 is probably a better choice. If they pull an amazing burr geometry then the 78s will be obviously fantastic and superior to the 64. It's the risk of going Kickstarter..
Safer option is 64s to replace burrs down the line . If you are risk averse.
In saying that I haven't changed my Eureka atom speciality burrs and they are awesome
@maverickjohn: I'm hoping Lance Hedrick's detailed review of the 078s will cover this, but he has extensively trialled the 078 burrs and says its his favourite burr set for filter coffee and he expects the 078s to perform similarly well for espresso. He has said that he usually gets through about 10kg of coffee before doing a review.
@poppingtags: So do I. This burr set is a fair bit different but hopefully same outcome.
I just wish it was a bit more standard to make me confident in its purchase. I would buy both 78 variants. Right now my atom speciality and comandante c40 will have to do. I've encouraged my mate to go the 64s.
There is no machine better than that for close to $500.
It's probably also true for 78 but that needs a few more hopeful thoughts that the 78 flat burr is ok
What are you using currently?
Had the DB for a month now and grinding with the Breville Dose Control Pro
This is a common issue with the newer dual boilers, do some googling might need to open it up and make a little adjustment. Also don't buy supermarket beans find a good roaster you like and check the roasted on date if it's over a month old don't buy them. Old beans can be hard to get a good extraction
Aldi beans have roast dates printed on them and are award winning. Bought some today roasted 23 march, good enough for me.
Ive just received a new BDB after I gave my 5 year old BDB to my brother. Im yet to get a decent shot out of it, which is so weird after nailing most shots on my old machine. They have certainly changed something about the pump profile. Shots run fast every at 10.5-11 bar. Its driving me nuts. Will need to open and adjust OPV by the looks of it.
Per this comment from a recent BDB deal from JB Hi-Fi, the newer models have compression fittings, whereas the older ones had O-rings, so that might be the reason.
Shouldn't be getting to 10.5-11 bar, the OPV should be set to 9-9.5
If it's a new machine, I'd be swapping it rather than opening it to adjust the OPV.
The compression fittings will not be the reason for this behaviour.
Specialita is pretty good but I would spend the extra cash and grab the Eureka Mignon Turbo instead for 65mm burrs if I was going with Eureka.
Other well regarded options
- DF64/DF64E/DF64P/DF83
- Niche Zero/Duo
Also worth considering is the Atom 65 if you are after 65mm burr grinder on ECS as they're on sale
That's what my main coffee grinder is… The grinder is incredible but these type of grinders are good if you are using a bag of beans you enjoy without having to adjust for multiple bean types.
I had the stock Breville one for a year, it broke (should have got a refund), replaced with this one (XL), it is like night and day.
We have the Eureka Mignon XL with our BDB we had the breville smart grinder for 6 years and it was fine but there is noticeable difference in the Eureka I'd def recommend it. Id also try some better beans neither Aldi or Coles beans are anything special
We had a similar migration (BDB for about the same amount of time): we've ended up with two XLs (decaf + normal). They're quiet, consistent and compact.
I pair this with a dual boiler. Nothing but great things to be said about it. It's fast and quiet and fairly consistent with the grinds. There's a fair amount of 3D printed mods which are easily accessible. Chose this over the varia vs3, settle 270 and to some extent a df64 (accessibility issue). I single dose and I couldn't be happier.
What 3d mods are you using?
Probably user error? Try increasing the dosage if the shot is too fast even on the finest grind setting
Possibly - but I've tried doses of greater than 20g (some barley being able to fit) and still the same issue.
Definitely sounds like the beans are stale. My first recommendation is go to a local roaster and try to use beans within 2 weeks of roasting. it should go from runny to caramel like to a slow drip if you are only getting runny shots at finest i suspect the beans are too old.. This is assuming you have gone all the way to finest grind size of 1.
Also only dispense the coffee from an airtight cannister for the dose you need and discard a couple of seconds of coffee each time you take a break from using the grinder.. there will be some residual grinds from your previous pull, lingering in there which will affect the new grind.
If all of the above fail, your grinder may have a calibration issue and may need realigning.
@maverickjohn: The airjo beans were about a week from roast date when I started trying them for shots, and was very surprised to get like 3 bar of pressure compared to aldi beans which were around 7-9 bar.
Just ordered a canister - great suggestion, thanks.
I think from here, my plan is to try a larger dose (when my 22g basket arrives) and fresh beans from a local roaster. If there's still little difference, I'll see if Breville can look into fixing my grinder, and/or order a new grinder (maybe that Timemore 064s… does sound good).
I have the same machine with the Smart Grinder. I am not sure what Breville did with this grinder but I do know it turns your coffee beans into something that the roaster would frown upon. Have a Lido 3 hand grinder and the flavor that comes from that is miles apart. Saying this, it is a lot of work in the morning so this grinder looks interesting but as stated in this chat, I might investigate the Eureka Mignon Turbo.
Did you try changing the setting at the upper (outer) burr?
This channel did a comparison between adjustments at the burr and at the dial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uB3FZGkR6E
Some grinders default setting is to achieve the widest range of grounds for different brew methods, that may not be optimised or finely tuned enough for espresso.
Yup - tried finest setting on the upper burr, as well as the lower and yeah, still crazy flow with very low pressure.
I've watched vids where ppl are using the same combo (BDB and BDCP) and setting their grind to like setting 5 or 6 and getting great flow on their shots. So I'm starting to think it might just be the grinder that needs a service, although like others said it could be a BDB OPV issue.
Make sure dosage is correct, use the razor blade as guidance - I’m 20g on the included basket - tamping sufficient too
Yup - same. Weighed 20g, tamped and scraped off with the razor. Still same bad flow on basically every shot. I've got slightly better pressures and slower flow when I overdose (like 22g) and tamp like a crazy person, but still, nowhere near what it should be.
It's the beans. Change them out for fresh beans from a reputable roaster. Thank me later!
Do you weigh the grinds before tamping?
Yes.
Try 21gr in the double basket and 10.5 in the single and adjust grind settings from there
I've ordered a new 22g basket that should be coming soon, plus a bottomless portafilter to check for channeling. Hoping that helps.
Timemore sculptor 078S seems to be all the rage
I have the Specialita + BDB combo and I’d argue it’s the ultimate value for money (for those into espresso) before you start getting into diminishing returns territory.
I also bought mine from espressocofffeeshop last year for ~500 shipped and no complaints whatsoever. It arrived quicker than most interstate purchases which was a nice surprise.
YES absolutely! I upgraded from a SGP to Eureka when I had my BDB. Be careful though, you will enter the rabbit hole of coffee. Now i am moving to bigger flat burrs and single dosing with a Timemore 78S on Kickstarter and a Niche Duo!
I have the exact issue with the double shot one. Only managed to get 5 bars max. But got no issue with single shot one
Interesting. I ordered a 22g basket from aliexpress that should be arriving soon, so gonna give that a whirl and see if that changes anything.
Yes is the answer
There should be finer adjustments possible if you take out the top burrer out of the grinder.
Shown here in this video https://youtu.be/1DRtHpQ0C08?t=300
Not sure if you've already tried this? I had to do this with my smart grinder to get good results.
Yeah should have mentioned - tried that too and no difference really.
I find the best beans that I use (airjo) actually have the worst flow - I just poured a shot and got 3 bar of pressure and insanely quick flow! ugh. Finest grind settings, dosed to 20g, tamped well, etc. Boooo :P
Airjo are crap , not sure why Ozbargain likes them . I’d try Ona, their Maple blend is lovely
@piston3461: Thanks for the recommendation, will check them out!
I was hoping to use a cheap bean like aldi to keep our coffee costs low but might have to spend a bit more to get the most out of this machine. Plus coffee is important to us 😂
@bozzabear: I'm not sure how much you are willing to spend there are some great roasters. I also don't rate airjo highly. I drink coffee from a local Sydney company called Euro espresso and drink their Pavoni blend.
My dad was just drinking Harris (complete crap imo) and I even converted him to this company.
https://www.euroespresso.com.au/shop/category/pavonii-blend
This is my fav blend
@maverickjohn: Thanks mate. Ideally I'd like to find something that offers great bang for buck. I'm in Brisbane so will have to start hunting around for local roasters. Cheers.
@bozzabear: I was looking for some new beans recently as my current beans are getting pretty expensive ($65 a kilo), and with everything in life going up, I feel like there could be better value elsewhere.
During my research, I found this website: https://www.melbourneroyal.com.au/australian-international-c…
which has the 2022 aus int coffee awards. Specifically, Olfactory Blend (Coffee Mentality), Queensland, Australia got a gold award in the Cappuccino, alternative milk category and I think bronze in the espresso category. Worth checking out as you can organise pick up from what I saw on their website.
I had to go on a subscription in order to purchase some via their website, but it's a non-issue as you can cancel once received.
The issue is caused by the beans you bought. Being supermarket beans, they sit on the shelf for a long time and dry out, causing a very fast extraction. Get some freshly roasted beans instead. There are many coffee bean roasters advertising here on OzB, try one of them out, they tend to roast to order.
You can try to compensate by loading up the 2 shot single wall basket with about 23-25g of grind.
Remember import tax, customs fee, and GST. I purchased a coffee machine and grinder from ECS and didn't think about the fees. Was a real downer to an otherwise great price and customer experience from Italy.
We bought a XL from thes guys just under $1k AUD and didnt pay and import tax or customs fees or GST. If your buying a more expensive full machine etc then yes quite likely
My purchase was just over $1k. Maybe got flagged for that reason? UPS wouldn't deliver until fees were paid
Definitely, those high end global couriers rely exclusively on the declared value for customs clearance. If the seller has declared a more than 1000 AUD value you will 100% get the import charges, no exceptions.
The bright side is, if it is less than 1000 the you are fine. I believe aussie customs also only use the value of the merchandise itself instead of the CIF value like some other countries. So as long as the items cost less than 1000 AUD you will be fine.
No import tax or GST on items under a $1K
There is, but it's included in the final price in the major stores (not this store). It's still only checked at customs if value is >= $1000 AUD I believe.
Well I bought a grinder from ECS for sub $1k no additional tax/GST to pay from me. I then bought a $2K espresso machine from ECS again and was charged by UPS import tax/GST approx 15% (which I had allowed for) Maybe the 2 people who downvoted me got charged GST/Import duty for an item under $1K but that isn't the norm.
@Solrak: Basically, GST is supposed to be collected by the retailer and included in the price for international items <$1000 AUD. But smaller retailers can generally avoid it.
If the value is >$1000 AUD, then customs is supposed to charge GST (if it's not already included in the price). It's understandably confusing, as the GST for low value items was only implemented in 2018, by the then Liberal government, after pressure from Gerry Harvey and the like.
Source: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/International-tax-for-busine…
This or the Baratza Encore ESP?
This
I have this paired with a Gaggia Classic Pro, I am a happy man, at least after I extract my coffee in the morning :P
I must say I am impressed with the consistency, speed, low noise and lack of retention this grinder exhibits, I don't think anyone could be disappointed by this.
I used to have a Breville Dual Boiler and Smart Grinder Pro, then sold and went to Gaggia + Eureka, take it from me, do it right the first time, it's worth it.
Also in the GCP and Specialita club and am a happy chappy though I disagree with the low noise part. It’s a reasonably loud grinder.
I’d backup OP and say as far as quality grinders go you’d be hard pressed to find a more quiet option. Noticeably quieter than the breville smart grinder.
I split the diff and use this with the Breville DB. agree though it's quiet and superb. The same coffee genuinely tastes much better.
Interesting. Why did you go to a Gaggia from a dual boiler?
I know the yanks usually go with the GCP over the BDB because of the price. The BDB is typically double the price of what we can buy them for in OZ. Either are great bang for buck machines along with the Rancilio Silvia
When the BDB goes on sale for around $800 it's only $100 to $200 more then the Gaggia. $200 more got preinfusion, pid and extra boiler seems worth it to me. I guess reliability is the other consideration.
@mordinhoz: Oh absolutely! The BDB is the better machine. But in the US it's way more expensive than Oz. Hence why the GCP gets more traction.
Wondered that too
For some, the tinkerability of the Gaggia is great. You can add flow metres, adjust bar pump pressures, add PID etc while still having good build quality. Imo out of the box. The BDB is better than Gaggia. But with a few adjustments the Gaggia can produce as good if not better coffee than the BDB.
Obviously you can also tinker the BDB and do slayer mods etc.
By the time you've bought and added a PID to the Gaggia, and the OPV spring kit, the price will be about the same as the BDB. Factor in the time expended following directions to ensure you don't mess up with the mods, and if modding a new Gaggia voiding the warranty once you open it up, and I concluded it just doesn't make sense. Best to just pay the promo price of $999 and buy the BDB, especially now that Breville have replaced those notorious O rings with compression fittings. My comments are only made in the context of Aust pricings on the Gaggia and BDB.
by looking at picture first, I thought this is basketball shooting drill machine