My Breville Pro is heading back to Breville. I was cleaning the grinder and noticed there was metal to metal contact on the upper burr, shiny metal line around the circumference of the burr. I contacted Breville and after a series of questions they offered an exchange. I would imagine there was an alignment issue all along. Hopefully, the replacement grinder improves my shots or becomes my back up/french press/Kalita grinder.

BTW, SGC was absolutely not interested in helping in anyway and directed me to Breville. I had contacted them prior to this about exchanging the grinder and again no interest in working with me. I have a real concern ordering from them again based upon this experience. Additionally, I was bidding on a grinder they had placed on eBay that they ended without notice. When I contacted them they said there was a mix up and that they would contact me when they relisted the item. I never heard back and it has been over a month now.

Anyhow, I am now looking to add a second grinder. I am pretty much ready to order a Mazzer Mini with doser. Talk me out of it and explain why the grinder you think I should buy is better. Keep in mind the price of the Mazzer Mini is ~ $600.

Consider the Baratza line. Please do some footwork yourself and read the many threads that already exist.

Tom, I have been reading and reading. I settled on the Mazzer after doing the reading. I would be interested in your opinion on the Baratzas, and are you talking about the Precisio, Vario, Vario W or the Forte? Which model and why?

What's your reasoning for the Mini? It's been long known to be bottom rung, kinda the blacksheep of the Mazzer line. It's clumpy grinding as hell, grind quality isn't that good vs others in that class/price range, good amount of retention of stale grinds. A Vario easily outperforms it for in the cup results, had both side by side and with a Mazzer Super Jolley. Vario and SJ perform similar. Other newer options now in that range if you wanted the heavy metal build, like the Ceado E6.

Sort of running a shop I dont see why you should get doser Mini. With dosered Mazzer Mini/SJ you will need quite amount of bean in the hopper to have good consistency, there is quite a bit of retention in the chamber as well so you will need to run a dose just to clear up the old grinds. Not to mention the ones in the doser. Also the timer switch makes impossible to get close to the amount of coffee you actually want to grind. Trust me, I am selling my newer SJ because of these issues.

boost wrote:Sort of running a shop I dont see why you should get doser Mini. With dosered Mazzer Mini/SJ you will need quite amount of bean in the hopper to have good consistency, there is quite a bit of retention in the chamber as well so you will need to run a dose just to clear up the old grinds. Not to mention the ones in the doser. Also the timer switch makes impossible to get close to the amount of coffee you actually want to grind. Trust me, I am selling my newer SJ because of these issues.

cmin wrote:What's your reasoning for the Mini? It's been long known to be bottom rung, kinda the blacksheep of the Mazzer line. It's clumpy grinding as hell, grind quality isn't that good vs others in that class/price range, good amount of retention of stale grinds. A Vario easily outperforms it for in the cup results, had both side by side and with a Mazzer Super Jolley. Vario and SJ perform similar. Other newer options now in that range if you wanted the heavy metal build, like the Ceado E6.

Here is my reasoning:
Durability
Good grind quality for all roasts
Stepless adjustments
Doser to alleviate clumping

I may not have paid enough attention to grind retention but I have read that with reasonable technique and practice it is possible to use the doser and minimize wasted coffee. I would remove the finger guard to clean up after each use.

I also need to look further at filling the bean hopper. I typically only add what I need for that brewing session.

Thanks for your responses. I have to admit I am farly uncertain with any grinder. As soon as I read something positive, I read something negative.

Any positive users of the Mazzer mini? Some posts are quite old on either grinder although more recent posts on the Baratza Vario
A SJ is not that much more than the Mini. Is the 64mm burrset worth it? Equal performance to the Vario but more money.

What about the review here on HB and CoffeeGeek? It was a good review for the Mazzer Mini and probably was what tipped me in that direction.

The HB review is from some time ago. Much has changed in terms of the marketplace, e.g. Baratza Vario, and sensibilities about what constitutes a "high end" grinder. I'd underscore Tom's advice that there is much interesting reading on this site about how to spend a $600 grinder budget.

I liked the build quality on my mini mazzers but was a bit disappointed with the grind; my output was so unlike the fluffy grinds I would see in my favorite coffee places. if you have a budget, I would look for a used grinder with good build quality and larger burrs

My Macap M4 has been running flawlessly for 10 years and still produces great shots. One can purchase the M4 new and stay well within a $600 budget.

Ed

I would take an M4 over a Mini. The Mini years ago was considered good, same kinda as the Silvia etc as there was not much other choice. Today, completely different. Like I said I had a Mini and SJ and Vario next to each other, same s.o. beans and blends and mini was just mediocre (compared to others). Reason why so many former Mini owners went to a vario and saw a nice difference. Even a friend had a Mini after SCG told him it was the best thing in that price range, then he used my Vario and was shocked. Has a Vario now. But you have the K3, the M4,and others like Ceado and their E6 have entered that market. IMO "today" no point to buy a Mini new when it's outclassed by other options now then it was years and years ago (no offense meant to any Mini owners)