Mazzer Mini E worth the extra money? - Page 2

[luca]

For those of us who load the grinder with one dose at a time and empty completely between loads, the electronic minis are unsuitable.

Why?

[espressoperson]

Thanks for the response and link. Would still be interested in a picture if possible.

- Tom

Camera was in the bottom of her briefcase.

Two pins at comfortable angle for grabbing and turning.


Note the sawed off funnel; can be custom fit to any circumference basket. Mine are 49 mm.


Assembled and ready for use. When done grinding, pull the whole tray out to work with portafilter.

[espressoperson]

Why?

Ranked by importance:

Dosing. My 49 mm basket does not get enough grinds in the basket with the typical heap the basket, drag finger to fill gaps, and sweep to level. Just heaping up the grinds in the basket by eye doesn't work for me, I get inconsistent volumes. But if I measure 18 g into the grinder, let it all heap up in the basket, then stockfleth into the basket, I get a consistent dose and good distribution every time.

Variety. For breakfast, start with an Espresso Monkey Blend cappuccino for me, followed by a Decaf Espresso Blend latte for spouse. Before cleaning up, a Vivace Dolce ristretto for me. Before heading for the office, an Ethiopian Idido Misty Valley DP Americano for me. That's it till coffeebreak time. And so on throughout the rest of the day.

Freshness. Pulling only one to four shots per session. Sessions at mealtimes and coffeebreaks, spread throughout the day. Each shot is 100% freshly ground.

Conservation. This method wastes only a minimal amount of coffee. I get to drink all the coffee I roast rather than sweep a portion of it into the trash.

Those of you who measure one dose at a time, what are your reasons?

Those of you who don't use this method, how do you deal with the problems described above?

[CGP4]

I think Luca was asking why you think the Mini E is unsuitable, not why you grind one dose at a time.

[espressoperson]

I think Luca was asking why you think the Mini E is unsuitable, not why you grind one dose at a time.

Really? Oh well.

Why pay extra for electronic dosing if you're not going to use it. And if it's just for neatness of the electronic models then there are mods to the mini that can provide that feature. So that leaves the question, can you clean it out completely between successive uses? I assumed that could not be done with the electronic models. If it can be done without too much trouble then I might withdraw "unsuitable" but substitute "unnecessary" and "uneconomical."

[TomP10]

Thanks for the pictures.... very helpful!

- Tom