No worries, I'll post again when I recieve it.

Figured I'd go ahead and post by thoughts on the Specialita here, rather than a new thread.

First off: purchasing from EspressoCoffeeShop.com; my concerns were alleviated by other postings on this forum and around the web - they're legit. Shipping was reasonable, and the speed of the delivery was more than adequate. I think I had it within 2 business days of ordering it. It was well packaged in the factory box. For some odd reason, I can't speak to duties and import fees.

Footprint: this thing is downright 'cute', but it looks like if you called it short, it would beat you up for saying so. It has a commanding presence, but fits under the cabinets of my 1965 ranch kitchen, and takes about as much space as a flour/sugar canister might.

Weight: heavy. solid. well made. stout.

The right product: so glad I got the Specialita and not one of the lesser units; the digital timer is worth it.

Volume: This thing is QUIET. I don't have much to compare to, but it's as quiet as or quieter than using my OE Lido 3.

Grind: consistent, as fine as you like, and extremely controllable. The adjustments wheel is so delicate, it's possible to move it and practically see no difference: it's that fine of control. You do NOT want to change the grind settings for different brew processes with this grinder.

Timer: great dosing method; consistent output each time, 10th of a second granular programmability. I freaked out because it ships in 'locked' mode and thought something was wrong. Press the single/double shot buttons at the same time and it unlocks the timer adjustment. I kinda like it. If someone doesn't realize what they're doing and curiously walks up and presses the +/- buttons, they'll change your time settings. (this is detailed in the manual)

Hopper: nice, but 'feels' a little brittle - like that clear plastic that could easily fracture if you dropped it. Be careful if you ever have it off the machine that it doesn't fall/get dropped. There's a hopper 'valve' in case you want to get the beans out. There's probably a tbsp of beans left under the slider when you remove the hopper. I just ground them through the one time I've taken it off.

Mobility: The unit doesn't 'slide', but that's not a bad thing. Just don't expect to be able to do it. Feet are quality rubber. It doesn't transmit any noise into the counter, doesn't move around when running.

PF Holder: Interesting design. I can't quite tell why it 'rocks' a little (almost like it's spring loaded), but it does (it's not a problem, hell it's not even a defect, it's just interesting, and it actually satisfies something in my simple monkey brain that it does it - you'll know what I mean when you get yours). I expect that the way the holder attaches/detaches is mostly to make it shippable without issue. It took less time to attach the PF holder than to plug in the unit. It fit the PF for my Gaggia Classic out of the box. I like the holder because I can tap the button with the PF, then rotate the holder left-right to get an even distribution of grounds (It has a tendency to mound toward the far end (away from the handle) if you don't rotate it).

First bag through it was Cabin Fever Roaster's house blend (Douglasville, GA) - nice coffee, no commentary on notes/etc - I'm not there yet. I'm finishing a bag of Starbucks Verona (or rather, I'm 'done' with it), and am about to start brewing Bensa-Aroresa from Velo Coffee Roasters (Chattanooga TN). I say all this not to earn your leering glances regarding Starbucks coffee, but to say:

When I switched from the 1st to second bag, the Verona was a lot more oily IMO; initially, the grind was much too fine (what had worked on bag 1 was not working for bag 2), and eventually had to go from 2 to 3.5 on the grind setting. Over the course of the next week, I've found myself dialing back to 2. It was kinda strange, that's all. Don't take that for anything... just an observation. Starbucks coffee anyways. {You can laugh at me now.]

Overall: buy it. Don't futz around on Ebay- bunch of crap on there and people jumping on auctions at T-10 seconds. Great price from the above mentioned site, great unit, It's not too good to be true. It's good, AND it's true.

Word of warning: this thing makes making espresso EASY. I'm now just drinking straight shots and Americanos on a regular basis. Find a coffee you like, you'll be grinding plenty of it.

I second the review. The grinder is amazingly quiet and fast. Very well made as compared to the my made of plastic Baratza. It is very easy to dial in the right grind and time for dose. I purchased the Eureka Mignon Specialita from espressocoffeeshop.com

I requested a coupon a couple of times but never received one. The day I ordered I received an automated response. The next day (Friday) I received an order confirmation with number. On Monday they sent a shipping notice with tracking number. Two days later I received the grinder - no added fees.

As regards warranty, their website states the grinder must be returned to them for warranty repairs. I doubt repairs under warranty will be an issue.

Maybe the coupon code was not received or got into spam? I had similar issue but i ended up using a different email and i got it.

Reefguy wrote:Just ordered specialita as well just now.
Being in Canada, the prices here are 1k with tax.
Ordering from these guys I'm at $600.
Substantial saving.

Which voltage did you select? 110V, or 110V (USA Customers)? Not sure what the difference is between the two, but the latter option adds another 275.72€, which makes it far less of a good value compared to buying it from a Canadian retailer

I selected 110v,

My short and brief comparison between the sette vs specialita.

The mignon is newer so its not fully "seasoned", i did find the burrs were misaligned in a small way so i did the alignment and its not 100% but its much better. Made a few shots with mignon and i kept my comments to myself as my friend was also drinking.

Coffee was sidama and it is heavy on blueberry.

Mignon: I made cortados so it was not plain espresso, i thought my drink was sweeter than i have had before and little to no acidity found and nill bitterness, I rated it at 7/10. My friend said it was not as balanced and it was more sweet forward and flavours came in the beggining of the sip and he gave it 7.5/10.

Sette: I made exact same drink same timing and volume from grinder and machine and i was immidiatly noticing the bitterness along with the diminished sweetness. I did not share my results but my friend said it was more balanced where it was not sweet forward but bitterness and sweetness was balanced. We both gave it 6.5/10.

My thoughts on mignon is that it was much better for lighter roasted coffees as people have suggested, i also made a dark roasted drink and noticed more sweet forward flavour and less bitterness. So in my experience the flat burrs somehow pronounce the sweetness in a coffee and take away the gritty bitter flavour that i get from the sette.

Overall my work flow is a bit problematic as for single dosing i have not made a system that works best for mignon but from flavour alone i prefer the mignon and the taste is fairly obvious with good coffee.

bedejay wrote:I was in your exact shoes last month and ended up going for the Eureka Mignon Specialita. I was able to get it for $430 shipped to the states by purchasing it directly from an Italian reseller. It will be more expensive if you are in Europe as you have to pay VAT taxes, but is still cheaper since most retailers offering the Specialita price it at $650+? http://espressocoffeeshop.com Check this website out! Looked a little sketch to me, so I paid via PayPal, but the grinder came in OEM packaging with Eureka's label and everything.

I came from the Baratza Encore (not an espresso grinder), which was crazy loud compared to the Specialita. Seriously, this grinder is amazingly quiet and very heavy compared to the Encore.

Hi Bedejay.
Thanks for the information.
A question, did you pay the 4.33% for USA import duties to get the Eureka Specialita as the page mention?. If so, How to pay it?. The DHL or UPS guy charge you at home?
Regards,

After following this thread I was excited to order a Mignon Specialita with espressocoffeshop. After perusing the site I noticed that there are two 110v options.

1. 110 volt (+25.00€)
2.110 volt (USA Customers) (+226.00€)


Has anyone else recently ordered to the US, and if so is the first 25 euro option good for US outlets?

Order the 110V +25euro one.

The second option is added for the US market because US retailers have been complaining to eureka about better pricing from espressocoffeeshop.