Hi,

I'm a bit lost on grinders and therefore seeking advice:

We have a Rocket R58 with the Eureka MCI for five years now. Almost all shots so far have been cappuccino or espresso macchiato, favoring also darker roasts.

Recently, we started moving away from milk drinks (incl potential milk substitutes) and are mainly drinking espresso and americano. As a result, pulling proper shots has become much more of a priority (cappuccino is imo very forgiving) and I also want to explore the medium and possibly lighter roast spectrum.

Long story short, I want to upgrade my grinder to support that process. With 4 double shots a day, single dosing seems the way to go. I don't want to change the grinder regularly, i.e., pick one now and stick with it for the next couple of years.

What I'm looking for: well built single dosing grinder, easy to dial in, rather forgiving, easy to find older settings again, good on a broad spectrum since we haven't settled on a very specific setup. Max budget 2000USD, cheaper is better, of course.

My short list: Acaia Orbit, Weber Key, Lagom P64.

Alternative: settle for a Lagom Mini (Niche is not an option due to esthetics) in case any of those grinders require a higher espresso competence to actually make good use of them.

Any advice?

Do you want a conical or flat burr grinder?

That's a part of my challenge: I don't know. Do you have a recommendation?

Have you seen G-micron from homebarista.be?

Yes, but I would be willing to spend a bit extra for a better build quality, workflow, and, hopefully, better espresso.

Check olympia moca sd from espressoperfetto.de / newyorkcoffee.de

FWIW - since you mentioned the Key I can comment on that one. I also have an EG-1, so I can say a few words about conical vs flat.

Overall, I feel that the Key is a hybrid conical. It doesn't separate out the flavors the way the EG-1 can, but, and this is a very gross generalization, it offers a richer mouthfeel than the EG. In my opinion, compared to some other conicals I've tried, it typically offers a cleaner more nuanced shot that is closer than the EG-1. I play a bit of a game with myself when I try a new roast. I ask myself if I could have only one grinder would I choose the Key or would I go with the EG? If I were starting out and didn't want to spend $4k on an EG-1, I could be very happy with the Key.

Thanks for sharing! Since I expect Weber has also solved their initial issues with build quality, it seems to be a great choice.

I was not a fan of the Niche appearance, but being a dark roast fan, got one anyway. I've been very happy with the Niche -- so if you're a dark roast drinker, I wouldn't knock it off your list.

If you are interested in the Key grinder, for some reason that I can't explain, a lot of them are showing up NIB on the Buy/Sell forum here at HB.com.