Hi All,

Looking for a grinder that will produce extra-fine grind for my La Pavoni. After searching through google its surprising how many brands don't offer how fine their highest settings go and I was wondering if anyone could part with some wisdom before I part with some cash!

Liam

What is your budget?

What grinder do you have now that is not working?

Fineness of grind generally should not be an issue. Virtually any espresso-capable grinder should be able to "choke" a machine. (There are potentially some exceptions, but they're in the very expensive range.)

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for getting back, I don't currently have a grinder but for the La Pavoni I had a previous issue with it and it was all down to the fineness of the grind. I bulk purchased some super fine to test the theory and viola! Premium coffee ensued. However I am quickly coming to the end of my stockpile so I am willing to part with up 200 euro for a decent grinder but I am afraid that I will be throwing money down the toilet if I choose incorrectly.

I was hoping that someone with a similar lever operated machine could provide guidance?

Liam

At 200€ I would look at the manual grinders that have been proven to be suitable for espresso. I'm not aware of any motorized grinder in that price range I'd consider myself.

Some brands I considered last year included 1Zpresso, Kinu, Commandante. There are more with many active threads here. At least in the US, pricing will limit your choices, with the Kinu and Commandante grinders at or above 200€

Preground coffee won't work and 200 is really low for a decent grinder capable of grinding for espresso. With that budget you can only get a decent handgrinder (Kinu Phoenix or OE Lido E-T). The Commandante will also work but you need the Redclix axle and with that your headng towards 300 euros.

An new electrical grinder for that money will be a total waste of your money. A beginner electrical grinder for espresso will start at around 400 euros. Or buy a secondhand Mazzer Super Jolly, Compak K6 or something like that.

The Eureka Mignon Manuale is right around 200€, and if you cannot find one from an Irish vendor, you should be able to buy one direct from an Italian vendor (I won't link directly, but there is a well-known Italian vendor who carries Eureka grinders at a very good price). I don't have any first-hand experience with the grinder, but as I understand it, it has the same burrs and adjustment mechanism as the rest of the 50mm burr Mignons and will have no issues going extremely fine.

I had a Silenzio, which should be very similar (the same?) in terms of grind quality, and it performed fine for espresso, so I'd vote for this option. Hand grinding for espresso gets old very quickly.

The Mignon manuale is indeed the absolute minimum and can be found for 250-300 euros. After that it's around 400 and up unless you buy second hand. Keep in mind that a minimal grinder will be noisy and slow but will give good results.

I use a Lido E-T hand grinder for my S1 Pavoni. It's a bit of a pain to change settings so it's dedicated to this machine only. The shots are perfect.

erik82 wrote:The Mignon manuale is indeed the absolute minimum and can be found for 250-300 euros. After that it's around 400 and up unless you buy second hand. Keep in mind that a minimal grinder will be noisy and slow but will give good results.

For bare bones , but same grind quality and noise:
The Mignon Filtro is the same motor,housing and burrs as the Eureka Mignon Manuale. It has no portafilter fork and you have to hold the button on the side. Under 200 euros.