----- Background -----
The Flying Eagle CM300AU is the Taiwanese version of the Fuji Royale r220 grinder from Japan. (Then the Chinese copied the Taiwanese and made the Flying Horse, and then the Americans copied and made the KitchenAid).

My original plan was to order the Fuji Royale (the flat burr model instead of the 'ghost burr' model). However the price ranged from $430-580usd + $65-100 shipping, depending on whether it came from Japan (100v) or Taiwan (110v), and the model (flat vs ghost). At this time I just couldn't justify spending $650 all said and done on a coffee grinder, despite either Fuji model being considered one of the best manual brewing grinder (besides grinders like the EK). So after the very large price, I expanded my hunt.

Since the Flying Eagle had little to no discussion; so I took a chance and ordered one. The price was great, $170 all said and done; and took under 2wks to arrive in Seattle.

----- The Grinder -----
The 300 model (the small version) contains a flat cutting burr. The weight is 3.7kg (~8lb), the hopper. An hold ~250g, and grinds at 350g/min. From my tests (on a medium grind size) it took about 6 seconds to grind my normal dose of 28g, and the retention was about 0.1g. The sounds is fairly loud (have no real comparison though as my only grinder is a Lido).

On to the make. The hopper, the grounds collector, base, and stand are all plastic, the hopper and collector appear to be pretty cheap. The head (motor & burr area) appears to be all metal.

----- Grounds -----
The numbers range from 1 - 8 with half steps in between. At this time I don't have a Kruve sifter, so my results are simply close-ups. I have also done very little tasting (as I'm still playing around with grinder settings); however, the few I've done were inconclusive too (v.s. my lido E).

In the meantime, I have further examined the grinder settings to sort out the particle size distributions further.

A look at 5 of my FlyingE grinder (







A look at my current lidoE setting grind setting picture (

FYI: the Flying Horse (aka Yang Chia, aka Feima) 600N is Taiwanese as well, although there are lots of Chinese variants of these two out there.

The Flying Eagle is the less popular if the two Taiwanese companies, but I'm not sure why. Most people agree the quality is similar or give a slight edge to the Flying Eagle. (I have the 600N, but haven't used it in years. I use my Lido 2.)

How is the grind quality & taste quality of the 600N?, and then the 600N vs lido?

I bought one several years ago (CM300AU) and ended up giving it away. It had cast iron flat burrs and uneven grind. The web site claims the burrs are machined hardened steel, so there may have been some upgrades since then. We have a Tiamo 610n (same as the Flying Horse) in our apartment and happy overall with the grinder.

There is a Fuji Royal R220 coming soon to Rakuten for $400.15. When I bought mine it was $357 and cost $85 shipping to get one to me in NJ. But $485 is not bad for that grinder. I have the ghost burrs and they're great. I use mine commercially.

The grind quality of the 600N is better at the finer range. At that time, I only had Aeropress and French press. (As anyone with an Aeropress knows, just look at the ejected puck from the side if you want to know how evenly your grinder grinds at a given grind setting.) The 600N seemed to do its best around the 2* or 2.5 grind setting, which is what I used for 1 or 2 cups with my Aeropress. It got uneven for French press (6 or 6.5 for me), but still passable. I decided to go full-on hand grinder, so I started using my Porlex for Aeropress and a Hario Skerton with the OE lower-bearing mod for French press. I think the 600N still did a bit better at both but, as I said, I was switching to hand grinders and away from electric. I've never compared it directly to the Lido 2 because I haven't used the 600N in several years, but the Lido 2 is noticeably better than the Porlex and the modded Hario Skerton, so that is enough to convince me.

The 600N (and 300AU) actually does light cafe duty here in Taiwan. Lots of restaurants and middling cafes use them for drip or syphon. I don't see why it wouldn't work. It'll last forever.

I suspect Hank's 300AU had the wrong burrs because it's actually the burrs that I was told were better in the 300AU over the 600N. If I'm not mistaken, the 610N uses "ghost burrs", or at least some kind of non-conventional burrs.

* On a scale of 8, with half-setting intervals. 1 is fine, 8 is coarse.

Hankua, interesting.... I guess I should check mine out soon (and check/post it here for future reference). Is it easy to get to the burrs? Self explanatory?

Almico thanks for the info! I'll probably pass on it as I simply cannot justify getting the Fuji now after just buying the Eagle. I also would want to get the flat burr model, as previous forums discussing these types of grinders state that the flat burr versions help to accentuate the sharper/brighter notes. This desire of burr model increases the price.

SlowRain thanks for all the info. The fact that shops use these makes me feel a little better about my choice.

Taste wise I'm still trying to get to a conclusion and will post immediately once I have any more info.

At least on the Yang-Chia models, it's possible to upgrade the burrs, not sure about the You-Wei Flying Eagle. These are the burrs on their web page in the CM300U.

Oh, the 600N is a decent drip grinder, no doubt about it. It'll last forever, too. I wouldn't try it for espresso, and it's passable for French press. I have no qualms recommending it for people who like good coffee, but I'd never recommend it for people who are chasing that ever-illusive coffee Nirvana. I guess the choice of the 600N or 300AU comes down to whichever one you can get with the better burrs.

Hankua, what do you mean by "upgrading burrs" - how would I begin to research/find such burrs (generally speaking- as you don't know specifically about the Eagle). And in what context are you "upgrading"? Particle size distribution? Flavor?