Lagom Mini - Anyone have experience with both Moonshine and Obsydian burrs?

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
coffeecoffee123
Posts: 3
Joined: 1 year ago

#1: Post by coffeecoffee123 »

Anyone try out both burrs for the Lagom Mini and can explain the differences they've experienced? I really like my mini with the Moonshines but I'm gravitating more towards dark roasts now so I'm worried I'm losing out on mouthfeel, body, and sweetness without the Obsydian. But maybe it's not really noticeable?

Fwiw Lagom very recently only ships these out with Moonshine now. I'm thinking its likely that if the differences were large enough then they would still offer both options.

JayBeck
Posts: 1225
Joined: 7 years ago

#2: Post by JayBeck replying to coffeecoffee123 »

Very interesting they only ship with Moonsine. I had a grinder several months ago with both burrs that I purchased to compare to my hand grinder (1ZPresso K Plus) and my primary espresso grinder (Key). I also have extensive use (2 years) with a Niche that I used prior to my Key.

My takeaways:

Obsydian Burrs are basically a better version of the Niche. Very similar profile but cleaned up and superior in every way other than perhaps grind time? A Mini Obsydian vs Niche Zero is a clear winner for the Mini Obsydian UNLESS! you doing fairly high volume where you're pushing on the duty cycle of the Mini.

Moonshine Burrs do increase clarity but I don't know that they materially decrease mouthfeel. They're still concials afterall! I think the primary concern is do you want that added clarity? On some dark / italian roasts you do NOT. You want to mute the bitter flavors so the deep chocolates, caramels, and earthy flavors come through and sometimes higher extraction burrs bring off tastes in; this is the same as how classic style burrs can fail to bring out the fruity acids that light roasts bring when ground with modern style burrs. Remember the geometry is the same, the coating is just changing the friction and the moonshine coating creates fewer fines overall which leads to a cleaner, higher extracting cup (I saw one video that showed a 1-2% increase in extraction).

Compared to the K Plus: Obsydian was inferior in every way on my testing. Moonshine was very similar and at times could be hard to distingush. I THINK the burr geometry is the same or very similar based on my eyes so this was not unexpected. Option O says Moonshine is proprietary and K Plus doesn't really say how they finish their burrs but my tastes say they are near identical.

Compared to the Key: No contest. I think Key is the quintessential conical grinder. Moonshine burrs are similar in many ways but lack the overall clarity, sweetness, and complexity of the Key setup. I use the word setup becausse I know based off ample testing that RPM control totally changes the flavor profile of the Key. Lower RPM absolutely increases clarity whereas higher RPM absolutely increases the blending of flavors and overall mouthfeel that Conicals are known for.

In short, I suspect they ran out of Obsydian Burrs in a production cycle and elected not to machine anymore since the Moonshine are really just a better version for the vast majority of people buying it. It's also possible there are some supply chain issues. I'm not sure if you drink pourover or not but if you do at all, then Moonshine are definitely going to be an upgrade and I think my experience mirrors most.

Hope this helps!
★ Helpful

coffeecoffee123 (original poster)
Posts: 3
Joined: 1 year ago

#3: Post by coffeecoffee123 (original poster) »

Absolutely! I couldn't have asked for a better, more helpful response - thank you. It sounds like I shouldn't have buyers remorse getting Moonshine over Obsydian if my tastes stick with the not super dark/traditional espresso roasts. Since I enjoy a medium dark, sounds like Moonshine was a fine choice.

cebseb
Posts: 567
Joined: 9 years ago

#4: Post by cebseb replying to coffeecoffee123 »


I have both as well. I can mirror the experience shared above (fantastic write up). Even though I default to the obsidian burrs for my espresso roasts, I have used the moonshine on occasion. Aside from a tighter grind, it still performs reasonably well for roasts beyond the light variety.

esporfa
Posts: 16
Joined: 1 year ago

#5: Post by esporfa »

Using the Moonshine burrs for espresso and getting too much clarity for my liking, at least compared to the 1Zpresso JX-Pro.

Is there any way to reduce the clarity of the Moonshine burrs by changing any other parameter (e.g., ratio, dose, pressure)?

Switching to the Obsydian burrs would be an obvious solution, but they don't seem to be available anymore...

T0m - UK
Posts: 1
Joined: 1 year ago

#6: Post by T0m - UK »

Hi there, I found this post as I was searching for Moonshine burrs for the Lagom Mini, and I appear to have the opposite problem to you! I've owned the Lagom Mini for nearly a year and have really enjoyed the coffee, but as I already own a Niche I'm looking to do lighter roasts with more clarity with the Mini. Unfortuantely, as you've also discovered, Option O don't appear to sell the burrs on their own any more (although they did for a while when they first released the Moonshines).

Anyway, one possible (cheap!) solution would be to arrange to swap burrs! I appreciate that I've just registered specifically to make this post, so don't have any track record here, but I've been posting on other coffee forums for several years, and if you were interested in a swap I'm sure there are ways we could both be reassured that it was a genuine exchange (assuming Option O no longer ship burrs without the grinders). 8)

esporfa
Posts: 16
Joined: 1 year ago

#7: Post by esporfa »

T0m - UK, sent a PM.

nicktob1+
Posts: 1
Joined: 1 year ago

#8: Post by nicktob1+ »

Do you still have your Obsidian burrs to swap?

I am about place an order for Lagom Mini and I think I prefer the obsidian's profile.

I also asking Option O if they would be willing to sell me an additional Moonshine I could swap with a willing Lagom mini owner.

Please PM if you still have the Obsidian's

Thanks