LAGOM mini - Page 6

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
dsmudger
Posts: 7
Joined: 2 years ago

#51: Post by dsmudger »

equedadoii wrote:ruh-roh:

lol, yeah, that's me. In the process of trying to sort it with Lagom. They're responsive and helpful. Seasoning the burrs (400-500g of grinding) hasn't helped. Online speculation on Youtube and Reddit says just-maybe it's the power supply. Maybe that's why I, and at least one or two Australia people aren't having such a great time with it, as compared with the various 110V/60Hz Youtube review people. I've suggested we can try to rule that out if they want, or if they don't think so then manufacturing defect or whatever and let's try a swap </shrug>

dsmudger
Posts: 7
Joined: 2 years ago

#52: Post by dsmudger »

larrythegypsy wrote:Also interested in grind-for-brew comparisons between the Lagom Mini, Fellow Ode and Wilfa Uniform!
I have the mini and the Wilfa. I don't necessarily know how to do that well though, and try to be fair and objective and stuff. If someone can point me in the right direction, happy to try. (For example, I don't have a refractometer, or a way to compare even-ness/particle-size-distribution, or how to get the grind settings 'the same' and do a really good A/B comparison of taste.. might be down for buying some of that stuff though, if folks have opinions on what's good and worth having 8) )

In terms of workflow and usability at least though, I'd say the mini is on-balance better. A lot louder and more unpleasant sounding. But much, much smaller, and quite a bit easier to use.

Wilfa: has a separate plastic lid for its quite big and square metal grounds bin. It has to be on for the grinder to operate. I find myself often looking around for where did I put that down, among all the coffee paraphernalia that's happening in the morning. And it's a slight fiddle to put it on and off. The scale, which doubles as a lid, is not that good as a scale. I stopped using it in favour of a cheapo small thing from Amazon that also fits between the legs of my Cafelat Robot. And due to the scale's weight, and nothing really to grip it by, is also slightly inconvenient to take off and replace.

These are all tiny things, which you won't mind if you don't have something to compare with. But am am finding.. 'oh this is so much nicer', with the mini.

By contrast the mini: very satisfying and convenient how the grounds bin snaps in by magnets. It's a bit unusually tall and thin, and not very big. I thought that might be a slight problem. But no, it's much easier to pour grounds out of it (fits entirely into a portafilter, rather than pouring carefully so's not to spill, out of a square corner). And unlike the Wilfa's bin, grounds do not get stuck at the bottom in the corners.

Usability minuses for the mini: the 'finger guard' is 3D printed, a bit rough, and doesn't really fit the quality of the rest of it. The white colour doesn't really go with the black grinder. It feels a lot like something I might've made myself as an after-market improvement. To a lesser extent, ditto the white power supply and DC power cable coming out of it. The finger guard does basically nothing to reduce popcorning, as it doesn't block the angles at which beans jump out. It's really only a finger guard. To stop beans hitting you in the face, you have to put the lid on. This is no big imposition though, as it's light, small, and the magnets make it easy. I think the lid would've been better though with a few more alignment magnets in it. Unlike the grounds bin which easily snaps in and finds its own alignment, you sort of have to turn it a little bit to find the 'bite point' of the magnets.

Grinding speed: don't know, suspect probably about the same. The Uniform is said to be slow. I don't find the speed, or lack thereof, bothersome with either of them.

Espresso: nah, the Wilfa just can't go that fine, regardless of what you may've heard or read, IMO. At least I can't do it. Most times, the burrs get clogged with grounds, and the beans just sort of spin around in the hopper indefinitely. You then have to turn the whole thing upside down to pour the beans out, and take it apart and clean the burrs with a brush and toothpick to get things working again. If your espresso machine needs things to be on the coarser side, and/or depending on the specific beans, you might be able to sometimes get away with it. For me and the Robot though, nah. It needs to be right down at settings 1, 2 or 3, and there's like a 50% chance of a clog, which is just mega not worth it for the hassle of clearing it all out, when it happens.

So all in all, I'm having some problems with the mini for sure. But if they can be sorted out, suspect I'll be selling or gifting the Wilfa. Plus or minus though: I haven't even vaguely tried to compare them for pour-over yet. Been kind of on a major espresso tip the last few months and wanted to get that working nicely, or even just at-all :)

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sambuist
Posts: 137
Joined: 7 years ago

#53: Post by sambuist »

once quick question, could you measure the size of the Lagon catch bin for me. i want to know if the bin would fit into a 58mm portifilter or a 49mm portifiliter (la Pavoni). i really like how the catch bin on the Niche is sized 58mm.

equedadoii
Posts: 37
Joined: 5 years ago

#54: Post by equedadoii »

dsmudger wrote:
Thanks for sharing this! Really helpful!

I'm looking into one of these myself. Like you, I use a robot as well and have paired it w/ a Eureka Facile for a while now.
Do you think the Mini would represent an upgrade in anyway from the Facile when paired w/ the Robot?

dsmudger
Posts: 7
Joined: 2 years ago

#55: Post by dsmudger replying to equedadoii »

I don't know the Facile but googling it says it has flat burrs. Whereas the mini has conical. For that reason I suspect it's probably a.. 'they're just different' side-grade not an upgrade. Teething troubles notwithstanding (**latest: they've said we might be onto something with speculation about the power supply perhaps under-performing at 230V/50Hz, and will investigate), if it's not a lot of money for you, I think you might enjoy just having both. As it's so tiny, this'd be a good second grinder. Very likely you have a little corner of your counter where it'll fit nicely and be near-invisible.

Can't confirm first-hand, but I've heard/read (probably quoting Brian Quan now..), that conical is all about texture, mouthfeel and chocolatey flavours, whereas flat is all about clarity and fruity/floral single-origin flavour notes. Don't know how true that is in practice. But you could have one set for pour-over and the other for espresso, and be able to mess around and swap them over sometimes, depending on what beans you have in at the time.

If my Uniform could do espresso, that'd be brilliant and I'd be doing exactly that right now. Or at least it'd be great to explore the differences first hand and in time decide if: I can actually tell the difference much, or at all, if I like one or other better, or do I want to have both.

FWIW, do think I've found it quite a bit easier to get nice shots out of the Robot using the mini, than it's been with my Feld47. But then, maybe that's also/partly about workflow and ability to try again quicker (hand grinding is work, and takes time, so harder to remember what you did last time and adjust). And I think TBH I'm still lacking some skills and experience re: using the Robot :? Folks online seem to suggest it's quite easy to bang out amazing shots with it all day long. Eh, I seem to be always trying to thread the needle between sour as lemons and bitter and astringent, sometimes it's even both. But it's been less like that with the mini; can get to 'oh that's quite okay' a lot quicker, though still feel like my local coffee shops can run rings around what I'm doing, especially when it comes to darker/'espresso' roasts :mrgreen:

dsmudger
Posts: 7
Joined: 2 years ago

#56: Post by dsmudger »

sambuist wrote:once quick question, could you measure the size of the Lagon catch bin for me. i want to know if the bin would fit into a 58mm portifilter or a 49mm portifiliter (la Pavoni). i really like how the catch bin on the Niche is sized 58mm.
yeah sure, it's 43mm at the outside/widest. The Robot has a 58mm basket and it works absolutely ideally with that. You can put the whole thing in as you tip it over, shake it once it's fully upside down to get everything out, and... ding-ding-ding.. it rings rather nicely kinda like a little bell. Very satisfying :)

equedadoii
Posts: 37
Joined: 5 years ago

#57: Post by equedadoii »

dsmudger wrote:I don't know the Facile but googling it says it has flat burrs. Whereas the mini has conical. For that reason I suspect it's probably a.. 'they're just different' side-grade not an upgrade. Teething troubles notwithstanding (**latest: they've said we might be onto something with speculation about the power supply perhaps under-performing at 230V/50Hz, and will investigate), if it's not a lot of money for you, I think you might enjoy just having both. As it's so tiny, this'd be a good second grinder. Very likely you have a little corner of your counter where it'll fit nicely and be near-invisible.

Can't confirm first-hand, but I've heard/read (probably quoting Brian Quan now..), that conical is all about texture, mouthfeel and chocolatey flavours, whereas flat is all about clarity and fruity/floral single-origin flavour notes. Don't know how true that is in practice. But you could have one set for pour-over and the other for espresso, and be able to mess around and swap them over sometimes, depending on what beans you have in at the time.

If my Uniform could do espresso, that'd be brilliant and I'd be doing exactly that right now. Or at least it'd be great to explore the differences first hand and in time decide if: I can actually tell the difference much, or at all, if I like one or other better, or do I want to have both.

FWIW, do think I've found it quite a bit easier to get nice shots out of the Robot using the mini, than it's been with my Feld47. But then, maybe that's also/partly about workflow and ability to try again quicker (hand grinding is work, and takes time, so harder to remember what you did last time and adjust). And I think TBH I'm still lacking some skills and experience re: using the Robot :? Folks online seem to suggest it's quite easy to bang out amazing shots with it all day long. Eh, I seem to be always trying to thread the needle between sour as lemons and bitter and astringent, sometimes it's even both. But it's been less like that with the mini; can get to 'oh that's quite okay' a lot quicker, though still feel like my local coffee shops can run rings around what I'm doing, especially when it comes to darker/'espresso' roasts :mrgreen:
There's no way I'd have both lol, but thanks for saying that anyway. I mean, as far as using both machines, I'd much rather be able to walk away from the grinder, in spite of it being 2-3x slower than the Facile (pretty much same a stripped-down Silenzio, for reference). The bit about the burrs and texture is interesting. Idk anything re:burrs, but I have always kind of wondered about getting a grinder that would produce a thicker texture than what I tend to get w/ the Facile.

All in all, you've not said anything that'd turn me away from the Mini w/ 48mm, even if it is a side grade, so I'm leaning towards letting my Facile go for a Mini when they're back in stock. The size, magnetic catch cup, aesthetics and somewhat comparable noise level are all draws for me. Thanks for your insight!

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LewBK
Posts: 529
Joined: 5 years ago

#58: Post by LewBK »

Surprising results versus Niche Zero. I could see people here arguing this one for a while:

dsmudger
Posts: 7
Joined: 2 years ago

#59: Post by dsmudger »

huuuuuuh. So his one stalls at espresso-fine too. :roll:

He does say it's "very quiet" though. I don't think I could say that about my unit, by any stretch of the imagination. I can hear it quite clearly out in the garden with the doors and windows shut. Quite different from the Uniform, which just makes a sort of (still moderately loud, tbf) rattling and crunching noise.

On the side, for those interested, it does seem to work well for pour-over: no stalling, and some nice cups out of it right from the first try, even before I've done any dialling in. I drink like 2-3 cups a day, so forming a really solid opinion on how it compares with the Uniform is gonna take some time.

I'll just say if this was my first grinder, reckon I'd be very happy, even with the hassles and issues with espresso. My previous two grinders the Wilfa Svart, then the Uniform, just can't do espresso at all, so I'm already ahead in that sense. It's also much, much smaller, and about the same price or cheaper than the Uniform. Also feel like it's been making nicer espresso shots than my Feld47 (and with a lot less elbow-grease obvs.), but not certain there wasn't some user error / lack of experience going on there too.

equedadoii
Posts: 37
Joined: 5 years ago

#60: Post by equedadoii replying to dsmudger »

The stalling is quite worrying. I saw in the comments under the video that Option-O had communicated w/ the reviewer about the stalling issues and are actively looking into it. Fingers crossed it gets resolved before the next shipment dispatches.