The Ceado Life positions itself as an all-round grinder in a growing market. Who wouldn't want a coffee grinder at home that performs well as both an espresso grinder and a filter coffee grinder, and also comes as a single-dosing grinder with a bean hopper?
That sounds almost too good to be true. Unfortunately, our test shows that the grinder's good ideas are only partially convincing in their implementation.
We test all espresso grinders on the market. A summary of our tests and an overview can be found here.
Buy Ceado Life
The following specialist shops sell the Ceado Life, and we recommend purchasing from them. All of them offer the option of readjusting the machine's offset.
Germany:
We look for specialist partners for you that we know provide good work and good service, and we are in close contact with the mentioned dealers. The links are so-called affiliate links. If you order via one of these links, you won't pay a cent more – but we will receive a small commission, which we invest directly in new testing equipment.
We are still looking for competent partners in the DACH region for you.
Does the espresso taste good and does the filter coffee taste good?
Good espresso and good filter coffee bring joy, so let's start with the grinder's strengths. The Ceado Life delivers good coffee. Both the espresso and the filter coffee convinced us in the test. Thus, the grinder fulfills the most important aspects quite convincingly. Many espresso grinders fail to function well as filter coffee grinders due to the high proportion of small fine particles. Many filter coffee grinders, on the other hand, do not grind fine enough or not finely enough in the fine range to be precisely adjusted for espresso.
The particle distribution of the Ceado Life also expresses what we could perceive taste-wise. At this point, we would like to thank the ZHAW in Wädenswil and the research team of the Coffee Excellence Center for their support with the laboratory measurements.
The grind setting can be adjusted relatively precisely. For lighter roasts, we were in the range of grind setting 1 and had little room downwards. Nevertheless, adjusting and readjusting worked relatively well.
You can get the grinder from one of our recommended specialist dealers here: Lücke Technik*
Grinder in development – Good! But…
In autumn 2022, we received the first turquoise Ceado Life. It took a while until we finished the laboratory measurements. Since then, various testers have examined the grinder and the market has also collected feedback.
Let's just say: there was (and still is) a lot to optimize. When starting the grinder, the stand was not grippy enough and the grinder "danced". This was improved with better feet. The grind setting was revised, and the manufacturer assured us that they would keep working on the grinder – and that's a good thing. The entire single-dosing construction still leaves much to be desired. The portafilter holder has some weaknesses, and the consistency of the grinder is also problematic.
The Ceado Life seems to be an espresso grinder that was rushed to market before its time. It feels as if marketing took the lead and the development department did not have enough time to finish the grinder. Ceado thus joins the ranks of renowned manufacturers such as Mahlkönig (x54), Eureka (Libra) and Ascaso (Baby T). We find this approach problematic, as not all necessary improvements can easily be provided to previous buyers afterwards. But one thing at a time.
Small, compact and stylish - but with plastic components
Visually, the Ceado Life is quite impressive. It is small and compact (width 15 cm x depth 20 cm x 36 cm), but has a respectable weight of 7 kg and appears quite high-quality in its basic construction. The aluminum casing makes a better impression than the plastic at the front. The bean hopper, like many grinders in this price segment, is made of plastic, but still makes a good impression.
The 50 mm burrs grind 17.7 grams in 10 seconds. This places the Ceado at the top of the slow field in terms of grinding speed and is comparable to a G-Iota.
Plastic can look cheap, but if it is well-processed, has a certain strength and blends in cleanly, that doesn't have to be the case. This is how I feel about the plastic back panel of the grinder and also the bean hopper.
The portafilter suspension, on the other hand, speaks a different language. It seems unstable and a bit cheap, but works well with many portafilters. However, the adjustment options are limited, which means that portafilters with thicker walls cannot be clamped. A Lelit portafilter worked well, a La Marzocco portafilter with a trick - a Sage, Rocket and also Rancilio portafilter did not hold in the suspension.
As for the material quality, the single-dosing setup falls short. The most fitting comparisons that come to mind are toys from gumball machines or the contents of New Year's Eve table bombs. Everything is made for the moment, but not to accompany a valuable grinder in the long run.
Basically consistent, but a bottleneck for jamming
When checking the consistency of a grinder, we test how regularly the grinder dispenses the same amount of coffee consecutively. With the Ceado Life, there is a significant fluctuation of +/- 0.4 here. In some cases, the fluctuation was even 2 grams!
While the output fluctuation improves somewhat with broken-in burrs, the coarse fluctuation persists. This is because the beans block in the relatively narrow shaft between the bean hopper and the burrs. If no beans fall in, the grinder logically dispenses too little coffee.
Here, a conceptual strength of the grinder is turned into a disadvantage. The relatively small space between the bean hopper and the burrs is only 6.2 grams. This is a top value in our grinder test. This allows for quick switching between different coffee varieties without long grinding and wasting coffee. However, the resulting bottleneck is a risk for consistency. This can be counteracted by shaking the grinder.
While we observed jamming in the shaft between the bean hopper and the burrs up to every 10th grind depending on bean size, this phenomenon occurred even more frequently when using the single-dosing attachment.
Single Dosing: Practical, but the Ceado Life attachment disappoints
Single Dosing is becoming increasingly popular among home baristas who appreciate precise dosing and quick switching between different coffee varieties. Naturally, Ceado also wants to offer this function with its Life grinder and supplies an attachment with a funnel and tamper to prevent popcorning and to clear the grinder's dead space.
However, the design of the single-dosing attachment proves to be disappointing. If I put on the funnel and fill it with 18 grams of coffee - a common amount for a double espresso or 300 ml of filter coffee - the funnel is filled to the top. I have to hold the tamper in my hand until I have ground half of the beans before I can put the tamper on.
Working without a tamper is not recommended, as otherwise popcorning will throw the coffee out of the grinder.
Further negative aspects include:
- The coffee grinding cup does not stand firmly on the portafilter support and must be held.
- In addition, the tamper often leads to blockages in the narrow channel with larger beans.
- If I then finish grinding with a bellows release, the ground coffee spreads over the work surface.
Why didn't Ceado put a bellows on the hopper, as is common with the Eureka Single Dose? Perhaps patents are the reason. But for me personally, the single-dosing setup is a failure in implementation, with considerable frustration potential. The cup does not fit on a portafilter and the channel between the bean hopper and the grinding discs is too narrow and prone to blockages.
This detracts from the otherwise good single-dosing performance. If everything goes well, a maximum of 0.1 grams remains in the grinder. A good result!
Low retention - good!
The design of the single-dosing construction should not distract from the fact that the grinder has low retention of 1.9 grams. This is a very good value among the more than 30 espresso grinders we tested.
The noise level is in the higher range at 85.7 decibels. But loud is not always loud. The grinding sounds quite clean and fluid - unlike other cheaper espresso grinders. There, the grinding often sounds like the last stand.
Conspicuously, the relatively high base temperature of the ground coffee, which we measure at an average of 37.9 degrees over 6 grindings. The compact design and low ventilation are probably responsible for this. 38 degrees should not yet have a sensory influence. However, the grinder should rather not be used for high frequencies under load, i.e. not in a gastronomic context, for example.
Conclusion Ceado Life - Potential as an espresso grinder for home
The Ceado Life is a small, compact grinder that shows great promise in its design. It provides the prerequisites for good coffee for both filter and espresso, as well as long coffees. Characteristics such as retention, grind adjustment, and precision also score well.
However, the grinder shows weaknesses in the implementation of single dosing and all its associated components. Much seems unfinished and will likely require revision.
The clogging of the chute with the bean hopper and single-dosing attachment was particularly frustrating for us. The supplied cup does not fulfill any specific function within the grinder and cannot, for example, be fixed to the portafilter holder. The workflow for single dosing is not smooth because the tamper cannot be inserted from the beginning. Also, the portafilter holder only works with some portafilters.
These weaknesses of the grinder, apart from the narrow chute opening, are all external and can probably still be changed. However, it seems to us a problematic development in the market that more and more manufacturers are launching machines that do not yet seem finished.
We will continue to monitor the grinder and report. We believe that the grinder has more potential than it currently delivers. Let's see what else is possible.
Where can I buy the Ceado Life?
You can get the grinder from one of our recommended specialist dealers here: Lücke Technik*
*We look for specialist partners for you that we know provide good work and good service. We are in close contact with the dealers. These are affiliate links. If you order via this link, it won't cost you more, but we receive a small commission that we invest in new testing equipment.
