Eureka's product range is often as opaque as a poorly extracted espresso. There's the Silenzio, the Specialita, the Perfetto – and right at the bottom of the price hierarchy sits the Eureka Mignon Manuale. With a street price of around 240 francs (or euros), it is the cheapest ticket into the world of traditional Italian grinders.
The grinder was developed at a time when single dosing wasn't yet a topic for the mass market. However, mechanically, it actually works exactly like such a grinder: It has an on/off switch – and that's it. No programmable time, no doses. This is exactly how modern single dosing grinders work, only they have been further optimized, primarily to reduce retention (Totraum).
Retention is the area of a grinder that fills with ground coffee residues that are not dispensed directly during grinding. Without optimization, we measure around 3 grams of retention in the Manuale. That is quite classic for an old-school "dosing grinder". However, if we make optimizations ourselves, this value is massively reduced.
That's why this review is also a guide on how you can turn the classic Mignon Manuale into a cheap single dosing grinder with Eureka quality. Why is it worth it? Because the particle distribution and espresso quality speak absolutely in favor of this grinder!
Working classically with the Mignon Manuale
Many of the cheaper espresso grinders that came onto the market when "Grinding on Demand" became popular—both at home and in gastronomy—were equipped without timed dosing and with a simple bean hopper. Instead of into a dosing chamber, the coffee is ground directly into the portafilter. The home barista used to control the amount often by eye. A few weighed the dispensed amount.
Since the dispensed quantity is crucial for adhering to the brewing recipe, we teach strict weighing in our Home Barista courses. This is quite easy with the Eureka Mignon Manuale: We position a scale in front of the grinder and grind directly into a dosing cup standing on the scale. When the target amount is reached – let's assume 18 grams of coffee for a double espresso – we stop the grinding manually.
From the dosing cup, the coffee is transferred to the portafilter, tamped, and then the espresso is brewed.
Build Quality: The solid Eureka base
A Eureka is, in almost every price range, a Eureka. And yes, the Mignon series with its solid, milled aluminum body hardly differs in basic quality from the Manuale up to the expensive Oro XL.
However, the Manuale unfortunately comes with the small, tiny, and repeatedly criticized mini grind adjustment dial. If you only want to make a single upgrade to the grinder, make it this one: swap the dial for a larger one. The exact adjustment of the espresso is otherwise virtually impossible. The larger the diameter, the more precisely the adjustment can be controlled and, above all, noted down.
The adjustment is stepless in principle. However, you only realize this with a different dial. If you set the grind size with the small original dial, you automatically jump in larger increments. There is no orientation whatsoever, and returning to a previous recipe is simply impossible.
Otherwise, the Manuale features the aforementioned switch, 50 mm flat parallel burrs, and a bean hopper with a capacity of around 300 grams. One detail is annoying in everyday life: If you slide the shutter in and remove the hopper, a good 11.5 grams of coffee remain in the chute, which would have to be laboriously removed before changing beans.
The Mignon Manuale is 35 cm high, 14 cm deep (16 cm with plug), 12 cm wide, and weighs 5.6 kilograms. The burrs rotate at a fixed speed of 1350 revolutions per minute.
In Operation: Not for delicate ears
Before we talk about the grind quality, we have to talk about the volume. The name "Silenzio" on the more expensive models is no coincidence, because the Manuale possesses none of the noise insulation installed there. In the test, we measure a proud 86.6 decibels. That is loud. Really loud. For comparison: The insulated Specialita is more like 78 decibels. Anyone who wants to make espresso in the morning without waking the whole house will find no friends with the Manuale.
The speed is also rather leisurely. The grinder needs about 17.4 seconds for 18 grams of espresso beans. Without countermeasures, the grinder also scatters quite a bit, and due to static charge, the coffee grounds like to land not only in the portafilter but also on the countertop.
The Lab: Surprising inner values
We opened up the grinder and measured it. Inside, 50-millimeter hardened steel discs are at work, classically screwed through the burr itself. A critical point with any grinder is retention. If we use the grinder with the standard bean hopper, it retains a total of about 3.2 grams of ground coffee inside. That is rather low for a dosing grinder, but a lot in the age of single dosing – especially if you want to use the grinder that way.
For example, if we put 18 grams of coffee into the empty grinder, we lose up to 2.4 grams in the so-called exchangeable retention. The permanent retention, which basically never sees the light of day, comprises another 0.8 grams.
Particle Distribution: The secret star
We had the Manuale's grind analyzed in collaboration with the ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences). In this standardized measurement procedure, which we have already carried out on over 90 grinders, the small 50mm burrs show an amazingly homogeneous picture.
We arrive at a main peak of 200.8 microns, which is very narrow and good. Many particles are of similar size and are extracted evenly accordingly. Opposing this is a rather higher fines peak, i.e., very fine particles that form a good resistance in the portafilter (puck).
Interestingly, the cheap Manuale grinds "cleaner" here and with a narrower peak than, for example, a Niche Zero, which costs significantly more. The grinder therefore delivers a quality that is far above what the price suggests. That is a real statement to the competition.
The Upgrade: From beginner to Single Dosing Expert
The good particle distribution invites further optimization of the grinder – and this is possible thanks to many available third-party additions. We have identified the three most sensible upgrades ourselves:
- The larger grind adjustment dial ("King Size")
- The Single Dosing Bellows (Hopper)
- Better guidance for the grinds (Funnel)
Since the small adjustment dial and the retention bothered us, we modified it. First, we replaced the tiny original dial with a larger one, called "King Size" by Eureka themselves. This finally allows the grind to be adjusted sensitively and precisely.
The real breakthrough is the conversion to Single Dosing. We removed the standard hopper and replaced it with a bellows attachment. If you now operate the bellows at the end of the grinding process, you actively push the coffee residues out of the grinding chamber.
The result in the lab is impressive: Retention reduces to 0.1 to 0.2 grams. The 240-franc grinder suddenly plays in a league with dedicated single dosing grinders that often cost double or triple. Anyone who performs this small conversion massively upgrades the machine.
The small, clip-on spout guide also ensures that the grinds land better in the dosing cup. Yes, such a cup is also a sensible investment, just like a small scale for weighing the amount of coffee powder.
Taste in the Cup
Measurements are important, but does the espresso taste good? We tasted various roasts, including our dark Apas and medium roasts. Since the particle distribution is very homogeneous, we succeed in making espressos with a beautiful texture and a round body.
The grinder is excellently suited for classic, dark to medium roasts. Here it plays to its strengths fully and delivers results that are hardly distinguishable from significantly more expensive grinders.
However, anyone who primarily drinks very light, fruity roasts could hit limits. We often couldn't set the grinder fine enough – lighter roasts require an even finer grind to develop sufficient resistance in the portafilter. In our experiments, we even heard the burrs rubbing against each other before the espresso ran slowly enough. This is not for light roast lovers. We therefore switched back to medium roasts like the Toca or Apas, where the grinder shines.
Conclusion: The best grinder under 300 Euros?
The Eureka Mignon Manuale is a fascinating device. "Out of the box" it is loud and somewhat fiddly to operate. But in its heart – with the burrs and motor – good Eureka quality awaits.
The grind adjustment in the basic version is challenging, which can be solved by upgrading the adjustment dial. Then it is also possible to switch reproducibly between recipes and coffees. The grinding speed is slow, and to clean the grinder thoroughly (Cleaning), some screws must first be loosened. That is impractical.
And yet: Above all, the espresso in the cup convinces thanks to very good grind homogeneity. And that's why the Eureka Mignon Manuale is an interesting grinder, which – especially as a single dosing grinder with a few upgrades – offers a very exciting entry into the world of espresso.
We find that with the appropriate upgrades, the grinder does not have to hide behind hyped models like the Varia VS3 or the DF54 for its price. You just have to lend a hand yourself a bit, but then the grinder is fun and makes damn good coffee!
