In short blog format: Eureka Mignon XL Review
Reading time: 4 minutes. This article is a short blog. You can find the detailed blog article here on our Swiss site.
The Eureka Mignon XL was tested in our review alongside 23 other grinders in a price range of 100 to 2000 Euros. With its price of around 600 Euros or 800 Swiss Francs, it belongs to Eureka's premium category, yet remains within an affordable range for home baristas.
External Facts about the Eureka Mignon XL
The Mignon XL is available in chrome, matte black, gray, and Ferrari red. The chrome version we had in our test was very susceptible to fingerprints. The grinding mechanism is steplessly adjustable. The burrs have Eureka's patented "Diamond inside" coating and are designed to last for up to 1500kg of coffee. The Mignon XL operates very quietly at 77.2 decibels. Here are its dimensions:
- Flat burr grinder, 65 mm diameter
- Weight: 7.2 kg
- Width: 120 mm
- Height: 380 mm
- Depth: 180 mm
- 300 gram bean hopper
You can find the Eureka Mignon XL operating instructions here.
Good espresso is no coincidence!
First things first: We were able to prepare many good espressos with this grinder. Some very good ones, but many good ones. The retention, i.e., the space where old coffee grounds from the last grind remain, is 3.1 grams, which we consider good.
The consistency of the machine is also decent. Over ten grinds, the deviations from our set portion are only 0.27 grams. This is good consistency. The ground coffee also doesn't heat up significantly, reaching only 34.4 degrees.
Unfortunately, the grinding speed is not very high. In 10 seconds, the Mignon XL grinds 28.7 grams. This is only in the middle range of our tests.
Particle distribution of the Eureka Mignon XL
Particle distribution describes how many large and small outliers the ground coffee has. How far does it deviate from the set grind size and influence the taste with too sour or too bitter components. In several tests that we carried out in cooperation with the laboratory of ZHAW (www.zhaw.ch), a solid and consistent grinding performance was shown.
The fine particles of the grinds are 21.63%, which is average for the grinders we tested (average: 21.96%). The coarse peak had a width of 238. The average of the other grinders was 249.6. In summary, it can be said that the grinder stays slightly better than average in the set grind size range.
We also tested how easy it is to switch from one grind setting (e.g., for espresso) to another grind setting (e.g., ristretto) and back. Unfortunately, the repeatability is not very consistent. Frequent changing of coffee beans appears difficult here.
Suitability for Single Dosing
More and more home baristas weigh their beans and grind each espresso shot individually. For this, it is good if the grinder has as little retention as possible and good reset consistency to switch between beans and coffee beverages.
While the Eureka Mignon XL is quite good in these two aspects, it does not come close to grinders designed for this purpose. Therefore, in our opinion, it is not ideally suited as a single-dosing machine.
A powerful combination with a knock box or grounds drawer
Conclusion: Good Home Espresso Grinder
The Eureka Mignon XL convinces us in all important areas. It showed good to very good values in our tests. The operation via the display is practical, although the grind setting could be a bit more precise. However, the grind setting is simpler than with its Eureka sisters Specialita and Magnifico.
The taste of the espressos was consistently convincing, and anyone who chooses this machine will surely be satisfied.
Additional Tuning Tip - our real wood lid for the Eureka Mignon Series
