Eureka makes many excellent grinders. But the Italian manufacturer has long been absent from the single-dose espresso grinder market. Now Eureka has followed suit and built a single-dosage espresso grinder that combines the strengths of the Eureka Mignon XL and Eureka Specialita . It also features a forward-tilted grinder design to further reduce dead space . In this review, we discuss whether Eureka's plan worked and how the espresso grinder compares to the popular Niche Zero and the underdog G-Iota .
This review is part of our extensive espresso grinder review series. The summary of the tests can be found here . We used our Espresso Apas for the tests. This way, you can replicate our results in your own way:
Where can you order X? For example, from Bohnendealer *, Lücke , Die Röster
Single dosing and single portions
The principle of single-serve espresso grinders is clearly timely. More and more manufacturers are introducing such grinders, helping the barista community achieve even greater freshness. Direct grinding has long been the norm, and the trend toward smaller bean hoppers has also become more prevalent in recent years.
The reason for this is simple: Coffee should be exposed to oxygen and light as little as possible to prevent premature aging and oxidation. This not only keeps the coffee fresh but, more importantly, aromatically complex.
Single-dosing espresso grinders like the Niche Zero, the DF64 (G-Iota), or the EK43 used in the restaurant industry consistently implement this concept. The home barista weighs the espresso, pours it into the running grinder, and—if the grinder is good—receives the exact amount of ground coffee. Then, the grinding process continues.
Advantages of single dosing espresso grinders:
- Espresso is freshly ground. No old coffee remains in the grinding chamber.
- The coffee type can be changed quickly and easily. Guest A can choose decaf, while Guest B can choose a complex espresso from El Salvador. Changing the beans and grind size is a breeze.
- Adjusting the grinding level is quicker because no ground material needs to be ground.
- Cleaning the grinder is faster and there is no need to grind any coffee.
- Some single-serve grinders are also suitable for grinding filter coffee when you don't want espresso.
Inside a Eureka Mignon XL
The Eureka Mignon Oro Single Dose is essentially a Eureka Mignon XL. Accordingly, it performs well across almost all parameters. The 65mm burrs perform quickly and efficiently. This is evident not only in the espresso, but also across all parameters.
The increased noise level compared to the Mignon XL may be due to the different installation area. Remember, the XL was delivered with a rubber mat. The "fictitious" dead space of the grinder is 0.9 grams.
For comparability with traditional espresso grinders, we paused the grinding process on single-serve grinders and removed the beans. Then, similar to other grinders, we weighed the ground coffee residue left between the grinding discs. The single-serve grinder weighed only 0.9 grams. This already demonstrates the positive effect of the approximately 15-degree incline.
If the Eureka Single Dose is used and ground as intended, 0 grams of coffee remain. In other words, whatever is put in is ground. Excellent! This makes single dosing fun.
A funny thing about this: Eureka apparently didn't believe that the ground coffee would completely slide out of the grinder. Therefore, the grinder was equipped with a bellows that, like the G-Iota, is supposed to eject the remaining coffee grounds by pumping them repeatedly. Well-intentioned, and thank you for that. But unfortunately, less than 0 grams of dead space is not possible.
Stable, high-quality and a bit short-sighted
The mill is of high quality, weighs just under 8.1 kilograms, and is available in chrome, black, and other colors. The wooden lid looks stylish on the rubber bellows, making the XL a real eye-catcher.
Since we found during our test that the bellows weren't actually necessary, we removed them. This is entirely intended. The bellows can be easily removed. Unfortunately, the stylish wooden lid is now almost a millimeter too large to fit over the plastic bean container. Instead, a plastic lid is included. This is somewhat frustrating, because there's really not much missing here, and the wooden lid would fit and, even in the smaller version of the grinder, would lose that certain something.
With a width of 12 cm, a height of 32 cm and a depth of 26 cm, the grinder is compact, typical of Eureka, and fits well next to almost any espresso machine.
Espresso quality and particle distribution
We've had many good espressos with the single dose. The coffees were smooth and balanced. Some had a slight astringency on the finish, but it wasn't particularly noticeable.
The particle distribution of the Eureka Single Dose meets our expectations. The main peak is not too broad, and the fines are relatively low. This should result in less unpleasant bitterness in the cup. The main peak is broad, placing it in the mid-range, while the fines are closer to the front mid-range, meaning they have less fines.
In our example, we were able to return the espresso to the original espresso after adjusting the grind settings relatively easily. This isn't easy with the Eureka Single Dose's fine grind setting. As with the Mignon XL, this works better than with the Eureka Specialita, but the Eureka Single Dose still doesn't perform as well as other grinders with larger grind settings.
Note: Before reading the conclusion, you should know two things. First, it's important to always read through different sources and reviews. We're giving you our take on the grinder, but other reviews may emphasize different strengths and weaknesses.
Conclusion on the Eureka Mignon Single Dose
The Eureka Mignon Single Dose from the Oro series is an overall very good espresso grinder for home use, and especially attractive in terms of price. It's less expensive than the XL, but has comparable internal technology. Therefore, if you don't necessarily want to refill the bean hopper, the Eureka Single Dose is a better choice.
It has less dead space, as the remaining ground material slides out of the mill surprisingly effectively due to the angle of inclination. The mill is also impressive in terms of speed.
Of course, the espresso quality is key, but even here the Single Dose delivers proven Eureka quality. The temperature barely increases over multiple extractions, putting it ahead of the Specialità in this regard.
There aren't really any serious counterarguments against the grinder. Its biggest weakness may be the grind setting. However, in our tests, we were able to return to the default setting relatively reliably.
The only downside: the grinder can't simply be turned further into the filter coffee range. At coarser grinds, the grind setting no longer works reliably. That's a shame, because the best single-serve grinders also excel in this category.
