The only problem, if you want to call it that, with the ESP is that it has no way to measure a dose of coffee. Getting an exact weight of coffee is incredibly important for pulling good espresso shots. It’s not a huge problem. It’s possible to put single doses in the grinder like you do with the Fellow, thanks to the low grind retention. The Encore ESP consistently had output within .1 or .2 grams of what went in.
Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
I still like this former top budget pick. Oxo’s original burr grinder has 45 settings (the Compact recommended above only has 29), and it also has time dosing and a hopper that can hold 12 ounces of whole coffee beans. But that dosing mechanism only works so-so. It doesn’t lock in place, so it’s hard to set precisely. It still grinds evenly and has great grind retention, but the Compact can do everything you really need a burr grinder to do with a smaller footprint and a lower price.
With a price tag under $200, KitchenAid’s burr grinder is relatively affordable for everything it offers. It comes with 70 grind settings, which is plenty if you have a house that enjoys both espresso and French press. It uses a digital timer for its dosing and can also grind directly into a portafilter, making it the least expensive option we’ve found with both those features (the Breville Smart Grinder Pro has both, but is a bit more expensive). It’s durable—we’ve used it for years—and think it’s a good choice if you’re looking for a truly budget espresso grinder, but the evenness of the grind and quality of the materials is better on the Baratza Encore ESP.
Baratza Virtuoso+ Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
Baratza makes burr grinders that range in price from what we’d call very affordable (the Encore) to pro-level machines that can top $900. The Virtuoso+ is a step up from the brand’s entry-level machines, but that step is a sizable one. It uses a digital time dosing down to the tenth of a second, which I found to be very consistent. Using setting 18, which Baratza recommends for drip coffee, I repeatedly got exactly 9 grams of coffee in four seconds. Your mileage may vary with different roast levels, but use that as a jumping-off point. It uses Baratza’s M2 burr, which gives a bit more precision than the M3 burr in the Encore and makes this a better bet for brewing methods that need coffee ground at the extreme ends of the spectrum (Turkish, espresso, French press, or cold brew). We’d note, though, that the Encore ESP also uses the M2 burr, and while it doesn’t have digital dosing, it is less expensive.
Eureka Mignon Filtro Coffee Grinder
Eureka is an Italian coffee equipment company that specializes in high-quality (and often expensive) machines, most of which are well outside the price range I considered in these tests. And while the Mignon Filtro is Eureka’s most affordable model, it has the same sort of high-quality construction you’d expect from a much more expensive grinder with features like 50-mm flat burrs. It’s simple and fully manual, but it features stepless adjustment. That means the burrs don’t lock into preset settings, but expand and contract freely, allowing for ultra-precise, fine-tuned control. That kind of versatility is a big plus, but the downside is that it’s impossible to tell how the grinder is set when you look at it for the first time. The adjustment dial is numbered 1–5, but it can make four rotations, so it takes patience and a willingness to do some trial and error. It’s also really only equipped to do middle-of-the-road grinds for methods like drip or pour-over. Despite its relatively low price, it’s definitely a more advanced grinder.
Eureka Mignon Notte Grinder
The espresso-only entry from Eureka functions much like the Filtro, with manual operation and stepless grind adjustments. It’s designed to grind finer and only into a portafilter. The quality of the grind is wonderfully consistent, and the Mignon Notte also features a burr adjustment that makes it easy to clean and reset the burrs. If you are okay without any automatic dosing, you’ll like this grinder. I just think features like time-dosing or single-dosing (like Fellow does) are preferable options for most people.
Breville Smart Grinder Pro
Breville Smart Grinder Pro Coffee Mill
Breville’s Smart Grinder Pro, like many of its espresso makers, provides a quality product at a mid-level price. It uses conical burrs and offers 60 settings—plenty for all brewing methods—and both manual and automatic grind settings. The Smart Grinder Pro doses by time, and selecting a set number of cups correlates with a preset amount of grinding time. You’re going to need to tweak it, though, because while I got a suitable 9.8 grams of coffee on the 1-shot setting, I got 45 grams of coffee on the 2-cup setting, which is way too much. Forty-five grams of ground coffee is enough for four cups. The grinder is easy to adjust, though, produces a consistent grind, and allows for direct grinding into both a 54-mm and 58-mm portafilter, so if you’re willing to do some trial and error on the dosing, I think you’ll be happy with this one.
