Ready to upgrade past your first grinder? Here are our top picks for the experienced home barista.
If you’re here you know one thing that many newer home baristas don’t: The first step to better espresso is to upgrade your grinder. While you need a machine that can brew the real thing, the variable that is the most important to fine tune is the grind. We put this list together with experienced home espresso users in mind, and we can say that we stand by each of these grinders due to repeated use, day in and day out at our offices. We’ll provide a fan favorite, with crowd pleasing features and usability, a best features pick loaded with value and bells and whistles, and an ultimate pick that we feel is best all around. We always like to throw in an honorable mention as well. Let’s get started!
In This Article
Should You Upgrade Your Espresso Grinder or Machine First?
It’s always a good idea to consider a grinder upgrade before a machine upgrade. Even without a prosumer machine, you can make great espresso with a quality grind. Unfortunately, the reverse isn’t true. If you are using a budget grinder with an ultra high-end machine you will still end up with subpar espresso. This is because machines can’t compensate for inconsistencies in grind, but you can adjust grind size to compensate for the quirks of different machines. We built this list for users ready for an advanced grinder, and selected options with featuresets that experienced users will want, such as single dosing, quiet operation, and more.
Eureka Atom W65 — Fan Favorite
Weight-based programming has really taken a leap in the last few years. What was once an unreliable and finicky feature is now a truly functional part of a handful of excellent grinders. The Eureka Atom W65 wraps this feature up in a truly spectacular package. Equally at home on a kitchen countertop or a cafe bar, the W65 is powerful, reliable, and sleek, featuring commercial-grade construction while still operating at a noise level and with a footprint appropriate for home use. The portafilter fork on this is sturdy too, and works in concert with the built-in scale to provide precision dosing without the need to hand measure. The large 65mm burr set makes short work of beans consistently, and the hopper size means you’ll be able to load a full bag at a time to really take advantage of that weight-based dosing. This grinder is a great fit for the experienced home barista looking for that little bit of automation in their workflow without committing to a larger commercial grinder.
Eureka Atom W 65 Espresso Grinder
A grind-by-weight espresso grinder built for speed and accuracy. Auto-tare and auto-grind automate your workflow, the portafilter fork keeps dosing secure and hands-free, and you get commercial-grade sturdiness with home-friendly noise levels.
Best for: experienced home baristas who want commercial-level consistency without a commercial-sized footprint or noise level.
Eureka Oro Mignon Single Dose Pro — Best Features
The Eureka Oro Mignon Single Dose Pro operates at the opposite end of the prosumer grinder spectrum from the Atom W65. This grinder is smaller and built with single dosing in mind. This means that you weigh out just enough beans for your shot and run them through the grinder in a single go. This makes it much easier to switch up the coffee that you’re using, and allows you to store your beans in vacuum sealed canisters for ultimate freshness. The Oro Mignon’s tilt and grind path design cuts down on retention for the ultimate in single dosing efficiency, and newer model’s oversized adjustment dial makes quick tweaks to grind level easier than ever. This one is the best pick here if you’re a user who likes to rotate coffees and try different roasts, or if you just love that single dosing workflow.
Full disclosure, I've got the older version of this one as my home grinder, so I am a little biased. This machine is excellent for beginners and pros alike. The single dosing makes dialing in much easier when you are first learning.
Sean Coffee Education Manager at Seattle Coffee Gear
Eureka Oro Mignon Single Dose Pro Espresso Grinder
A single dose espresso grinder made for experimenting across multiple coffees. Switching between beans, decaf and regular included, is genuinely easy with no cross-contamination stress, and the new oversized dial speeds up on-the-fly grind adjustments. The honest trade-off: that bigger dial makes cleaning a bit more involved.
Best for: home baristas who regularly rotate coffees or roasts, and newer baristas who want to learn the full espresso workflow by weighing beans before and after grinding.
Rocket Espresso Spluga — Ultimate Pick
The Spluga is Rocket Espresso’s innovative new grinder that provides some of the most precise control we’ve seen in a grinder. While it doesn’t feature the weighted dosing of the W65, its similar burr set means that it’ll provide similar levels of performance and consistency, while giving you an extra degree of control. The star here is the grind adjust, giving you macro level adjustments at the collar with the unlockable dial. When the dial is locked, you can make ultra precise tweaks on the sides of the grinder. It’s a really unique way to handle stepless adjustment, and we are thoroughly impressed. This one is going to be the perfect fit for those looking for the maximum level of precision in their grind adjust, even if that precision means you’ll probably spend a bit more time dialing in to get it just right.
Rocket Espresso Spluga Espresso Grinder
A stepless, hopper-fed espresso grinder upgrade for serious precision. Its full stepless range rewards careful, deliberate adjustment, and a secure portafilter fork adds stability while dosing. Bonus story points: it’s named after the Spluga Pass in the Italian Alps.
Best for: experienced home baristas who want maximum precision and don’t mind a slower, more deliberate dial-in process to get there.
Baratza Sette 270Wi — Honorable Mention
If you looked at this list came away with some sticker shock then the Baratza Sette 270Wi might be the perfect upgrade for you. This is another grinder with weighted dosing, and while it could be a bit imprecise in the past, Baratza have improved on this technology year after year to create a reliable option for those looking for weighted dosing. The unique silhouette of this grinder is another nifty element here, and we really feel it's an excellent value given its approachable price tag. The one real tradeoff here is the noise level. While the Atom W65 offers surprisingly quiet grinding, the Sette 270Wi simply does not. If you don’t mind a loud grinder then this is a great fit for the user looking to add weighted dosing to their workflow.
Baratza Sette 270Wi Espresso Grinder
Another grind-by-weight espresso grinder, with dependable, repeatable dosing and that iconic “7” silhouette that stands out behind the bar, all at a more approachable price. The honest trade-off: it’s loud. Just really loud.
Best for: home baristas who prioritize grind-by-weight accuracy and don’t mind (or have a way to manage) the noise.
Shop Our Top Picks
- Eureka Atom W 65 Espresso Grinder
- Eureka Oro Mignon Single Dose Pro Espresso Grinder
- Rocket Espresso Spluga Espresso Grinder
- Baratza Sette 270Wi Espresso Grinder
Shop: All Espresso Grinders
Video Highlights Summary
Our video version of this list features:
- The fan favorite Eureka Atom W65 with its weighted dosing.
- Our best features pick: The Eureka Oro Mignon Single Dose Pro and the reasons why single dosing may be a fit for you.
- The Rocket Espresso Spluga, our ultimate pick for precision grind control.
- An honorable mention with grind-by-weight convenience, the Baratza Sette 270Wi.
- A little more on the grinder vs. machine upgrade debate and why we always recommend upgrading your grinder first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes an espresso grinder “advanced”?
Advanced espresso grinders go beyond the basics with features experienced home baristas tend to want more of, like grind-by-weight dosing, single dosing with low retention, stepless adjustment for finer dial-in control, and quieter operation.
What’s the difference between a single dose grinder and a grind-by-weight grinder?
A single dose grinder is built for weighing out just the beans you need for one shot and grinding them all at once, which makes switching coffees easy. A grind-by-weight grinder uses a built-in scale to dose a programmed amount from a full hopper automatically, which speeds up your workflow.
Are single dose grinders good for beginners?
Yes. Weighing beans before and after grinding helps newer home baristas understand the full espresso workflow, and single dosing makes dialing in easier when you're first learning.
Which of these espresso grinders is the quietest?
Of our picks, the Eureka Atom W 65 offers surprisingly quiet grinding for a commercial-grade grinder. The Baratza Sette 270Wi is the loudest of the group, so it's best for users who don't mind the noise.
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