Eureka Mignon Manuale Test: Budget-Friendly Espresso Entry and Hidden Gem with Upgrades

Eureka's product range is often as opaque as a poorly extracted espresso. There's the Silenzio, the Specialita, the Perfetto – and at the very bottom of the price hierarchy sits the Eureka Mignon Manuale. With a street price of around 240 francs (or euros), it's the cheapest ticket to the world of Italian traditional grinders.

The grinder was developed at a time when single dosing wasn't yet a topic for the mass market. Actually, mechanically it works exactly like such a grinder: it has an on and off switch – and that's it. No programmable time, no portions. Modern single dosing grinders work exactly the same way, except they've been further optimized, especially to reduce retention.

Retention is the area of a grinder that fills with ground coffee remnants that aren't directly dispensed during brewing. Without optimization, we measure around 3 grams of retention on the Manuale. This is quite typical for an old-school "dosing grinder." However, if we make optimizations ourselves, this value reduces dramatically.

That's why this test report is also a guide to help you turn the classic Mignon Manuale into an affordable single dosing grinder in Eureka quality. Why is it worth it? Because the particle distribution and espresso quality absolutely speak for this grinder!

Still unsure if the Manuale is the right Eureka for you? Our overview of all Eureka grinders helps with the choice.

Working the classic way with the Mignon Manuale

Without timer-controlled dosing and with a simple bean hopper, many of the more affordable espresso grinders were equipped that came to market when "grinding on demand" became popular both at home and in gastronomy. Instead of into a dosing chamber, the coffee is ground directly into the portafilter. Home baristas used to control the amount by eye. A few actually weighed the dispensed amount.

Since the dispensed amount is crucial for following the brewing recipe, we teach strict weighing in our home barista courses. This works quite easily with the Eureka Mignon Manuale: we position a scale in front of the grinder and grind directly into a dosing container sitting on the scale. When the target amount is reached – let's say 18 grams of coffee for a double espresso – we stop the grinding manually.

From the dosing container, the coffee is transferred to the portafilter, tamped, and then the espresso is pulled.

Feel and build: The solid Eureka base

An Eureka is, in almost every price category, an Eureka. And yes, the Mignon series with its solid, milled aluminum body hardly differs from the Manuale to the expensive Oro XL in terms of basic quality.

However, the Manuale unfortunately comes with the small, tiny adjustment wheel that we've repeatedly criticized. If you only want to make one upgrade to the grinder, make it this one: replace the wheel with a larger one. Precise espresso adjustment is otherwise virtually impossible. The larger the diameter, the more precisely you can control the adjustment and, especially, note down your settings.

The adjustment is essentially stepless. However, you only notice that with a different wheel. When you adjust the grind with the small original wheel, you automatically jump in larger increments. There's no reference point whatsoever, and returning to a previous recipe is simply impossible.

Otherwise, the Manuale features the aforementioned on switch, 50 mm flat parallel burrs, and a bean hopper with a capacity of around 300 grams. One detail is annoying in daily use: if you slide the slider in and remove the hopper, about 11.5 grams of coffee remain in the chute, which would have to be laboriously removed before switching beans.

The Mignon Manuale is 35 cm tall, 14 cm deep (with plug 16 cm), 12 cm wide, and weighs 5.6 kilograms. The burrs rotate at a fixed speed of 1350 revolutions per minute.

In operation: Not for sensitive ears

Before we talk about the quality of the ground coffee, we need to discuss noise level. The name "Silenzio" on the more expensive models doesn't come out of nowhere, because the Manuale lacks the sound dampening found in those models. In our test, we measure a whopping 86.6 decibels. That's loud. Really loud. For comparison, the dampened Specialita comes in at around 78 decibels. If you want to make espresso in the morning without waking the whole house, you won't make friends with the Manuale.

The grinding speed is also rather leisurely. For 18 grams of espresso beans, the grinder takes about 17.4 seconds. Without countermeasures, the grinder also scatters quite a bit, and the coffee grounds don't just land in the portafilter but, due to static charge, often end up on the countertop as well.

The lab: Surprising inner values

We took the grinder apart and measured it. Inside work 50-millimeter hardened steel burrs that are classically bolted through the grinding plate. A critical point with any grinder is retention. When we use the grinder with the standard bean hopper, it holds about 3.2 grams of coffee grounds inside. For a dosing grinder, that's rather little, but in the age of single dosing, it's a lot – especially if you want to use the grinder that way.

For example, if we put 18 grams of coffee into an empty grinder, we lose up to 2.4 grams in what's called the exchangeable retention. The permanent retention, which virtually never sees the light of day, accounts for another 0.8 grams.

The particle distribution: The secret star

We had the ground coffee from the Manuale measured in collaboration with ZHAW (Zurich University of Teacher Education). In this standardized measurement procedure, which we've already performed on over 90 grinders, the small 50mm burrs show a surprisingly homogeneous picture.

We get a main peak of 200.8 microns, which is very narrow and good. Many particles are similar in size and are therefore extracted evenly. This contrasts with a rather higher fine peak, meaning ultra-fine particles that create good resistance in the portafilter (puck).

Interestingly, the inexpensive Manuale grinds here "cleaner" and with a narrower peak than, for example, a Niche Zero, which costs significantly more. The grinding mechanism delivers a quality far above what the price would suggest. That's 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 accessories. We've identified the three most worthwhile upgrades:

• The larger adjustment wheel ("King Size")
• The single dosing bellows hopper
• Better directing the ground coffee (funnel)

Since we were bothered by the small adjustment wheel and the retention, we made modifications. First, we replaced the tiny original wheel with a larger one that Eureka itself calls the "King Size" wheel. This finally allows fine-tuned and precise grind adjustment.

The real breakthrough is converting to single dosing. We removed the standard hopper and replaced it with a bellows hopper attachment. Now, when you operate the bellows at the end of the grinding process, you actively push the coffee remnants out of the grinding chamber.

The lab results are impressive: retention reduces to 0.1 to 0.2 grams. Suddenly, the 240-franc grinder is playing in the league with dedicated single-dosing grinders, which often cost twice or three times as much. Anyone who makes this small modification significantly upgrades the machine.

The small, plug-on discharge funnel also ensures that the ground coffee lands better in the dosing container. Yes, such a container is also a worthwhile investment, as is a small scale for weighing the coffee powder amount.

Taste in the cup

Measurements are important, but does the espresso taste good too? We've tasted various roasts, including our dark Apas and medium roasts. Because the particle distribution is very homogeneous, we produce espressos with nice texture and a rounded body.

The grinder is excellent for classic, dark to medium roasts. Here it plays to its strengths and delivers results that are hardly distinguishable from much more expensive grinders.

However, anyone who primarily drinks very light, fruity roasts might hit some 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 flowed slowly enough. This isn't 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 francs?

The Eureka Mignon Manuale is a fascinating device. Out of the box, it's loud and somewhat awkward to operate. But in its heart – in the grinding mechanism and motor – good Eureka quality awaits.

The grind adjustment in the base version is challenging, which can be solved by upgrading the adjustment wheel. Then you can reliably switch between recipes and coffees. The grinding speed is slow, and to thoroughly clean the grinder (cleaning), you first have to loosen some screws. That's 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 that – especially as a single dosing grinder with some upgrades – offers a very exciting entry into the world of espresso.

We think that with the appropriate upgrades, the grinder has no reason to hide behind hyped models like the Varia VS3 or the DF54. You just need to get your hands dirty yourself, but then the grinder is fun and makes damn good coffee!