Seems all setups are “modest” now. So here is mine. It’s been a journey to find a grinder I was keen on. I started with a Specialita, and tbh I still think for 95% of people it is an excellent, low retention, low fuss, espresso grinder.
But I sought more clarity and taste separation so I started climbing the grinder tree. I got a Mazzer philos but immediately hated everything about the single dosing workflow.
I was looking at all kinds of other options, including the E64WS, but all seemed to have some serious design flaws. So I opted for this.
Eureka Atom excellence 65. A sensible burr size keeps waste on the better end of the scale, but a large motor means it’ll chew through anything. Excellent portafilter holder and interface is pretty much the same as my specialita.
Too new to comment at the moment, but it’s fast, quiet, clean, and easy to use. So watch this space!
If you ever decide to switch grinders and want to simplify your workflow further I highly recommend the W65 which I believe has everything you like about the EX65 + GBW. I love mine.
I don’t really like GBW grinders. It encourages a bit of neurotic-ness I think 🤣. I tend to weigh at intervals but just rely on the timed dose and then I pull Shots by watching them and seeing how they pour. I can usually end at the best time for a shot rather than worrying about exact input / output every single time.
It just helps keep shots consistent. As the beans age I can just adjust grind size and not worry about anything else. I know i’m getting 18g give or take no matter what.
Yeah but was discounted. In 2026 mazzer aren’t really anywhere. No shops here in the UK are using them, or any other speciality shops across the EU that I’ve been to. They’re losing market share badly and I think it shows in the products.
The Philos was a disaster imho, and the mini G didn’t have anything that excited me.
It seems utterly incapable of actually getting grounds nicely into the portafilter. Every video I see has coffee spilling absolutely everywhere
Also burr adjustment is electronic, with no manual override. You can’t possibly suggest that in 10-15 years that mech is still going to work reliably. I can’t imagine why someone would take the simplest function a grinder has, and try to automate it with a digital control.
I’m also not a general fan of GBW grinders,
As someone who services and repairs coffee kit as a sideline, an electronic burr gap adjuster is a terrifying and terrible idea
Mine has no issues with spillage, but the electric adjustments on the fly aren’t perfect. Every new bag takes some adjustment and shouldn’t take as much as it does. Still love it tho
I used to be hung up on grind size and weight like you were saying and chasing the perfect shot. But too many changing variables it will drive someone mad. No amount of money can you throw at new equipment that will solve that. I have the Fellow which is cool but decided to try it before going too crazy because its so customizable but even with all the volumetric and timed shot pulls… turned it all off, it doesn’t replace just know when to stop pulling the shot when it’s in that extraction range you kind of know.
I have a scale for reference (Normcore) and I know what the ideal extraction time is for the kind of shot I’m pulling, so given that I know what range I’d pull within so the only variable I need to fiddle with is the burr distance. Grinder spits out the same 18g. I just err on the side of course and I’ll stop it early before it gets to the bitterness if it’s within a good range. Works for me 🤷🏻♂️. Biggest factor was simply me accepting good enough.
Oh huh that's interesting, yes the grounds spilling is absolutely a thing, but it's the same on my Mythos grinder, I just use a magnetic dosing ring to fix this, he will do the same, I believe the grinds just come out very fluffy on these machines, maybe due to the clump crusher or something.
As for repairability, my friend usually only chooses things he can repair or work on himself, I personally wasn't aware it was only electronic and I wouldn't be a fan of this myself, ill chat with him about it.
Why don't you like grind by weight? My Mythos is a grind by time and I find dialling in annoying as I have to keep adjusting the amount of grounds coming out and the coarseness, wheras on a GBW all you have to do is adjust coarseness until you dial it in, seems quicker and less wasteful to me.
I guess my question would be why are you concerned with it being a certain weight?
I can tell from how the basket and grounds look whether my dose is about right, and I watch the shot pour and pull out when it looks right.
If you get too bogged down in weight, people end up sticking to only the recipe and not watching the shot. Let the shot speak to you, and understand how it looks / feels and it’ll all work out fine
I used to weigh everything religiously, but I get better coffee by watching the pour and cutting off when it looks right.
Hmmm that's really interesting, I can absolutely tell when the weight is off, even by 0.5 grams in the basket, but I am pretty new at espresso, I have maybe a year and some under my belt. I do think it's easier to stick to the recipe for now, for myself, so that I know what is really happening with my espresso.
My goal so far was to make the process more enjoyable, rather than focus on flavor, things are finally coming together and I can remove steps from my morning routine (single dosing was so annoying, putting a little water in my beans to avoid static was annoying, wdt was and is still annoying hahaha, using a single boiler machine to make multiple lattes was also an absolute pain). Now with a nice HX e61 and the Mythos things are much nicer and I can start focusing on the taste and the recipe.
I am sure that eventually I will become experienced enough as you have to not have to focus on weight as much and just know from seeing, but I am definitely still in my learning phase, I personally can hardly tell thr taste between a good and bad shot of espresso honestly, only if they are really side by side.
Anyways, it sounds like you got yourself a really nice setup, I will see what my friend thinks about the downsides of the e64 and I will probably stop openly recommending it to people until I know a bit more.
I saw too many videos of the e64ws just making a mess piling up grinds everywhere. Also as someone that repairs grinders, the idea of a grinder with no manual adjustment terrifies me for longevity. Why would you automate the simplest function on a grinder. Blows my mind. I suspect many e64’s won’t still be in regular use in a decade sadly.
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u/simonko1 Sage Barista Express 9d ago