# In pursuit of flat burrs



## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

Would I be completely crazy to sell my HG One 2014 and replace it with a Eureka Mignon?


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

Yes. That is all!

(haven't owned either but that's my opinion based on what I've read btw!)


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## mrsimba (Mar 17, 2014)

Yes... unless you like clumps!


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

wintoid said:


> Would I be completely crazy to sell my HG One 2014 and replace it with a Eureka Mignon?


No you would not! Why let pressure from others influence you? I have had some really respected kit including 2 HG One's and despite what holy grail others might view them as, they were not for me. Tread your own path and do not be influenced by others!

I nearly always have a Mignon knocking around and I quite fancy at some point having another HG, but only to be used on the odd occasion. I am not suggesting a Mognon is the right grinder for you but if you are unhappy, sell it and buy something else!


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

dfk41 said:


> No you would not! Why let pressure from others influence you? I have had some really respected kit including 2 HG One's and despite what holy grail others might view them as, they were not for me. Tread your own path and do not be influenced by others!
> 
> I nearly always have a Mignon knocking around and I quite fancy at some point having another HG, but only to be used on the odd occasion. I am not suggesting a Mognon is the right grinder for you but if you are unhappy, sell it and buy something else!


Surely this is a wind up


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

coffeechap said:


> Surely this is a wind up


why? you got sunstroke from not wearing your cap in the sun? Wintoid is obviously unhappy with the HG. Ditch the bitch and buy something else. Never mind what others might think. I am not suggesting he buys a Mignon but if he sells the HG he will have a goodly amount to buy something else with


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

wintoid said:


> Would I be completely crazy to sell my HG One 2014 and replace it with a Eureka Mignon?


Can you expand?


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

The question specifically said replace with a mignon, the high I think is nuts


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

coffeechap said:


> The question specifically said replace with a mignon, the high I think is nuts


ah, you are too literal.....I took it to mean replace the HG generally, and the word Mignon just slipped in there. perhaps when Wintoid surfaces, he can expand. Did you take that big ball of string with you for the kids when you let them loose in the caves?


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

My taste and interest in coffee seems to be skewed more towards the chocolatey end of the spectrum. For me, a nightmare coffee is ultra bright, very fruity, acidic etc etc. A dream coffee has deep, smooth flavours and tastes like... well... coffee... or maybe caramel or chocolate.

Historically, I've always been attracted to the "human input" of craft. I chose a Cremina and HG One because I wanted to feel a part of the coffee making experience. I feel the beans as they grind. I feel the resistance as I push the water through the puck. I love that. I really enjoy using the equipment.

I've read a lot about conical vs flat burrs, and I always come to the conclusion that I may have made a mistake in choosing the HG One, given my taste preferences. I have altered my bean-buying according to my taste, of course, but I sometimes wonder whether a flat burr grinder would allow me to get more enjoyment from the brighter coffee beans available.

I was prepared to shell out for the HG One because it scratched my manual-operation itch. If I had to have an electric grinder, I would not want to spend tons on some huge thing... I won't get the pleasure from using it, so I'd be looking for something cheap, small and nice looking.

So, really the questions are whether the quality of the HG One vs Mignon means that I'd be mad to do this, or perhaps the difference between flat and conical isn't all that, or perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree.

Whilst I've had a Pharos, Rosco and HG One in the few years I've been into this, I don't really like changing equipment unless I'm sure I'm doing the right thing.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Mr Wintoid, I have a Mignon down at a pals house. if you would like, as long as you cover the postage you can have it to try for a couple of weeks, then you have not lost anything


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

wintoid said:


> My taste and interest in coffee seems to be skewed more towards the chocolatey end of the spectrum. For me, a nightmare coffee is ultra bright, very fruity, acidic etc etc. A dream coffee has deep, smooth flavours and tastes like... well... coffee... or maybe caramel or chocolate.
> 
> Historically, I've always been attracted to the "human input" of craft. I chose a Cremina and HG One because I wanted to feel a part of the coffee making experience. I feel the beans as they grind. I feel the resistance as I push the water through the puck. I love that. I really enjoy using the equipment.
> 
> ...


With a mignon It wont be an apples for apples comparison

So you have a really good set of conical burrs ( hand powered ) v a really small set of flatt burrs ( mignon )

My preference is for a flat burr grinder - but you are not me .. I've had a ton of great bright shots-fruit forward shots from really good barista's on conical grinders too ( robur's , san remo , compaks ) .

Have you explored different ratios in extraction with the HG1 first ? More fruit forward , need higher extractions - bigger ratios

Dfk has given you a kind offer to try a mignon , so nothing lost there . I find the adjustment mech not super user friendly on them..

In the end it's your palate , wallet and preference , so try stuff out and see

My personal opinion - yes your mad ( i means this in a nice way ) .. by all means swap out for a flat burr grinder but get one more deserving of that nice machine and the good coffee you have

For info here , i used a mignon for about a month with fruit forward lighter beans . I found it lacking clarity in the up of the bigger burr brothers ( K30 upwards ) and the taste a little muddled ( as espresso ) which came across as overly bright. You can only push those small burrs so far on the extraction levels before the taste maxs out


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

@dfk41 - that's a stellar offer, thank you so much. I will bite your hand off. Would it be OK if we delayed it by a couple of weeks, so I can be trying out the Mignon just as the next wave of Hasbean SSSSS coffee arrives at the end of the month?

@Mrboots2u - thanks for your opinion, and I'd never take offence, this is exactly why I was asking. Regarding ratios in extraction, I've got to the stage, with a whole lot of grounds-whisking, where I can get a consistent centre-pour from my Cremina+HG One every time, but when I deviate very much from the optimum settings, it all goes horribly wrong, so I don't seem to have the latitude to make big dose adjustments with this setup. In fact, it usually seems that the brighter the bean, the less latitude I have.

My local barista is of the strong opinion that flat burrs are the way, and of course this influences me somewhat. His coffee, even from brighter beans, is usually very nice.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

wintoid said:


> @dfk41 - that's a stellar offer, thank you so much. I will bite your hand off. Would it be OK if we delayed it by a couple of weeks, so I can be trying out the Mignon just as the next wave of Hasbean SSSSS coffee arrives at the end of the month?
> 
> @Mrboots2u - thanks for your opinion, and I'd never take offence, this is exactly why I was asking. Regarding ratios in extraction, I've got to the stage, with a whole lot of grounds-whisking, where I can get a consistent centre-pour from my Cremina+HG One every time, but when I deviate very much from the optimum settings, it all goes horribly wrong, so I don't seem to have the latitude to make big dose adjustments with this setup. In fact, it usually seems that the brighter the bean, the less latitude I have.
> 
> My local barista is of the strong opinion that flat burrs are the way, and of course this influences me somewhat. His coffee, even from brighter beans, is usually very nice.


Cool....he won't be using a Mignon tho... Same BR or even extractions with different grinders ( particle size etc ). What grinder do they have ..

Get same coffee he used. Pull it with the Mignon at home. If your happy with results then all good !


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

Usually he's got Anfims or Super Jollys, nothing too snazzy. He uses Red Brick.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

The K30 for sale just now could be a shout


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Would he let you take Mignon in and pull some side by side shots ?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Just let me know when you want it...pm me your addy and details as a start!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

wintoid said:


> Usually he's got Anfims or Super Jollys, nothing too snazzy. He uses Red Brick.


Much bigger burrs


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

@wintoid before we seek an equipment answer then. Have you tried a variety of roasters and have you tried different water


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

Yes, I regularly buy from various different roasters, and yes I use either Brita water from the tap, Tesco bottled or Volvic bottled. I think the Tesco water tastes the best.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

dare I say the HG never tickled my taste buds either.....


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

dfk41 said:


> dare I say the HG never tickled my taste buds either.....


You may ( along with alot of other grinders ) ..but then agian neither does fruit forward coffee make it into you hearts desire...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Process of elimination . changing equipment doesn't always solve all evils ...


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

Mrboots2u said:


> You may ( along with alot of other grinders ) ..but then agian neither does fruit forward coffee make it into you hearts desire...


whats fruit forward coffee boots? I am trying to tone down my taste buds. I have a couple kilos of dark stuff left, then it issuing medium. I have just enjoyed something or other and I have another bag of similar stuff to open.


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## Fevmeister (Oct 21, 2013)

wintoid said:


> Would I be completely crazy to sell my HG One 2014 and replace it with a Eureka Mignon?


Ill buy the hg one if you decide to sell!!!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

dfk41 said:


> whats fruit forward coffee boots? I am trying to tone down my taste buds. I have a couple kilos of dark stuff left, then it issuing medium. I have just enjoyed something or other and I have another bag of similar stuff to open.


Stuff that tastes of fruit.....

Dunno really just using different words to describe what op talked about ..medium can have notes of fruit etc. Depends on the origin and varietal of bean ... @wintoid did you use day volvic with a range of coffee s? Or just one. What tesco water are you on at moment .


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Fevmeister said:


> Ill buy the hg one if you decide to sell!!!


Vultures are circling


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## Fevmeister (Oct 21, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> Vultures are circling


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

Haha, I'm a slow mover. I don't like to give up on equipment.

Thanks for all the help, by the way, the discussion is useful to me.

I think the water is Ashbeck or something. Comes in big 5L bottles and is cheap







I noticed I preferred it when I moved from Volvic. Couldn't say whether I preferred Volvic to Brita, but I read somewhere that Volvic was kinder to the machine.


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

Is there a waitrose near you? If not I'd try a mix of volvic and ashbeck. Ashbeck on its own isn't great for bringing out flavours.


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

You know, something seems to have clicked at the moment. Suddenly I am really really happy with the coffee I'm getting. It might be the beans, it might be the weather, it might be anything but at the moment my subjective opinion is that the HG One seems to be behaving differently all of a sudden. I've had it about 18 months (guess), and I would say it must have had 30kg through it, perhaps a little more, and a whole load of dry rice at the beginning too.

There are certain beans from certain roasters that I used to struggle with, but suddenly they are as easy as pie and utterly delicious









So for now, I've abandoned the flat burr idea. With massive thanks to dfk41 for his offer to borrow a Mignon, which I never did take up!


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

wintoid said:


> You know, something seems to have clicked at the moment. Suddenly I am really really happy with the coffee I'm getting. It might be the beans, it might be the weather, it might be anything but at the moment my subjective opinion is that the HG One seems to be behaving differently all of a sudden. I've had it about 18 months (guess), and I would say it must have had 30kg through it, perhaps a little more, and a whole load of dry rice at the beginning too.
> 
> There are certain beans from certain roasters that I used to struggle with, but suddenly they are as easy as pie and utterly delicious
> 
> ...


Pah....WIND UP with all the Vultures circling ready to buy the HG1...I'll almost bet his inbox filled up with offers to buy...


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Wintoid, maybe your erm "grinding muscles", for want of a better expression, are fully developed now  so it just seems easier


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

Phnarr phnarr


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