Grinder Comparison Chart -Mazzer Mini, Compak, Rancilio, Virtuoso, Maestro, C-MIll, Zassenhaus

Quick Grinder Comparison Chart

I hope this quick comparison chart is useful. If you are selecting a grinder for the first time, read all the additional information on each of the appliance's dedicated pages (follow the link). We list all the grinders we sell here - there are lots more to choose from, but we carry just the mills listed below because we think they work well and we have tested each of them extensively. There is no one best grinder! No matter what anyone says! You need to match the grinder to how you brew your coffee and how much you want to spend. Espresso preparation is very exact and requires a more exacting mill. Filter drip brewing is pretty forgiving so you can use a less precise (read: cheaper) mill.

Name	Price	Burr Type	Doser Yes/No	Size H x W x D	Waranty/Life Expectancy	Control/Grind Settings	Grind Range/Brewing Type	Major Positive Features	Major Negative Features	Name
Mazzer Mini	$659	58 mm flat burrs	yes	19"x 7" x 11" (h x w x d)	1 year manufacturer's warranty/20+ years with regular maintenance	Very good, stepless adjustment	All grinds	Commercial build quality, high quality grinds	Expensive	Mazzer Mini
Compak K3 Elite	$581 polished aluminum/ $556.50 black	58 mm flat burrs	yes	16.5" (h x w x d)	1 year manufacturer's warranty/20+ years with regular maintenance	Very good, stepless adjustment; small adjustments correspond to larger grind size variations than on the Mazzer	All grinds	Commercial build quality, high quality grinds		Compak K3 Elite
Compak K3 Touch	$480 polished aluminum/ $456 black	58 mm flat burrs	no	16.5" (h x w x d)	1 year manufacturer's warranty/20+ years with regular maintenance	Very good, stepless adjustment; small adjustments correspond to larger grind size variations than on the Mazzer	All grinds, doserless design makes it easy to grind into an espresso portafilter or another vessel for brewed coffee	Commercial build quality, high quality grinds	More clumpy when grinding for espresso than machines with dosers	Compak K3 Touch
Rancilio Rocky	$359 with doser/$349 without doser	50 mm flat burrs	yes/no	14" x 10" x 5" (h x w x d)	1 year manufacturer's warranty/10+ years with regular maintenance	Good, 55 steps	All grinds	Good quality, durable. Doserless model is a good all purpose mill	Over time mechanism that holds grind adjustment can fail. Stepped adjustment can be a bit limiting if you really want to nail an espresso grind	Rancilio Rocky
Virtuoso	$199	40mm conical burrs	no	14" x 6" x 5" (h x w x d)	1 year manufacturer's warranty/5 to 10 years*	40 steps	All grinds - coarse grind can be uneven	Versatile, good quality, less expensive than some espresso mills	Not a lot of room for fine tuning finer grinds. Stepped adjustment can be a bit limiting if you really want to nail an espresso grind	Virtuoso
Maestro Plus	$149	40mm conical burrs	no	14" x 6" x 5" (h x w x d)	1 year manufacturer's warranty/ /5 to 10 years*	40 steps	All grinds except espresso and turkish - coarse grind can be uneven	Versatile		Maestro Plus
Bodum C-Mill	$25.50	flat blade	no	7" x 4" dia	1 year manufacturer's warranty/5 years	no control other than time,	Best for filter drip since paper filter will catch fine particles	Inexpensive, generally will last a long time	No real control over grind setting; noisy	Bodum C-Mill
Zassenhaus hand crank mills	range from $72.50 to $105.50	conical burrs, size varies	no	varies, check zass. page for more details		stepless adjustment	Filter, vacuum brewing, not ideal for french press. Can be used for espresso if you are extremely patient! (takes a lot of cranking at the finest settings)	Quiet	Can be hard to come back to a setting since knob has no indicators for grind setting; completely manual so finer grinds take longer to crank out	Zassenhaus hand crank mills
Hario Skerton hand crank mill	$38	ceramic conical burrs	no	7.25" x 3.5"		stepped adjustment	Filter, vacuum brewing, the finer side of french press (like any conical burr grinder, not ideal for extremely coarse grinds). Can be used for espresso if you are extremely patient! (takes a lot of cranking at the finest settings)	Inexpensive, good for traveling	Slow, especially at finer grind settings; grinding requires physical effort, unlike with electric mills	Hario Skerton hand crank mill

* Assumes average household usage and very regular mainteance. The more expensive the mill, the more likely that parts will be available in the long-term