First look and impressions of the Eureka Mignon Specialita espresso grinder.
Eureka is one of the storied brands in the world of coffee and espresso grinders. Founded in 1920 the Florence, Italy based company has a reputation for delivering strong price-to-feature value propositions, without sacrificing quality. At least this is what my initial research tended to reveal.
So without doubt I was excited to finally upgrade my aging Rancilio Rocky espresso grinder. It’s built like a tank, and I’ve had no issues, though I think it’s in need of servicing and the grinds could be better.
When the Eureka Mignon Arte arrived I was pretty stoked. Finally a chance to try a new grinder! Could it improve my espresso shots?
Spoiler alert: this story ends abruptly I’m sad to say. I’ll explain why below, in basically a series of photos sharing my initial impressions and experience with the Arte — which I should note is essentially a limited edition Specialita with colorful artwork on three sides.
First Impressions Test: Eureka Mignon Specialita Espresso Grinder (Arte Edition)
At $650 USD I’d say the Specialita is positioned in the mid-range. It’s not inexpensive by any means, but it’s certainly not priced in the $1,000-$2,000 range where a lot of premium brands and models compete for prosumers and professionals alike. Other models in the Eureka Mignon range include the Perfetto, Magnifico, and Silenzio (David Lynch approved?).
The Specialita Arrived Double Boxed
I always appreciate when a product is double boxed, and greatly reduces probability for damage during shipping.
Key Specs: Eureka Mignon Specialita Arte Espresso Grinder
Specs per the manufacturer.
- Model: Eureka Mignon Specialita Arte Limited Edition
- Manufacturer: Conti Valerio
- Burrs: 55mm stepless
- Capacity: 12 ounces
- Power consumption: 260 W
- RPM: 1350
- Production rate (g/s): 1.4-1.8 (Espresso) / 1.9-2.5 (Brew)
- Empty weight: 5.6 Kg / 12.3 pounds
- Height: 350 mm / 13.78 inches
- Width: 120mm / 4.72 inches
- Depth: 180mm / 7.09 inches
- Noise level: 73 dB
- Price: $650 USD (Available at Seattle Coffee Gear via Amazon and Whole Latte Love)
Pretty Artwork on the Arte Limited Edition
Dosing Button on the Eureka Mignon Specialita
Grind Adjustment Knob
Eureka Mignon Specialita (Arte) Ready to Go
Eureka Mignon Specialita: Touchscreen Issues
Okay, this is when I quickly ran into a major snafu. And basically my test and first impressions ended.
The touchscreen apparently must be defective on this unit. It would only register about 30-50% of taps, and even then the screen would sort of “black out” and seems to not like being touched at all. No amount of restarting, unplugging, etc. addressed the issue. Severely disappointed in that. Because otherwise the interface is perfect. You can setup a timer for one or two shots and then tap the cup icon to automatically dose your preference. It’s intuitive and well designed and it works — save for a bad, wonky touchscreen!
Unfortunately I need to ship this unit back to Whole Latte Love.
ALSO SEE: Can a Puck Screen help you make a better shot of espresso?
Surely, I must have a dud. Every review I read people seem to rave about this model (and Eureka grinders in general). Also, I see it posing everywhere it seems, from Reddit subs to various product pages to just about anywhere and everywhere on social media. And it always seems beloved. Recently I saw it next to a Lelit Elizabeth, and a La Marzocco Micra and Mini no less. So the espresso guru seem to approve of Eureka. After so much research I thought I had chosen a sure-fire winner, but alas it was not meant to be this time.
First Impressions Summary
Bad touchscreen aside, I was able to form a few first impressions on the Specialita Arte. Here’s a quick summary for anyone considering buying this espresso grinder.
Eureka Mignon Specialita First Impressions
- Excellent build quality, except for one thing (see below).
- Touchscreen user interface is perfect except for one thing (see below).
- Quiet!
- Nice grinds (though my review fell short as I need to return this unit to Whole Latte Love).
- Pretty, whimsical artwork by Francesco Musante. It can really make you smile, and get your imagination racing and spirits soaring in the morning. Bellissima!
- Available in 15 (!) colors, including everything from Ferrari Red to Gourmet Green to Orange and Chrome — and, of course the Arte Edition with artwork.
The Bad
- The hopper is really fragile feeling and made of flimsy plastic — here my Rancilio Rocky beats the Specialita in build quality. I wish Eureka used better materials for this important part of the grinder.
- Defective non-responsive touchscreen which would only respond to touches about 30-50% of the time and sort of blacks out when touched (hard to explain). It’s a resistive touchscreen and it definitely resisted. Since this unit is likely defective it’s really not a strike against this model in general, so obviously keep that in mind. I hate to be negative.
- Regarding the artwork: I like it, it’s fun. However, given it’s relatively small scale it lacks punch. That’s not because of the artwork itself. I just think it would work better on a large canvas, and not on a small espresso grinder. Still I like the Limited Edition idea behind Arte.
Should you buy the Eureka Mignon Specialita? I’d say yes so long as you get one with a working touchscreen and don’t mind the plastic build of the bean hopper. Designers did a great job with this interface. I just wished the screen worked. Everything else was a positive experience, despite my limited time with the Specialita.
