“We happily use the Specialita every day. It took a handful of attempts to reach the correct grind setting. Now timed doses or single, pre-weighed doses match for consistency. It looks good and does not take up a ton of space.”
“The Mignon Specialita is extremely quiet and produces beautiful fluffy grinds. The timed dosing as well as the ability to interrupt and resume timed grinding make this a perfect machine for the home. The Ferrari red with stainless steel trim and laser etching adds just the right amount of flair to the design.”
“I had my eye on a Sette 270 as the obvious choice for my first ‚Äúreal‚Äù grinder. But I could not pull the trigger because everybody says it‚Äôs super loud, and the risk of waking my kids up in the morning or during nap is a major no-go. In the end, I‚Äôm glad this concern led me to the specialita, which I have found to be overall fantastic despite a few minor complaints.
Pros:
- Solid build - small but dense.
- Grind quality is good. I'd describe it as fluffy micro-clumps, which distribute easily.
- Pretty quiet.
- Low retention. Well under 1g. Great for single dosing.
- Flat burrs. My personal preference, and often a higher price point feature.
- Small design. The rectangular footprint makes it efficiently use countertop space.
- Reputable brand.
- Nice timer features. Read the manual - there are a lot of hidden options.
- The screen is bright and responsive.
- The adjustment knob is fantastic. Solid feel, stepless with numerical increments, and I like it a lot more than spinning the hopper.
- Looks pretty cool. The chrome version has a nice “shield” design cut out on the side, which looks good in person. It’s also a nice gloss polish.
Cons:
- It’s quiet, but not as incredibly silent as some claim. It’s certainly still louder than my vibration pump espresso machine (see video). Note that it is much quieter when the hopper is full than when single dosing because noise comes out the top.
- It lacks a catch tray and at the same time has an odd footprint in front that loves to gather grounds.
- The hopper plastic scratches very easily.
- Since I, like many specialita users, got it for single dosing, the timer isn’t necessary. This is probably $100 in functionality that goes unused. The silenzio and manuale have 50mm burs and thus worse retention, making them poor alternatives.
- The portafilter holder is a bit too clever for its own good, and without getting into too much detail, i ended up sticking some coins into a gap to keep in in place and putting a rubber bumper behind it to keep the end of the screw from scratching the machine (see photo).
- There’s plastic used in places, like the chute. I also suspect that the front bezel pieces that otherwise come in funky colors are just chromed plastic on the chrome model.
- The ‚Äúspecialita‚Äù logo on the front-bottom is just a sticker and kind of a low-quality detail to be placed front and center. I‚Äôd personally peel it off if I wasn‚Äôt worried about resale.”
“Seller was excellent, and price was fair, but machine does clump a bit when grinding fine for espresso. May be the beans and hopefully after break in period, will grind fluffier. Otherwise, superb design, and service from seller.”
“No complaints, it works great. Fine tuned a shot in just a handful of tries. Only complaint which is minor, is I have a second eureka and the timing is inconsistent between the two and the second spills more.”
“Upgraded from a Baratza Vario and really enjoying the quality and consistency of the Specialita. It is way quieter than my Vario and the stepless adjustments make it a bit easier to dial in the espresso. Paired with an Appartamento, and don't think I'll need to upgrade anytime soon.
Cliff and Pebble got the grinder to me fast, and it was $30 cheaper than everyone else, plus a $50 gift card.”
“We just had a new born in our family and was worried about the sound.
The specialita is really quiet and I can even use it when the baby is sleeping!”
