Eureka Single Dose Pro: Beautiful But Blindsided

Eureka is once again trying to conquer the single dose throne, which they have been vying for since their release of the half-baked Eureka Single Dose in 2021.

At first glance, this grinder might look like a lot of the other Mignons we’ve seen over the years, but the new “Single Dose Pro” actually comes with a few substantial improvements, among them a long-wished-for granular adjustment wheel, as well as a range of interesting “blind” burrs.

I have been using this grinder almost daily for more than a month now. I have been using it with 4 different burrs, and pulled countless shots and filter brews with it, so I have a pretty good idea of the pros and cons.

Read on to find out whether it’s worth getting.

Please Note: This post will be updated as more information becomes available about the top burr carrier — including whether Eureka plans to support standard 64mm burrs — and also after further testing of the Italian Espresso Taste Black and Espresso Specialty Black burrs.

Full disclosure: Eureka sent the grinder to me for a review. The brand has had no input in the testing process.

Design

The grinder definitely looks like a Mignon. It’s the same design we’ve seen across a bunch of Eureka models — from the classic Mignon Specialita to the more budget-friendly Filtro, they all share that same design DNA. It’s a layout that works well, but it also comes with its limitations. Unlike many other grinders, this setup adjusts by moving the lower burr. The upside? The Single Dose Pro holds onto its grind setting even after you open it up for cleaning. That’s a win in my book.

Eureka clearly knows this design inside out. Beyond their own lineup, they also produce OEM grinders for brands like Gaggia, Moccamaster, and Rocket, just to name a few. Those models follow a similar blueprint, though with slightly different design tweaks to fit each brand’s identity.

Why stick with the same design for so long? I’d guess it’s partly because it works — and partly because switching things up is expensive. As long as this model continues to sell, it’s probably not worth the investment to overhaul it. That said, I think they’ll need to reconsider if they want to stay competitive in the fast-moving specialty space, where expectations shift quickly and prosumers are getting pickier by the day. Then again, if they’ve carved out a solid niche in the more mainstream market — especially through OEM deals — I wouldn’t bet on any major redesigns soon. If you’ve got a golden goose, you might as well keep feeding it.

Moving on on to the aesthetics: After a flood of matte black grinders chasing the minimalist aesthetic, it’s refreshing to see a model that stands out. As expected from Eureka, the metal chassis feels solid and premium, while the semi-gloss white finish adds a clean, elegant touch to your coffee setup.

The grinder keeps the now-familiar “leaning tower of Pisa” profile, popularized by single-dose models like the Niche Zero and Lagom P64.

Wooden accents are a highlight — real, high-quality wood, not the thin veneer you’ll find on some budget competitors. Even the plastic elements, like the chute cover and top lid, have a metallic finish that keeps things feeling premium. The typeface on the front is subtle and refined, and the bellows are well-built, secure, and visually cohesive with the design.

The catch cup has gotten a thoughtful upgrade. The older version had a small pedestal and a bit of a gap between the chute and the cup, which made it easy to scatter grounds — especially when you hit the bellows. The new, taller cup and plastic funnel tighten up the workflow and cut down on mess. It’s also shaped in a way captures aroma well — perfect if you’re the type who likes to take a deep whiff of your coffee before brewing. Plus, it fits snugly on a 58mm portafilter.

Adjustment

A common complaint about the earlier Single Dose version was that it wasn’t really all that suited for single dosing. That’s because, traditionally, it’s been tricky to switch between espresso and filter coffee on Eureka grinders. The issue comes down to the little adjustment ring, which makes it hard to keep track of your grind settings if you need to go multiple rotations.

But somehow, they’ve come up with a solution for that, and it’s this big wheel with 20 numbers and subdivisions between each one. It also has a revolution counter, so now you always know exactly where you are in your grind setting.

I have to admit, when I first saw this solution, it reminded me a bit of those DIY mods floating around online. But it actually works pretty well. I’m grinding espresso at setting 3-5 on rotation 0, and pour over around setting 10-16 on rotation 1, but the exact numbers will of course vary a lot depending on the burr geometry.

Overall, the new wheel is consistent and easy to move back and forth. I hope it somehow can be made backward compatible on other Mignons, as it makes life a lot easier if you use the grinder for multiple brewing methods, and not just espresso.

Grinding and Retention

Okay, now let’s talk a bit about the grinding itself and retention, since Eureka makes this a key selling point.

Eureka calls this the Single Dose Pro, and in the marketing material they claim it has 70% less retention. They don’t say 70% less compared to what, but it’s clear they take a lot of pride in how little coffee is left behind.

My experience differs somewhat.

What I have seen in daily life is that for filter coffee, the retention or dose consistency is very good. It’s in that range you’d expect from a modern single-dose grinder. So maybe once in a while, you’ll see 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 grams plus or minus.

For espresso, though, the experience has been quite different. Sometimes, you might be missing 0.7-1.2 grams. Then a few extra strong pumps on the bellows, along with a rocking back-and-forth motion where you kind of lift the grinder back a few centimeters and drop it down, can help push out a good chunk of that. However, you might still be missing 0.2 or 0.3 grams.

While it’s admirable they have tried to reduce the retention in the screw holes of the blind burrs, there are still other places where grounds can get stuck. Actually, I find that screw holes don’t tend to be an area where you’ll have exchanged retention. Usually the retention here builds up quickly, and then once the holes are filled with compressed fines they neither add nor reduce to the dose.

However, areas like the chute, declumper, and grinding chamber itself are problematic. Grounds that build up here are more often “exchanged retention.” Meaning it gets pushed out with the next round of grounds. This type of retention is worse – let’s say that you’ve just pulled a shot with medium dark roast. Next, you’re going to make a light roast pour over with a floral pink bourbon. Well, now you potentially have 0.4 grams of super fine espresso coffee mixed in with your floral coffee. There’s no doubt that will impact flavor. On the other hand, it might not be a big deal if you’re pulling another medium-dark espresso shot.

I think Eureka has been too focused on reducing the total possible retention in the grinder, but not sufficiently focused on the exchanged retention.

For instance, the chute and the de-clumper unit—even though they’ve tried to improve them—the fact that lifting the grinder and rocking it back and forth pushes out another 0.4 to 0.5 grams tells me there’s still room for improvement.

Another place where you see retention—and I’m not sure how much this contributes to the dose variance—is this donut ring of grounds that builds up above the wipers in the grinding chamber. The grounds get pushed up and gradually form this ring, and to me, that suggests the wipers are trying to push the grounds out of the chamber, but the grounds can’t escape fast enough. So instead, they go upwards.

That tells me that even though they’ve reduced the size of the grinding chamber and the dead space to lower overall retention, what might actually be happening is the coffee grounds don’t really have anywhere to rest while they’re waiting to be evacuated. So they end up getting re-ground and/or pushed upward instead. I’m not sure what happens when that ring of grounds gets really compressed—maybe the coffee is just traveling around with the impellers inside the chamber until it eventually finds its way out – or maybe small bits of the ultra compressed ring gets dislodged and mixed with your fresh grounds.

So I get what Eureka is trying to do by reducing space in the chamber. But when I look at other designs you’ll notice the wipers are much bigger, and the whole “grounds evacuation zone” surrounding the burrs is larger. I actually think that’s a better design choice, provided that the impellers have a super precise fit in the grinding chamber and that they don’t wreak havoc by making clumps or heating up the grounds unnecessarily.

The way I see grinders is that the closer you can get to how a manual grinder is working the better – here you don’t have impellers or a chute; instead the grounds fall directly from burrs to catch cup. However, if you do have a chute and impellers, you need to make sure that they a) do minimal damage and b) don’t add created exchanged retention and dose inconsistency.

Yes, the Single Dose Pro does have an upgraded chute with a sort of sheet metal liner that reduces sharp angles and creates less friction. That’s an improvement to the plastic chute used in a lot of older Mignons. But the declumper unit between the grinding chamber and chute is still slowing down the grounds. You also have impellers that are rather small and a very small evacuation zone.

As I see it their setup currently works for filter coffee, because coarser grounds are much easier to evacuate. But when you have ultra fine espresso grounds, you need an even better solution.

I’m not sure Eureka has found that perfect single dose solution yet.

Sound

Let’s just talk briefly about the sound. Back in the day, when people asked me about quiet grinders, one of my go-to answers was, “Maybe you should consider a Mignon,” because my experience was that, generally, they ran very quietly.

This grinder has a bit more of an aggressive slightly rumbly pitch, so at first I didn’t think it was as quiet as the other ones in the Mignon lineup. But when you measure it with a decibel meter, it’s actually quite good – around 76.6 dB with beans loaded, and 68 dB running on with no beans. These numbers are excellent.

However, without beans the sound is not as nice as some of the newer grinders with brushless motors such as DF83V, Timemore Sculptor, etc. Those come in around 50-53 dB without beans loaded, and for that reason in daily use might be considered more pleasant sounding, even though their peak levels are higher when grinding.

Burrs

Next, let’s talk about all the new Eureka burrs. It’s clear that Eureka has been paying attention—they’ve noticed that burrs have become a popular topic of discussion among coffee geeks.

And they haven’t just released one or two, but four new “black diamond” coated burr sets that are available as add-ons. All with a retail price between 135-150 euros.

(I should mention that all these four burr sets are apparently also available as “normal” non-blind burrs. So if you have an older Eureka 65/64 mm model they should fit. They might also be worth looking into for burr-curious people with other grinders, since the price is quite a bit cheaper than SSP).

1. Filter Burrs – Designed specifically for clarity in filter brews.
2. All-Purpose Burrs – Versatile and high-extracting, suitable for both modern espresso and filter.
3. Modern Espresso Burrs – Tailored for contemporary espresso profiles
4. Italian Espresso Taste Burrs – Similar in shape to the stock burrs we have seen from Eureka over the years burrs, however these are also covered in black diamond coating.

I’ve mainly used the filter and all-purpose sets for this review. The stock burrs are good – but nothing unexpected or out of the ordinary, when you take the long history of Eureka’s espresso grinders into account. While I’ve only had a quick go with the modern espresso burrs, I’ll be testing those more soon.

The grinder ships with a 63.8 mm cryogenically treated semi-blind burr set that has a kind of classic Italian espresso geometry – Eureka calls this a “diamond inside” burr.

All Purpose and Filter Burrs

First, we have the All Purpose burrs. They look a bit like the famous SSP multi-purpose/Brew burrs that are actually inspired by Mahlkönig Kenia burrs. That kind of design has become pretty popular in modern specialty coffee.

Then there’s also a new filter-focused burr set. I’ve been testing these for a while, and I think they’re really solid performers. They don’t necessarily focus on acidity or clarity like many modern burrs do, but they do give you an overall really enjoyable cup. You can clearly pick out flavor notes, and they have a good punchiness and intensity. In terms of flavor profile, I’d say they’re somewhat similar to the Fellow Ode Gen 2 burrs, but with a little bit more fidelity. That said, unfortunately they don’t work for espresso.

I think they are the best filter burrs I have tasted from Eureka. As you might know, I’m kind of a fan of the cheaper Eureka Filtro, which has some of the most uniform burrs I have tried — these new burrs are less uniform but more enjoyable in the cup. That said, unfortunately they don’t work for espresso.

The All Purpose burrs are probably the most exciting burrs though. After testing them for a while and getting to know them, I gotta say, for espresso, they really do the job for the modern specialty coffee lover. If you like to brew light roasts, filter coffees, and pull them as espressos, they really shine. They present acidity very nicely, but still with substantial body and sweetness—so very enjoyable in that regard.

They’re also very high-extracting burrs due to the unimodal distribution. Because of the lack of fines, you’ll end up grinding finer. So the median particle size will move finer, and that’s what causes the higher extraction yield, which suits light roasts very well.

However, if you’re pulling more medium to dark roast shots, that high extraction can get a little overwhelming. It can be hard not to pull at, let’s say, 22% extraction, so you really have to work hard to go in the opposite direction otherwise you’ll get slightly bitter shots.

For filter coffee, they initially, for a split second, remind me a bit of the SSP MPs. They have that same kind of snappy acidity at first, but then they transition into a more medium body, medium sweetness, and a bit less transparency and flavor clarity compared to the SSP school of burrs—the Brew and the Multi-Purpose burrs. Both of those have more of that glass-like transparency and sharp acidity, whereas with the all-purpose burrs, you just get a quick glimpse of that. You’re left with a decent aftertaste, but not one that evolves in different directions. There’s not a whole lot of evolution—just an imprint of the main flavor notes that carry on with some sweetness.

Still, very enjoyable, very drinkable cups. A bit more approachable than SSP’s version but also with a slightly lower ceiling.

I think for the modern coffee geek, they offer a great all-round performance, just like the name suggests.

The main downside of the All Purpose burrs is that they do have a lot of retention. I think Italmill, who produces the burrs for Eureka, might want to revisit the coating. To me, it seems like the fine dust that settles on the burrs is significantly higher than what I’ve seen on burrs with similar geometry from other manufacturers.

In total, I have all four optional burrs besides the stock burrs. One of them has the exact same geometry as the stock burrs, just with a different coating. Another set is made for modern espresso, which I’m still testing alongside the Italian Espresso Taste Black burrs. I’ll update this post with more detailed evaluations once I’ve spent more time with each of them. So out of those 4 burrs, only 3 of them are new geometries, and out of those I mainly enjoy 2 of them so far.

A Big Issue with Third Party Burrs

Now, you might be thinking—what about third-party burrs? Well, here’s a bit of a downer. Because of Eureka’s new semi-blind system, it’s currently impossible to install a lot of the extra burr sets you might already have lying around, since the upper burr carrier only has 4 holes on the backside to accommodate blind burrs.

I did email back and forth with Eureka leading up to this review, and I specifically asked whether it’s possible to buy a top burr carrier that can accommodate regular 64 mm burr sets. Apparently, it is—and it’s not even that expensive, their B2B listing price was around 12 Euros, but whether or not your local Eureka dealer sells them at the same price or even has it in stock is hard to say.

I hope they’ll fix it and add an additional burr carrier to the package, since it’s crucial for modern coffee geeks to be able to switch around and try different burr options. In my opinion, this is a bit of deal breaker, and I can’t understand how the people at Eureka didn’t consider this issue before releasing the grinder. That tells me that they still don’t fully understand what modern coffee geeks care about even though they crave them as their customers. If they don’t have any light roast lovers on their team, maybe they should hire an anthropologist to infiltrate a group of coffee forum geeks to get a better understanding of their target audience? It might sound like I’m joking here, but I’m not. User-centered innovation and deep research is commonly used among big tech and design brands to get to know their customers better.

Oh, and you might be wondering—isn’t this grinder a 65mm burr grinder? Well, when you actually measure the burrs, they ARE just 63.8mm. So theoretically the grinder should work with many 64 mm burrs you might have already. The screw holes seem to be located in the correct position.

To be fair to Eureka, I think they call it a 65mm because the rest of their lineup follows the 55, 65, 75, 85 pattern, so it just looks more neat and organized in marketing materials if all the numbers follow the same logic. They might not realize that for a coffee geek like you and me, the difference between 64.2mm and 64.1mm actually makes or breaks some burr sets.

Conclusion

I think it’s fair to say that the Eureka Single Dose Pro is the most sophisticated version of the Eureka Mignon-style grinder—the most modern version.

The first Eureka Single Dose came out around three years ago, and back then it was pretty clear the goal was to become the “Niche killer.” That’s all reviewers were talking about and companies were fantasizing about—being the Niche killer. And it’s hard not to imagine that was also the goal of the original Eureka Single Dose.

Now, the Single Dose Pro has arrived and it has improved in a number of areas compared to its predecessor. We have semi-blind burrs, a new improved catch cup, and an upgraded adjustment knob that’s doing its job. But I can’t help thinking this grinder is still coming from that original idea, which might’ve been a plan back then – but now it’s 2025, and it seems like most grinder manufacturers are trying to catch up with newer models like the Timemore Sculptors, the Zerno Z1, or perhaps the Lagom P64.

There are some things many of the new flagship grinders have in common—stuff like adjustable RPM, augers, horizontally mounted burrs, and quieter brushless motors—and probably the most common trait among them is the ability to accommodate different burrs – offering a “platform” so to speak.

If there’s one thing we learned from the Timemore Sculptors, it’s that even though they had good burrs, people still talked about wanting SSP or other options in the 78mm size. If you look at the Zerno, while it does have blind burrs, they’ve worked closely with SSP to create these options. Even the Niche company has now launched the Niche Duo, which opens up their platform to many 83mm burrs.

But I can’t help thinking this grinder is still coming from that original idea of being a niche killer, which might’ve been a great plan in 2021, but now it’s 2025. And it seems like most grinder manufacturers are trying to catch up with newer models that offer features like adjustable RPM, augers, horizontally mounted burrs, and quieter brushless motors.

There are some missed opportunities with this grinder. It’s clear they are targeting modern single dose folks – so why ship it with the typical Eureka stock espresso burrs? Why not make the all-purpose the default option? It’s already a relatively expensive grinder – probably $600-800 depending on where you’re located. You don’t want to spend $150 extra for All Purpose burrs in that case.

Another missed opportunity is not to go for fully blind burrs. They could have made it fully compatible with other blind burrs on the market, like for instance the ones that SSP and Zerno have launched together. Then for 1/3rd of the price and with no waiting list, they could be the new “64 mm blind” platform and conquer that position in the market.

Instead the grinder ends in a bit of a no-man’s land, where you only have the four new semi-blind Eureka/Italmill geometries to choose from. And those burrs are a bit of a blind alley, since one half won’t fit on other grinders that you might buy in the future or already own. That’s a bit of hard sell in an retail environment where you have at least a dozen competing 64 mm grinders to choose from.

If they at least could get the top burr carrier right and ship it with an additional unit that has the correct 3-hole pattern that fits most 64 mm burrs. That would make the other compromises easier to swallow.

I do like the way the grinder looks, I have had very good shots, I had very good filter coffee. I like a lot of the construction. I also love that heritage Italian feel and like the idea of supporting a European company.

But as a platform and ecosystem, is it enough to convince coffee geeks today? Only time will tell.