The MiiCoffee DF54 is considered by many experts to be the best grinder in terms of value for money at the moment. Manufactured in China, it is globally distributed by two brands: MiiCoffee and Turin, so you can find it under the names MiCoffee DF54 or Turin DF54.
Despite being a rebranding of a product manufactured in China, the DF54 exudes quality from all sides, starting with its design and the quality of the materials, being a grinder that gives you more than its price suggests. Its value for money has made it the trendy grinder and the most recommended under 300$. In fact, it is so popular that it has been out of stock for a long time; it recently became available again on Amazon and I didn’t think twice to buy it and see for myself if the reviews were right. After almost a month of testing it, here is my review.
DF54 Single Dose Coffee Grinder
 | disponible | $260,00 in Amazon |
For those who don’t know, here I go with some technical details: it is a grinder with 54 mm stainless steel flat burrs, with a 150W motor and, as you can see in the images, it is a single dose grinder, or single dose for the more modern baristas.
The fact that it has flat burrs is its biggest point of distinction compared to the vast majority of grinders in a similar price range, as the norm in this price range is to use conical burrs. In this sense, the DF54 is not only the best flat burr grinder for less than 300€, but it is the only one, as far as I know.
This already speaks very well of its value for money, but the feeling of having bought something of much higher quality than its price suggests is even more evident when you see and touch its black aluminum body with a matte finish, or as the manufacturer says, powder-coated finish. In any case, it feels elegant and sturdy, with a design and appearance superior even to many grinders that cost twice as much as this one.
The dosing cup stands out quite a bit, as you can see it is made of plastic and transparent. This has the advantage of being able to see how the coffee is falling into the cup, but I already say that it clashes with the grinder, both in appearance and in material quality. This cup has a diameter of 58 mm; I have tested it with the portafilter of the Baristeo Intima, which is 58 mm, and it fits perfectly, but the same does not happen with the portafilter of my Bambino Plus, which is 54 mm. What I have done is buy this black 54 mm cup, which in addition to matching in color fits perfectly in the portafilter.
You also have the option of using the grinder’s holder to dose directly into the portafilter, although again I find that it is only for 58 mm portafilters. As always in these cases, it is advisable to also use a dosing funnel, although the space in this holder is so small that it is difficult to use a funnel, so the option of using the direct dosing option in the portafilter is not very advisable. In fact, the manufacturer itself recommends using the dosing cup, so you see that this is really an option that they have not given much attention to.
I’m going to tell you now what I liked most about this DF54. The first thing, without a doubt, is that it grinds very well, very fine, and very consistently. I must confess that it is the first flat burr grinder I try at home. Something that is often said in the barista world is that this type of burr achieves greater clarity and greater separation of flavors in espresso, and although I am not an expert in coffee tasting, it is true that the different flavor notes are more appreciated.
In addition, I found it very easy to calibrate the grinder for espresso. As you can see, it has an external ring with 90 grind settings, and they are stepless, so you can move the adjustment ring with total smoothness and leave it exactly at the point you want. The precision is maximum and the calibration is extremely easy; so far I have tried three different varieties of coffee beans, and I have achieved a perfect extraction with just a couple of tests with each of them.
I was also very surprised in terms of retention and static. For example, the retention is very low, 0.1 or, at most, 0.2 grams, if you pour all the beans into the hopper before starting the motor. But the retention becomes nonexistent if you start the grinder first and then slowly add the beans, in what is known as slow feeding. In this case, there is absolutely no retention even with light roast beans, which I found really incredible. For occasions when there is a bit of retention, the bellows on the lid is very simple but works very well.
The same goes for static. In its specifications, it can be read that the DF54 has a plasma generator at the outlet, and the truth is that it shows, because the outlet accumulates very few coffee residues. There is also a very useful piece in the hopper, a popcorn stopper that prevents pieces of coffee beans and ground coffee particles from flying out.
However, inside the grinder and its burrs, small coffee residues do accumulate, which are also difficult to clean, especially those that remain around the screws, between the burrs, or in the gaps of the chamber. It becomes essential to use a brush (I use the Normcore brush I already told you about) and, in this case, it is advisable to also have a small handheld vacuum to vacuum the chamber.
The DF54 comes with a small stiff brush, but it only serves to clean the inside of the grinder’s outlet, where there are also residues, although not too many, thanks to the good work of the plasma generator I mentioned earlier.
The mechanism for removing the disc with the adjustment dial and the upper burr is somewhat strange, as there is no stop or mark indicating that the disc is correctly assembled. And since the DF54 comes without an instruction manual in the box (it is only available online, and in English), I had to investigate to find out how it is done. Basically, to remove the disc you have to unscrew counterclockwise, and to put it back you have to screw clockwise until you reach a point where you feel resistance and it becomes increasingly difficult to screw. I already say that it is a strange, unintuitive mechanism that carries the risk that, if you’re not careful, you can make the upper and lower burrs come into contact and damage them.
This is, without a doubt, what I liked least about the DF54, but in everything else, it is a spectacular grinder: it is made with very good materials, grinds coffee wonderfully, does so with very little retention and static; it also does so in a not very noisy way, and it is compact and elegant.
You can’t ask for more from such an economical grinder. Without any doubt, it is THE GRINDER to buy for not very affluent budgets, and especially for espresso fanatics like me, and the only problem when buying it can be the high demand it has: when it is back in stock on Amazon, the units fly, and there are not many more places where it can be bought in Europe, so if you are interested in it and see it in stock, don’t hesitate and buy it.
If you find it difficult to find it in stock, an alternative is the Fellow Opus. Although with many more retention and static problems, it is very good in terms of fine grinding for espresso and has the advantage of being easier to clean, although in general terms I think the DF54 is far superior.
The other two alternatives in this price range are the Breville Smart Grinder Pro and the Baratza Encore ESP, although both are far from the performance and value for money of this MiiCoffee DF54.
