- Super build quality - Very easy to clean - Very easy to disassemble - Very good quality of grind - Can be refinished with hard work - Lots of Mods available - Will last a life time - 83MM Burrs and a 650 watt motor - Weighs a lot - Easily used without hopper
Negative Product Points
- Weighs a lot - Too big for most home use with the hopper - Too expensive if bought brand new
Detailed Commentary
This grinder is amazing. I picked this up used from a fellow coffeegeek and it was cosmetically in pretty bad shape but he threw in what looked like a set of new burrs along with the worn set. I cleaned it up as best I could and the grinds have been fantastic. Its big but not overly without the hopper. I have it beside my Vario and its not overwhelming. I single does by putting the beans right into the throat and it works just fine. I can have enough beans for at least 3 doubles in the throat (haven't tried more). I liked my Vario for its simplicity and aesthetics but I wanted an even better grind. So far the Mazzer is simpler in that I like to be able to just twist the super big and hefty collar. The Vario works just fine but I like the weight and the feel of the Mazzers adjustment collar much more.
The only problem like most Mazzers is that the stock doser makes a huge mess for home use. However, I am in the middle of completing some mods on it and its working out great so far. I replaced the power cord with a shorter one that comes out from under the grinder instead of from the side. I have filled in the exit chute of the doser with epoxy and drilled and polished in a smaller exit chute. I removed all the unnecessary doser parts for home use except for the lower vane which I have polished up. I also ground and polished the bottom of my doser to be flat so now there is barely any retention of grinds. In addition I polished up the exit chute from the burrs so I wouldn't have to brush and sweep it of remaining grinds. With these mods in place it works fabulously. I also removed all the factory paint and sanded everything smooth to the bare aluminum and repainted with a hard enamel paint. Now it also looks great. It was a lot of work but there is something to be said of using something so beautiful that one creates himself. The Mazzers are beautiful machines to begin with but by the time you buy a used one it usually looks like the dogs breakfast. They are built like tanks though so go buy a used one and refurbish it or buy a refurbished one and feel confident that it'll last you forever.
Compared to My Rancilio MD 50 this thing looks 10 times better, makes me feel 10 times better and it seems to grind much better. Compared to the trusty Vario the grind is better and whats more important is that the grinds do not seem as finicky and needs much less "dialing" in. What can I say? 83MM Burr set. Why bother with a mini or Super Jolly when you can get big brother for a similar price? I like the Vario very much but I wanted the doser to eliminate all clumping issues which I sometimes had with the Vario (depending on the beans). Its sort of like having a Timex and a Rolex. They both work very well and will hardly ever fail. The Timex is reliable and has more features. The Rolex just works but you must take care of it and wind (clean) it daily in order to keep it working well. The difference is in the heft, build quality and name. Sometimes you just "need" to pay more for those.
The Major can also be easily modded to doserless and parts are readily available everywhere.
