Mazzer Omega Review: Is It As Good As It Looks?

Mazzer is a household name in the world of coffee grinders. This Venice-based company has successfully focused on commercial grinders, and you can find their products in cafes worldwide. Now, they’ve decided to enter the market of manual grinders with Mazzer Omega.

Many coffee enthusiasts were thrilled that Mazzer was finally creating a hand grinder, so the expectations were high. But is it worth the hype? In this Mazzer Omega review, we tested its features and performance, so you can decide if it fits your brewing needs.

Ready?

Summary: The Mazzer Omega

• Has a 47mm stainless-steel conical burr
  
• You can adjust grinding to 33 microns
  
• It has a 42 g capacity

The Omega fills a narrow space between the Kinu M47 Classic and the Comandante C40. For pour-over and coarser grinds, the lack of fines is slightly better than the C40 and is definitely better than the Kinu with standard burr.

– Customer Review

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The Full Mazzer Omega Review

Mazzer has been manufacturing commercial grinders for 73 years. The company is known for household grinders such as the Superjolly, Kony, and Mini and the Omega is their first foray into hand grinders. We tested Omega’s burrs, grind adjustments, and ease of use.

Here’s how it fared.

Mazzer Omega Review

• Grinder Type
• Premium Materials
• Conical Burrs
• Grind Settings
• Hopper Capacity

4.4

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Grinder Type – 4/5

You can’t press a button and expect Mazzer Omega to do the rest. Instead, you need to do all the work:

• Weigh the beans.
• Pour them into the grinder.
• Turn the handle to grind.

Luckily, Mazzer included some details that make the use easy. The grinder consists of four simple pieces. Our favourite was the neodymium magnets that keep the parts together when not in use (1). The knob is secured to the top and the stick part to the side. Therefore, cleverly designed magnets hold the crankshaft, improving the stability of all the parts.

Premium Materials – 5/5

The Mazzer Omega is made from anodized aluminium, which means it has been treated to develop a durable finish (2). The handle stick is made from carbon fibre. This reduces weight and makes the grinding easier, as carbon fibre is light but strong (3). Finally, there’s an aluminium catch cup so you can easily transfer the ground coffee into a filter or an espresso basket.

The Omega’s build quality is superior — designed to last long. But, the most important part of a grinder is its burr set and grinding options. Let’s check how this part of the Omega fares.

Conical Burrs – 4.5/5

Omega has Mazzer factory-manufactured 47 mm steel conical burrs that produce uniform grinding and good extraction results. The hand grinder comes in two versions: soft and hard burrs. So, what is the difference between these two burr options?

• The soft grinding burrs are intended for slow-moving grinding (require less effort)
• The hard grinding burrs are intended for fast-moving grinding (require more effort)

When all grinding is done, the catch cup comes off with little fuss and the tapered sides make for a smooth exit of grinds into your brewing method of choice. And the grinder itself retains very little coffee. You’ll get 0.2 grams or less.

The burrs don’t have a coating on them which wears off over time. They are rust-resistant and can achieve excellent particle uniformity across different grind adjustments.

Grind Settings – 3.5/5

The Mazzer Omega hand grinder has an external grind adjustment. The burrs touch at the zero markers, so you don’t have to mark where to start. You’ll hear a click as you adjust the settings.

Each click of the micro-stepped adjustments changes the settings by 1/30 mm in the burr gap, which is 33 microns. Compared to many other handheld coffee bean grinders, 33 microns isn’t ideal. For comparison, we’ve used grinders with as little as 12.5 microns, which allows for endless dialling-in options. 33 microns is acceptable for most brewing styles, except fine grounds needed for espresso and Turkish coffee.

So, how to make your favourite cup of coffee with this hand grinder?

• Prepare and adjust the grind
• Drop in the coffee beans
• Crank it
• Brew it

It’s that simple!

However, this grinder does not allow fine adjustments for dialling an espresso. It lacks usable clicks on the dial.

Mazzer suggests grinding at 4, 5, or 6 for espresso. The lower you go, the harder it will be. For example, grinding at the second click for five minutes results in only one gram of coffee. There was a slight improvement in grinding after the third click, though. Overall, if you’re ready to spend 10 minutes grinding, you can get powdery grounds.

Only espresso lovers will find this to be an issue. But rest assured that this hand grinder will suit your needs if you prefer other brewing methods. Try to test it and put it in both the filter and espresso. You’ll get tasty well-extracted quality cups with a nice full body and balance.

Another con we found is that it’s easy to bump the adjustment system during the grinding, which accidentally changes the grinding settings. It’s annoying, and you must be careful while holding the Mazzer grinder.

Hopper Capacity – 5/5

Omega’s hopper capacity is 42 g, which is decent for a hand grinder. Compared to other hand grinders, which have a capacity of 30 g to 35 g, Omega is larger. That being said, the output side is smaller than the input. The catch holds around 30 g of ground, so you’ll have to:

• Stop grinding
• Empty the catch cup
• Reload the hopper for a double batch

Do Not Buy Mazzer Omega if…

• You drink espresso — The Omega isn’t the best choice if espresso is your favourite drink because there’s not much room to dial in. Instead, check out the Lido 3 Espresso grinder. Lido 3 produces consistent grinds across a wide range of settings, and you have more room to dial in and grind fine.
• You’re on a budget — The Omega is more expensive than most hand grinders. If you’re looking for a more affordable quality grinder, check out the Timemore C2 model. It’s fast, affordable and provides a reliable grind.
• You want an electric grinder — In case you don’t want an arm workout every time you need to grind the coffee, check out the Arco 2-in-1 coffee grinder by Goat Story. It’s a manual grinder that can be attached to a base. This turns it into an electric grinder, so you get the best of both worlds.

The Verdict

So, does the Mazzer Omega stand out in an already over-saturated market of hand grinders? Its build quality is top-notch, and the burr set is solid. However, apart from the materials used and the strong magnet (which we’re obsessed with), Mazzer isn’t bringing too much extra to the table.

Overall, the Mazzer Omega is a small grinder with excellent ergonomics and decent grind adjustments, but we’d like to see more options for fine grinding.

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