Even the Best Single Dose Espresso Grinder Admits to 0.1 Gram

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Two grinders on this page put the word “zero” in their retention claim. Both then print the number behind it, in the same words: “True Zero Retention <0.1 gram.” On these listings, zero means under a tenth of a gram.

That is not a complaint. A tenth of a gram is very little coffee to leave behind. Against a typical 18 g double shot it is about half of one percent. The point is simpler: a number can be compared, and most listings here decline to give one.

All ten grinders below make some claim about leftover grounds. Eight use the word “retention”; two talk about “residue”. Four publish a weight. One publishes a percentage without saying what it is a percentage of. Five publish adjectives only — “low”, “reduced”, “minimising” — and among those five are the most expensive grinder here and the one Italian-built machine.

The four weights are tightly bunched: under 0.1 g, under 0.1 g, about 0.1 g, and 0.1 to 0.2 g. That whole range fits inside two divisions of the 0.1 g scale most home baristas use, which also means that a scale reading to 0.1 g cannot tell “under 0.1 g” apart from nothing at all. If you want to check a claim like this, you need to weigh beans in and grounds out, and you need patience more than precision.

Burrs run from 40mm conical to 64mm flat. Five grinders state stepless adjustment, which is the feature espresso actually needs; three use numbered steps, and two are unclear. Six name a bellows, a blow-up hopper or a blow-out funnel for clearing the chamber. None of the ten mentions RDT, the habit of misting beans with a drop of water to cut static, so any static control here is built into the machine or not there at all.

And one listing deserves a warning before the table. The Fellow Ode Gen 2 is the most-reviewed grinder on this page, with 713 ratings and “500+ bought in past month”. Its first bullet ends: “Designed specifically for brewed coffee. Not for espresso.” It appears in single dose searches, it is a fine single dose grinder for filter coffee, and it is included here so you can see it clearly and not buy it for an espresso machine.

So read this roundup in grams first, then in stepless or stepped, then in burr size. The adjectives tell you very little, because every listing uses them.

Budget to premium below. The cheapest grinder that prints a retention weight is the AMZCHEF; the cheapest that prints “<0.1 gram” is the MiiCoffee DF54.

Our Quick Picks

At a Glance

Ten Grinders, Sorted by the Retention Figure They Print

Stated retention first, from “<0.1 gram” down to adjectives only. Then read the adjustment column: for espresso, stepless matters more than another millimetre of burr.

#	Model	Retention Stated	Burrs	Adjustment	Best Sellers Rank	Standout	Main Drawback	Check Price
1	MiiCoffee DF64 II	<0.1 g	64mm flat	Stepless	#30 in Electric Burr Grinders	Printed <0.1 g, 64mm flat, SSP-upgradable burrs	15.0 lb, one-year warranty, top-tier price	View on Amazon
2	MiiCoffee DF54	<0.1 g	54mm flat	Stepless	#21 in Electric Burr Grinders	Same retention claim as the DF64 II, far cheaper	3.8 across 669 ratings, lowest here	View on Amazon
3	beanglass T64	About 0.1 g	64mm flat	Stepless	#349 in Electric Burr Grinders	Bellow, magnetic chute and 300W motor stated	Warns clogging below setting 5	View on Amazon
4	AMZCHEF 8306A	0.1–0.2 g	40mm conical	75 settings	#95 in Electric Burr Grinders	Cheapest grinder here that prints a weight	Stepped, not stepless, for espresso	View on Amazon
5	Viesimple Gen 4	<0.2% residue	48mm conical	Not stated	#40 in Electric Burr Grinders	4.5 across 337 ratings; under 50 dB claimed	Percentage of what? The listing never says	View on Amazon
6	Eureka Mignon Zero	Words only	55mm	Stepless	#88 in Electric Burr Grinders	Micrometric stepless dial, built in Milan	No retention figure; burr type not stated	View on Amazon
7	Turin SK40	Words only	40mm conical	Stepless	#92 in Electric Burr Grinders	Cheapest stepless grinder here, bellows included	No figure, no weight, no anti-static stated	View on Amazon
8	HiBREW G5	Words only	48mm conical	36 settings	#166 in Electric Burr Grinders	Two speeds: 500 and 400 r/min	“36 continuously adjustable” settings is ambiguous	View on Amazon
9	SHARDOR Cordless	Words only	Conical, size not stated	80 settings	#61 in Electric Burr Grinders	Battery powered, USB-C, 56 dB claimed	20W motor; burr size never given	View on Amazon
10	Fellow Ode Gen 2	Words only	64mm flat	31 settings	#26 in Electric Burr Grinders	713 ratings, most reviewed here	Listing says: “Not for espresso.”	View on Amazon

Ratings and specifications are taken from each manufacturer’s Amazon listing as displayed on 5 October 2026 through a United States connection, and may change. Retention wording is reproduced from each listing. The MiiCoffee DF64 II and DF54 state “True Zero Retention <0.1 gram”; the beanglass T64 states “about 0.1g”; the AMZCHEF states “as low as 0.1 to 0.2g”. The Viesimple states “less than 0.2% debris residue” without naming the base. “Words only” means the listing claims low retention or reduced residue but gives no figure. The Eureka gives a 55mm burr but not whether it is flat or conical, and states 45 g for its hopper in one bullet and 46 g capacity in another; both are shown in its card. The HiBREW calls its 36 settings “continuously adjustable”, and we have not counted it as stepless. The SHARDOR names a conical burr but no size. The Fellow Ode Gen 2 is included as a warning: its own listing says it is not for espresso. Adjustment is as stated; the Viesimple publishes no setting count or adjustment type.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column

How We Chose These Ten

We researched current listings, compared manufacturer specifications and documentation, and examined recurring patterns in customer feedback. We did not carry out hands-on testing, and nothing below is presented as measured performance data.

• Retention recorded exactly as published — a weight where a listing gives one, the wording where it does not; four of ten print grams, one prints a percentage, five print adjectives
• Adjustment type read against espresso — stepless where the listing says stepless; a count of settings where it gives steps; “not stated” where it gives neither
• Burr size and type from the listing only — nine of ten state a size; one of those does not say flat or conical, and one conical grinder gives no size at all
• Clearing aids noted where named — bellows, blow-up hoppers, blow-out funnels, knockers, ionisers and anti-static coatings; none of the ten mentions RDT
• A verified live buy box — all ten confirmed in stock on amazon.com on 5 October 2026, with prices taken from the buy box that day
• One near-duplicate removed — a second DF64 listing shares the DF64 II’s dimensions and almost every bullet word for word, so only one appears
• One warning included on purpose — the Fellow Ode Gen 2 says “Not for espresso” and is kept so the most-reviewed single dose grinder on Amazon is not mistaken for an espresso grinder

The Ten Grinders in Detail

Four Numbers, Six Without One: What the Retention Claims Actually Say

Every grinder on this page makes a claim about what it leaves behind. Here is each claim in the listing’s own words, sorted by how specific it is. The question for each row is simple: could you check it with a scale?

Four weights, and they are close together. The best case among them is “under 0.1 g”, the worst case is 0.2 g, and the gap between those is a tenth of a gram. Against an 18 g double shot, 0.1 g is about 0.6% of the dose and 0.2 g is about 1.1%. If you are switching from a dark roast to a light one, that is the share of yesterday’s coffee that may land in today’s first shot. Small, but not nothing, and the reason single dosing exists.

The word “zero” appears twice, both times from MiiCoffee, and both times it is defined on the spot as “<0.1 gram”. That is the useful way to read every zero retention claim you meet: as a ceiling of a tenth of a gram, reached with help. The same bullet says the grinder gets to “almost zero” without a bellow and tells you to use a blow-out funnel “to completely empty the dead space”. So the best zero retention espresso grinder on this page is honest about two things: the number, and the work.

The six without a weight are not necessarily worse. The Eureka’s wording is arguably the most candid on the page: it names the problem, offers a fix, and stops at “most”. The Turin pairs its adjective with a tilt and bellows, which are the physical features that produce low retention in the first place. But a grinder whose listing gives no figure has made no promise you can test, and that matters if the reason you are buying is retention.

One more thing. A typical coffee scale reads to 0.1 g. That means it cannot distinguish “under 0.1 g” from zero, and it can only just show the difference between the AMZCHEF’s best case and its worst. The figures on this page are below the resolution most buyers have at home. Check them over several doses, not one.

Burr Size Does Not Predict the Number

It would be tidy if the big flat burr grinders printed figures and the small conical ones did not. The listings do not cooperate.

Three of the four grinders that print a weight have flat burrs of 54mm or 64mm. The fourth is the 40mm conical AMZCHEF, the cheapest grinder on the page. Meanwhile the third 64mm flat burr grinder, the Fellow, prints no figure at all. Burr size tells you about grind character and speed. It does not tell you what stays in the chamber. That is decided by the path the grounds take out of the burrs, by how much static holds them, and by whether something pushes the last of them out.

Look at the clearing aids column. Every grinder that prints a figure also names a specific way of getting grounds out: a blow-out funnel, a bellow, a removable chute, a knock tool. Retention is not only a property of the machine. It is a property of the machine plus what you do after the motor stops. A listing that quotes 0.1 g is quoting the result of a routine.

Stepless adjustment splits differently again. Five grinders state it: both MiiCoffees, the beanglass, the Eureka and the Turin. That list covers 40mm conical and 64mm flat, from the Turin up to the DF64 II. Three use numbered steps (31, 75, 80), the HiBREW’s “36 continuously adjustable” settings could be read either way, and the Viesimple does not say. For filter coffee, steps are fine. For espresso, where a few seconds of shot time can decide whether a coffee is sour or bitter, stepless is the feature to put first, ahead of an extra 10mm of burr.

None of the ten mentions RDT — the Ross Droplet Technique, a single spritz of water on the beans before grinding to cut static. That is not a criticism; it is a technique, not a feature. But it means every anti-static claim here is about the hardware: two ionisers on the MiiCoffees, coatings on the Viesimple and HiBREW, unspecified “anti-static technology” on the Fellow and AMZCHEF. Four listings state no static control at all.

The Bestseller That Says It Is Not for Espresso

The Fellow Ode Gen 2 has 713 ratings, more than any other grinder here, and “500+ bought in past month”, also the most. It is titled “Single Dose”. It is the dearest grinder on the page. And its first bullet ends with four words: “Not for espresso.”

That is not a hidden caveat. It is the most prominent line on the listing, and it is entirely consistent with everything else Fellow says: 31 settings “optimized for pour-over, drip coffee, French press, and cold brew”, and a grind guide under the lid for those methods. The Ode is a single dose grinder for brewed coffee, and a good one by its specification.

The problem is the search, not the grinder. Anyone looking for a single dose espresso grinder will meet the Ode early, and it shares a price point almost exactly with the DF64 II. Both have 64mm flat burrs. Only one of them has a dial that the maker says will reach espresso, and only one prints a retention figure. If you are reading this page because you own an espresso machine, the Ode is the one grinder here not to buy.

Its 3.9 across 713 ratings is also worth noting, without over-reading. It is the joint second-lowest score on the page. We cannot tell from the listing how many of those ratings come from buyers who expected espresso.

Best Alternatives

If most of your coffee is filter and espresso is an occasional treat, the wider field in our coffee grinder roundup is the better place to start. If you have not chosen the machine yet, choose it first: the basket size and whether it is pressurised decide how fine and how precise the grinder needs to be, and our espresso machine guide covers that side of the purchase.

What Each Step Up Actually Buys

The budget tier — AMZCHEF 8306A, SHARDOR Cordless. Two grinders at nearly the same level that could hardly be more different. The AMZCHEF plugs in, prints 0.1 to 0.2 g retention, steps through 75 settings on a 40mm conical burr and ships funnel stands for 58mm and 51 or 54mm portafilters. The SHARDOR runs on a battery, prints no figure and states a 20W motor. For espresso at home, the AMZCHEF is the stronger stated case; the SHARDOR is for when there is no socket.

The middle tier — HiBREW G5, Viesimple Gen 4, Turin SK40, MiiCoffee DF54. The middle tier, and the most interesting. The HiBREW buys two speeds. The Viesimple buys quiet, a 2-year warranty and 4.5 across 337 ratings, but no adjustment detail. The Turin buys stepless adjustment and bellows. The DF54 buys stepless adjustment, flat burrs and a printed <0.1 g. For most espresso single dosers, this is where the decision sits, and it is between the Turin and the DF54.

The premium tier — Eureka Mignon Zero, beanglass T64, MiiCoffee DF64 II, Fellow Ode Gen 2. Three espresso grinders and one filter grinder. The Eureka buys Milan assembly and a micrometric dial. The beanglass buys 64mm titanium-plated burrs and a bellow. The DF64 II buys 64mm burrs, a printed <0.1 g and an SSP upgrade path. The Fellow buys a premium filter grinder that says it is not for espresso. Above the middle tier, nothing on this page prints a lower retention figure than the DF54 already does; the step up buys burr size, build and adjustment feel.

What to Check Before You Buy

Ask for a Gram Figure, Then Read the Words Around It

Four listings here print a retention weight and six do not. If low retention is the reason you are buying a single dose grinder, the first filter is simple: does the listing commit to a number? Then read the qualifier. “<0.1 gram” is a ceiling. “About 0.1g” allows a little either side. “As low as 0.1 to 0.2g” is a best case. “Less than 0.2% debris residue” is a percentage of something the listing does not name. And look for the routine behind the figure. The MiiCoffee listings say “almost zero” without help and point you to a blow-out funnel to finish the job. A number achieved with a bellows and a number achieved without one are different numbers.

Weigh It Yourself, Over Several Doses

Retention is easy to check at home if you are patient. Weigh the beans in, grind, clear the chamber the way you intend to every day, and weigh the grounds out. The difference is what stayed behind. Do it over five or ten doses, because the first dose through a new grinder seasons the burrs and the chamber, and because a single reading at these weights is mostly noise. A scale that reads to 0.1 g is the minimum; it cannot tell under 0.1 g from zero, but it can show you whether a grinder is consistently near 0.1 g or consistently near 0.5 g. Our kitchen scale roundup covers scales with the resolution this needs.

Put Stepless Ahead of Burr Size for Espresso

Espresso is the grind most sensitive to small changes. A few seconds of shot time can turn a balanced shot sour or bitter, and on a stepped grinder the right setting may sit between two clicks. Five grinders here state stepless adjustment: the MiiCoffee DF64 II and DF54, the beanglass T64, the Eureka Mignon Zero and the Turin SK40. Three use numbered steps of 31, 75 and 80. The HiBREW’s “36 continuously adjustable” settings are ambiguous, and the Viesimple says nothing. If you use an unpressurised basket, start your shortlist with the stepless five.

Choose Flat or Conical for Taste, Not for Retention

Flat burrs here run from 54mm to 64mm; conical burrs from 40mm to 48mm, plus one conical burr of unstated size and one 55mm burr of unstated type. Flat and conical burrs produce grounds with different particle spreads, and coffee drinkers argue about which tastes better for which roast. That argument is real but outside what these listings can settle. What they do show is that burr type does not predict retention: a 40mm conical grinder prints 0.1 to 0.2 g, and a 64mm flat grinder prints nothing. Decide burr type on the coffee you drink, and retention on the listing’s figure and clearing aids.

Look for a Bellows, a Funnel or a Knocker

Single dose grinders get their last tenth of a gram out with a puff of air or a tap. The Turin includes rubber bellows; the beanglass names a bellow; the Eureka has a Blow Up hopper; the MiiCoffees and the Viesimple refer to a blow-out funnel; the AMZCHEF includes a knock tool; the Fellow has a built-in knocker. The SHARDOR names none. A tilted body, as on the Turin and the HiBREW’s 15° tilt, uses gravity for the same job. If a listing names no clearing aid at all, expect to tap the grinder by hand, and expect its retention to be higher than a grinder that does.

Check What Handles the Static

Static makes grounds cling to the chute and the cup, and it is the main reason a single dose grinder holds more on a dry winter day than a humid summer one. Two grinders here name an ioniser or “plasma generator” at the exit chute, both MiiCoffees. Two state an anti-static coating, the Viesimple and the HiBREW. The Fellow and the AMZCHEF state anti-static technology without saying what it is. Four state nothing. None mentions RDT, the single spritz of water on the beans that many single dosers use; it works on any grinder and costs nothing. Note the dosing cup material too: aluminium or stainless steel holds less static than plastic.

Match the Dosing Cup to Your Portafilter

Several grinders ship a dosing cup sized to a 58mm portafilter: the DF64 II’s is aluminium, the DF54’s transparent plastic, the beanglass’s aluminium. The MiiCoffee listings say plainly that the cup is the better route “especially if your portafilter isn’t 58mm”. The AMZCHEF is the only one to include stands for 51 or 54mm as well as 58mm, and many home espresso machines use those smaller baskets. The Eureka offers an adjustable fork to hold a portafilter directly. Know your basket size before you buy, and expect to pour from the cup if it does not match.

Common Mistakes

• Buying the Fellow Ode Gen 2 for espresso. Its own listing says “Not for espresso”, and it is the dearest grinder here.
• Reading “zero retention” as zero. Both listings that use the word define it as “<0.1 gram”, with a blow-out funnel to finish the job.
• Treating a percentage as a weight. The Viesimple’s “less than 0.2% debris residue” never says 0.2% of what.
• Paying for burr size when you need a stepless dial. Five grinders here are stepless, the cheapest being the Turin; 10mm of burr will not fix a shot that sits between two clicks.
• Judging retention from one dose. At 0.1 g, a single weighing on a 0.1 g scale is mostly noise; average over five to ten doses.
• Skipping the bellows or funnel. Every printed figure here assumes a clearing step; skip it and expect more than 0.1 g behind.
• Ignoring the portafilter size. Three grinders ship 58mm dosing cups; only the AMZCHEF names 51 or 54mm stands.
• Expecting espresso speed from a 20W battery motor. The SHARDOR claims an espresso range, but the beanglass states 300W.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy the MiiCoffee DF64 II if espresso is daily and you want the tightest stated retention with room to grow. A printed “<0.1 gram”, 64mm flat burrs with an SSP upgrade path, a stepless dial and an ioniser, with 4.4 across 278 ratings.

Buy the MiiCoffee DF54 if you want the same retention claim for far less. The retention and adjustment bullets match the DF64 II word for word on 54mm flat burrs. Accept the 3.8 across 669 ratings and the plastic cup as the cost of the saving.

Buy the beanglass T64 if you want 64mm flat burrs and a bellow for less than the DF64 II. About 0.1 g stated, titanium-plated burrs, a magnetic removable chute and a 300W motor, on a thin record of 4.0 across 47 ratings.

Buy the AMZCHEF 8306A if you want a printed retention figure on a budget. 0.1 to 0.2 g, a 40mm conical burr, 75 steps and funnel stands for 58mm and 51 or 54mm portafilters. Best on a pressurised or smaller-basket machine.

Buy the Viesimple Gen 4 if quiet and a good rating matter more than a retention weight. Under 50 dB claimed, 4.5 across 337 ratings, 2-year warranty and the smallest corded body here. Check its adjustment type before you rely on it for espresso.

Buy the Eureka Mignon Zero if you want Italian build and the finest dial on the page. Micrometric stepless adjustment over multiple turns, a Blow Up hopper and Milan assembly, with 4.6 across 33 ratings. No retention figure.

Buy the Turin SK40 if stepless espresso adjustment on a budget is the priority. The cheapest stepless grinder here, with a tilted body, rubber bellows and 4.6 across 38 ratings.

Buy the HiBREW G5 if you want a choice of grind speed. 500 or 400 r/min, a 15° tilt, an anti-static coating and 4.5 across 90 ratings, though its 36 settings may not be truly stepless.

Buy the SHARDOR Cordless if you need to grind away from a socket. Battery and USB-C, 56 dB, 80 settings and the smallest body here. Not the one for heavy daily espresso.

Buy the Fellow Ode Gen 2 only if you drink filter coffee. 64mm flat burrs, 31 settings for pour-over to cold brew, a 2-year warranty and 713 ratings. Its listing says “Not for espresso”, and it means it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

Every grinder on this page claims low retention. Four print a weight. Those four sit between “under 0.1 g” and 0.2 g, and the two that say “zero” define it as “<0.1 gram” with a blow-out funnel to finish the job. That is the honest shape of the best low retention espresso grinder: a tenth of a gram, reached with a routine.

Burr size does not predict who prints a number. A budget conical grinder publishes one; a premium flat burr grinder does not. What the printed figures share is a named clearing aid — funnel, bellow, chute or knock tool — and, for espresso, the more important split is stepless against stepped. Five grinders here are stepless, from the Turin to the DF64 II.

And one listing says the quiet part out loud. The Fellow Ode Gen 2 is the most-reviewed single dose grinder here and its first bullet says “Not for espresso.” Take it at its word.

If you buy one grinder from this page, make it the MiiCoffee DF64 II — the tightest stated retention, the largest flat burrs, a stepless dial and a burr upgrade path, on 278 ratings. If it is more than you need, the DF54 makes the same retention promise on smaller burrs; if stepless matters more than a printed number, the Turin SK40 is the cheapest way there.