Option-O Lagom P80 review: measurements and espresso

The Lagom P80 by Option-O is grinder number 100 in our test field. You asked for it as our anniversary grinder, and it handed us numbers we have never seen in more than a hundred grinders tested. Ordered directly from the manufacturer and shipped from Germany, it costs around 1,600 euros including tax and shipping. What you get for that: 80 mm flat burrs, a 500 watt brushless motor, a speed adjustable from 300 to 1,700 RPM and a single dosing grinder that follows the basic shape of its smaller sister, the P64.

Three things up front. The main peak in the particle distribution is the narrowest we have ever measured. Retention sits at 0.2 grams. And the grind adjustment scale is hard to excuse on a grinder in this price bracket. One thing at a time.

Build and technology: the bigger sister of the P64

Anyone who knows the P64 will recognise the P80 immediately. Everything is a little larger, a little sturdier, which is partly down to the burr size. 8.1 kilograms at 24 × 14 × 38 centimetres, machined from anodised aluminium and stainless steel. Inside, however, Option-O has rebuilt almost everything: the upper grinding chamber is now a single component, and loose springs and separate bearings are gone when you take it apart. The burrs sit magnetically on a three point mount, and two screw burrs in M6x7 format fit as well.

Two details stand out positively in daily use. The dosing ring closes cleanly against the basket. And you can grind straight into the 58 mm portafilter without nudging things left and right.

The knocker at the grounds outlet draws criticism. It is effective at clearing residual coffee. But the mechanism is so tightly dimensioned that it occasionally sticks at the bottom and only returns after a gentle wiggle. Course participants have reported the same to us. Personally I find the design odd: I do not want to milk my grinder. And in terms of gap, the knocker sits almost flush at the top while standing a millimetre proud at the bottom.

Noise and speed: 9 seconds for 18 grams, 82.8 dB

At 1,100 RPM, our measurement speed for blocks two and three, the P80 needs nine seconds for 18 grams. With a full hopper it puts out 26.2 grams in ten seconds. That is remarkable, because the beans are deliberately fed in slowly via the auger. Despite the restrained feed, the 80 mm burrs work through the dose briskly.

In continuous operation we measure 82.8 dB. By our protocol that lands in the middle range, and on the number alone the grinder would not be quiet. The number describes it badly here, though: the tone is pleasant, a full motor sound that I compare to an electric car in the review video. No resonance, no screeching. Even in purge mode at high speed it stays bearable.

Thermally the grinder is unremarkable. The beans go in at 21.7 °C, and across five consecutive grinds with 20 second breaks we measure 29.9 / 26.0 / 26.7 / 29.3 / 29.8 °C, averaging 28.3 °C. The series does not climb, so the grinder does not heat up even across several shots back to back. For light and dark roasts alike that is exactly right.

Retention: 0.2 grams, we have never measured better

On retention the P80 delivers the figure every single dosing grinder will have to be measured against from now on. Andrea is responsible for this measurement in our test team and goes about it uncompromisingly: undo every screw, brush out the burrs from underneath, scrape together everything that can be found. With some effort he arrived at 0.1 grams temporary and 0.1 grams permanent. So 0.2 grams absolute.

The consequence in daily use is bigger than the number looks. You can switch beans without purging first. You can turn the grind adjustment and see the effect in the very next shot, instead of pushing half a dose of old grounds through. And the coffee in the basket is the coffee you just ground. That is exactly the idea behind single dosing, and Option-O has done the right detail work here. We would like a few other manufacturers to take a leaf out of their book.

Two things achieve this: the knocker, tuned to the slanted grinding chamber, and a purge function that ramps up the speed at the end of the grind and blows the remainder out of the chamber. The grinder detects via a torque sensor when resistance drops off, ramps up once and then shuts down. If you prefer, you can trigger the purge with a double press. The other figures fit the picture: of 18 grams of beans fed in, 17.9 grams land in the cup, a deviation of 0.1 grams. Across five doses the standard deviation is 0.04 grams. Both are outstanding.

The grind scale is the biggest point of criticism

The P80 adjusts steplessly via a fine thread, and Option-O states ten microns per mark. In practice that means one mark corresponds to eight to ten seconds of extraction time, depending on the coffee. Half a mark repeatedly gave us six to eight seconds of difference while pulling samples. At grind setting 0.65 we were at 22 and 23 seconds, at 0.6 then at 28 seconds.

This is a problem because there are no intermediate markings between the vertical lines on the collar. So you inevitably work between the marks, but cannot read off where exactly you ended up. 8.1 or 8.15 or 8.16 all look the same. Michel therefore photographs the setting for every coffee, and even then he does not hit the position exactly again. On top of that, the reference line on the housing is thicker than the lines on the collar, and the gaps between the lines are not even consistent: the distance from 3.5 to 3.6 is visibly different from 3.6 to 3.7.

On a grinder whose strength is precision, this destroys part of that precision. For a single dosing grinder where you switch between recipes several times a day, it is the most expensive design flaw in the whole machine. Anyone who always grinds the same coffee will barely notice. Anyone who changes beans daily will make photographing the setting a routine chore.

Dear Option-O team: you build sensational grinders. Make the scale finer and consistent. And until then, a cleanly printed stick-on scale would be an interim solution you could ship out. Individual users are currently cobbling one together themselves on various platforms. On a grinder costing 1,600 euros that should not be the customer's job.

Repeatability: the main peak comes back, the x50 does not

For the adjustment check we move from espresso (T4, grind setting 0.7) to ristretto (T5, 0.55), then to lungo (T6, 0.95) and visually back to the starting mark (T7).

The main peak returns almost exactly: 106.0 µm at T4, 110.0 µm at T7. The x50 value, by contrast, moves from 144.8 to 172.3 µm, a good 27 µm. At the same time the fines peak drops from 44.1 to 39.8 percent. So the even main fraction is back, the rest of the curve is not. And because it is precisely the fines that build resistance in the puck on this grinder, you taste that in the cup.

The practical consequence: turning back to the old mark by eye is not enough. What shows up as imprecision in our measurement data is to a large extent the coarse scale described above. Michel notes that it works well enough with practice, but it takes time to build a relationship with this grinder. So the P80 does grind reproducibly, once you have the scale under control.

Particle distribution: a main peak at 106 µm, we have never measured anything this narrow

We measure particle distribution in cooperation with the Coffee Excellence Center at ZHAW on the Retsch Camsizer X2. In the espresso setting at 1,100 RPM (T4), the x50 sits at 144.8 µm, the main peak at 106.0 µm and the fines peak at 44.1 percent; that is the share of grounds below 100 microns.

Those 106 microns are the reason we planned this video twice. We have worked through SSP burrs, 80 mm and 100 mm sizes, blind mounted and screw mounted. We have never come across a main peak this narrow. For comparison: anything beyond roughly 300 µm peak width we classify as heterogeneous, and good espresso grinders usually land somewhere between 150 and 250 µm.

The feed mechanism is responsible for this. An auger delivers the beans to the burrs slowly and evenly, and a crusher is integrated into the Mizen 80OM burrs that pre-breaks the beans before they reach the cutting zone. Slow feeding, in other words, only built in rather than dosed by hand. The burrs are also mounted from behind without screws, which further reinforces the cutting edges and the evenness of the grinder. Screws set from above are in fact one of the most drastic interventions in the grinding behaviour of burrs there is.

The apparent contradiction in the numbers is interesting. The main peak is extremely narrow, and at the same time 44.1 percent of the grounds sit below 100 microns. That is not coincidence but condition: because the main fraction is so even and there are hardly any medium and small particles in the intermediate range above the 100 micron mark, we have to grind fine enough on the other side to produce plenty of fines, in order to build sufficient resistance at all and reach sensible extraction times. We know the same pattern from all purpose burrs.

In the shot, though, the grinder, or rather the grounds, behave differently. Instead of taking more than 13 seconds as with all purpose burrs, we see the first drops after around nine seconds. Unlike with AP burrs, the puck also holds its integrity considerably longer and settles at a stable 4 millilitres per second towards the end. So the P80 does accelerate, but far less brutally than expected.

Who is this curve made for? For light, complex roasts, certainly. But our tests across various roasts have proven that medium to dark roasts work very well too and keep their body. What you do need: clean puck preparation. The high fines peak creates clumps, and without WDT, channeling is a real risk. On this grinder that is not a recommendation but a prerequisite.

300 to 1,700 RPM: what the speed changes

You adjust the speed via a detented wheel with a numerical scale on the side, from 300 to 1,700 RPM. Because we pulled three samples at the same grind mark, we can show what the speed does to the curve.

At 300 RPM the main peak becomes slightly narrower again and the fines peak drops a little. That is the setting for maximum clarity. Between 1,100 and 1,700 RPM, by contrast, the curve barely changes, which is unusual for a grinder with speed control.

From the data, and also with an eye on other slow feeding experiments, we interpret this to mean that slow feeding already reduces the chaotic distribution and grinding inside the grinder so strongly that the lower speed brings no additional benefit. You can read more on this in our article on slow feeding.

Static, cleaning and operation

The clumps of grounds we affectionately named after the P64 are history. An ioniser reduces static charge, and in principle you no longer need RDT. A certain residual charge remains, and it increases the darker and finer you grind. For everyday use at home we would still keep working with a water spray. But that is no longer a condition as it was with the P64, it is a comfort gain. A clear difference from the previous model.

To clean, you take off the catch ring and undo two hex screws, then you are at the grinding chamber. It is simple and logically built, but it does not work entirely without tools. That is why we rate cleaning as good rather than very good. For routine cleaning in between you do not need to unscrew anything, for a deep clean you do. If you also want to work with grinder cleaner, you will find Cafetto Grinder Clean in our shop.

Two buttons sit on the side: a real power switch that latches, and the grind button, which runs the grinder until the torque sensor detects the end of the grind. Zero calibration has been simplified compared to the P64, and a limiter protects the burrs during calibration and can be removed if you want full control.

In the cup: from light to decaf

For the review video we deliberately brewed at a standard nine bar, without flow or pressure profiling. Not because it is the best solution, but because nine bar is the most widespread and not many machines can regulate flow and pressure.

The first espresso was a light roast, our Shyira. Wildly complex, with everything this coffee holds, and surprisingly full bodied on top. Heavy but elegant, viscous, with a creaminess that stays in the mouth. We had not expected that from this particle picture; we had assumed a lighter and juicier body. First drop at eleven seconds.

Then our interpretation of an Italian espresso, the Compadre. Richly caramel, with a cocoa note so clear and tangible you could draw it. Sweetness fully present, a medium to heavy body, and as it cools it moves towards caramelised nuts and dark chocolate. Acidity in this coffee is low anyway, but what is there is clearly structured. Dialled in at 24 seconds, and it tastes good at 26 or 28 seconds too, so the window is not limited to a single point.

Finally the Apas Decaf, decaffeinated in Bremen with subcritical CO₂, meaning natural spring carbonic acid. Decaffeination changes the structure of a coffee considerably and with it the extraction behaviour: this coffee does not accelerate towards the end, the flow actually drops off again. We had never seen that before. In the cup, the nougat note we know from the Apas Espresso, our reference coffee from the test protocol.

Apas Decaf, decaffeinated espresso from Brazil

The coffee from the last shot in the video: sweet and cocoa-rich, nougat and dark chocolate, plus an extraction behaviour that turns idiosyncratic with the P80.

Brazil Decaffeinated APAS cooperative

To the coffee

Across all three coffees: the espresso potential of this grinder is outstanding. But it is not a grinder for beginners. You need an understanding of extraction, of brewing, and clean puck preparation. The path to the sweet spot is a narrow ridge above a wide river: too fine and you have a choking moment, and you are working close to that edge. Grinders with this kind of particle picture show their strengths most clearly on machines that can profile flow, or at least pressure. It works at nine bar, with profiling you get more out of it.

Technical data at a glance

As always, we tested this grinder according to our KM protocol and bought it ourselves. This review was not requested by Option-O.