Option-O Lagom Casa - Mostly Awesome
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- It's incredible! Mostly. Let's review the Option-O Lagom Casa grinder
Option O Lagom Casa - geni.us/F9nx
10% Off Ascaso Espresso Machines* - geni.us/fZGQE (Use DADDYGOTCOFFEE - affiliate link)
The coffee I drank in this video was from Hatch - www.hatchcrafted.com/shop/fel...
0:00 - Option-O Lagom Casa
1:04 - Workflow and Features
1:45 - Burr Business
2:54 - Taste on Filter
3:22 - Making and Tasting Espresso
4:18 - Tests - Grind Ranges
5:05 - Tests - Sound Level
5:14 - Tests - Retention, Amazing!
7:22 - Not too sure about this?
8:12 - This is a big one..
9:39 - Couple other issues
11:52 - Where we stand
Fantastic and awesome review as always!! We just wanted jump in here to add our perspective, hopefully that helps provide some contexts to some of the design decisions!
Re the grind range - it was definitely a tough call for us. As most our LAGOM mini users primarily focused on espresso (therefore we expect the Casa too to some extent), we felt it would be more beneficial to have a larger adjustment range in espresso compared the slight inconvenience in moving between brew methods. It’d take a few extra seconds to find the zero/range, which is not ideal, but we think it is well worth it for the additional adjustment resolution for espresso.
For communicating the grind setting, we would refer to it as 7 (7 ticks from zero) or 17 (1 revolution plus 7 ticks from zero) for filter. The numbers are in tenths so hopefully that makes it easier!
Concerning the ‘off center’ cup, it was a case of function follows form unfortunately. To center the cup, that would entail a bigger grind chamber, which would have other undesired consequences - an odd body-ratio, more expensive, larger footprint etc. We thought the trade-off was justified.
As for the view from the side, we can only say that the look will probably grow on you over time haha - it did for us anyway!
For the quick release burrs, while implementing them is feasible, we do not recommend that our users remove the burrs for routine cleaning - as it doesn’t bring significant benefits and things might go wrong in the process (and they can in our experience). So the design of the screw head was a deliberate decision and was how we intend our users to use the grinder.
We have noted about the joint and we are working on improving that. However, even at its current form, we are confident that doesn’t affect the grinder’s long-term durability (otherwise it wouldn’t have passed the testing in the first place!).
Re the burr size, we agree with the review that purchase decision shouldn’t be based on burr size alone. Bigger is not necessarily better. In our case, the bigger burrs are mainly aimed at improving the throughput/speed of the smaller burrs. As we needed a way to convey the differences and ID the burrs, using the industry practice was the quickest/easiest way (as flawed as it might be in some cases). We will be more mindful about that going forward, as we did not anticipate anyone comparing the burr size outright - but rather what the differences bring to the table!
Once again, we really enjoyed the review, and we hope the comments above help provide some insights into the decisions and thoughts that went behind the Casa. Thanks all for following us and we look forward to getting the Casa out into the hands of more home coffee lovers!
thanks for your comments here!
I really appreciate the thorough reply! As a filter first Lagom Mini user, surprised to learn most people use it for espresso 🤔 I guess I’m just late to the game on that one. It’s also fun to know how you all communicate revolutions. I always through a decimal between the full turns and gradients (e.g, 1.4 for filter and 0.35 for espresso currently). ☕️
Thanks, Option-O team, for listening to criticism and providing your perspective and insights into how you arrived at some of the decisions. It's much appreciated and you looking into the longevity of the joint will only make it better for all and your reputation. To me, from 1,000 miles away and over a 1080p feed, it doesn't feel like it's bending but rather like the bolts are not allowing it to be tightened enough. Either way, I look forward to receiving your notification that is finally available for sale to the public!
Already in the waiting order list for the 65 burrs, are you considering a dosing cup 49 -51 mm for the lever machine users? As an option at least?
49 mm to 51 mm dosing cup as optional , could be a good option lever machine users
Your review is so clear and pinpointing the pros and cons of the product.
I think you are the best in terms of reviewing something :)
I am surprised that your channel's subscriber is not over 100k. Hope your channel grows fast and looking forward to seeing other good videos you make
Agreed.
Same feeling here! I'm tired of the many, well known too, reviewers that seem to be "selling" rather than reviewing. Femobook A4 comes to mind: I purchased one based upon a well known reviewer's glowing review...not even in the same reality ballpark. The dots instead of numbers on the Lagom Mini were another; strangely the only one in the Option-O line up that deviates from numbers and went with dots (still can't figure that one out...and yes I had a Mini).
After listening to your cons, “is this the perfect grinder at this price point?” For me, yes! Super impressed with this little guy! I have the Mini, and I think I would get it again because it is SO easy to travel with, but the 65mm version of the Casa is REALLY compelling.
Agreed! It’s a really great option, cons included. How rad would a travel case be??
@@DaddyGotCoffee seriously. I’ve got the travel case for the Mini and it’s an absolute dream.
You're absolutely correct about the catch cup placement. It was bothering me from the beginning of the video. And hopefully the play/flex in the cantilever will be resolved in full production because that's a glaring defect. Otherwise nice. I'd like to see it in the matt black.
They do make it in black! I didn’t have one for filming. Agreed - very nice grinder! An absolute pleasure to have on bar! If I get word of any updates on the cantilever I will include here!
Would buy. Solid review my dude. 👏🙏
Thank you!!
I just got the email about the sales starting on July 13 and I was all set to buy it until I saw your video. That loose cantilevered joint is a deal killer for me. It would drive me crazy every time I used it knowing it rocks around. It reeks of sloppy design or manufacturing. Now, I'm a machinist, and a perfectionist, so I probably have skewed sensibilities about things like this. All that said, I love my Lagom P64.
Coffee stuff aside, I think I’m most impressed by your lighting, haha.
I think I get a comment about my lighting on almost every video lol! Thank you! Aputure Amaran 200xs and Sony fx30!
Thanks for the review. For the same price (including shipping to New Zealand) the Casa is a million times better than my Baratza Sette which is plastic horror show! So for the same price, I could forgive some give in that joint, and I have no issues with the side profile, especially after the Sette.
I'm with you on the joint. Aesthetically, I think it's fine, though I do agree the side profile is not the best view of the grinder, I don't think lining up the dosing cup improves it any. Nice grinder, but I don't think I would swap out my Sculptor 078 for it
excellent review
Thank you!
Thanks Justin! Coming from the mini this is just great. Ticking many pinpoints and keeping the pros. Can you compare it to Ode gen 2 with Brew burrs taste wise?
Thanks for the review, as a Lagon mini user, was thinking to upgrade to this but seems like I gonna skip this and see other options
This product looks close to a home run! I like the engineering on the catch cup since it is functional. The wobble on the joint is concerning but not really a huge deal to me if it is indeed just normal tolerance and won’t loosen up more. At this price point though from a non Chinese company…. It seems really interesting.
It's still made in China most likely but doesn't mean it's bad.
The only thing that will tell on that joint is time, and as others have mentioned option o is a stand up company on the support side!
Good review.
Thank you!!
I am very curious about this mizen burrs compared to the Ultranova ultra of the vs3
The grind settings remind me of my 1zpresso q2 where you would count the setting in a 0.0.0 format
So it it was 1 full revolution, 7 numbers and 3 dots between the 7 and 8, it’d be 1.7.3
Totally agree with the cons you mentioned.
How does the taste profile compare to the Sette 270? Which one would you prefer and why?
How does it compare to the mignon oro? Thinking about switching to the casa
Saw anfim luna next to the casa, can u pls do a review on it. thx in advance, great video as always btw. ❤
Would people recommend this over the fellow ode gen 2 for filter?
Thanks for the review. Looks great for the money. Any idea how it would go with medium roast for espresso based milk drinks?
It does great on mediums too. Its got good body and sweetness. Might be a little slow depending on how many drinks you make in a row - but the taste is fantastic.
@@DaddyGotCoffee thanks ☺️ I’m only making two or more shots in a row very infrequently so that’s no problem. This sounds like a winner, can’t wait to try it out.
Awesome review! In terms of taste on filter and espresso, would you recommend this over the DF64 gen 2 (stock burrs)?
Personally…. I would. 🤫 The G2 is an impressive grinder in its own right but… I prefer these burrs. If you’re looking for a cheap ssp spinner it’s hard to beat the G2. But as a stock setup I would take the Casa for taste for sure
Nice review! One thing you could improve upon is how you test retention. I know most YT reviewers just compare in and out but that ignores exchange. You'd be better off pulling espresso, noting down the time, then filter, then back to espresso and comparing the time with the initial espresso pull. Obviously you can do the same for filter. And you'd have to do this at least ten times or so to get meaningful numbers.
I have considered reporting on retention and exchange differently in these videos. I agree that “retention” when referring to difference in in/out is a bit of a misnomer when you don’t account for exchange - even though that’s how it’s commonly discussed.
For what it’s worth, any time I cleaned the grinder it was less than 0.1g inside, so in this case exchange is also quite impressive.
Thanks for the feedback, will consider how I report on this in the future.
Impressive results with this grinder! Do you know if it has an ionizer?
Is it better than Timemore Sculptor or DF64V for medium roast ? Taste wise I mean not workflow
I far prefer it to the stock burrs in the df series. On the sculptors I have only used the 078s. Taste wise, they are… different? More than better or worse? But I would prob actually choose the Casa.
Great review! In the edge of ordering the DF54 as a flat burr companion to my Breville Barista Pro - hoping to gain a bit more clarity in my espresso. This review has thrown a spanned in the works! Love the low retention and auto off but it’s a conical… The Lagom mini has such a solid rep, would you recommend this over the DF?
Personally - I FAR prefer this experience to the DF experience. Don’t let a conical throw you - this is a very high clarity conical!
@@DaddyGotCoffee Thanks so much for this feedback! Really appreciate the work you put in for the home user - trying grinders out is not an option here in the Caribbean - so informed reviews are fantastic when you've one shot to import something with low ability for return. 🙌
I doubt the slight wobble is anything to be concerned about. It's like people who complained the Niche Zero had a low power motor I always said it's not a valid complaint if it's working and were not seeing them fail.
If there was an issue with them over time I think option-o is a good company and would likely help you out.
Agreed, I should have mentioned this. Their service is tops.
Thanks for review this grinder. I’ll buy one along with Zerno Z1 (with cast burrs).
I heard about your background from commonlycoffee. And., I believe we share some similar background.
Would they stop producing the mini?
I think the aesthetics are a deal breaker for me as someone who already owns a Lagom Mini (which I’m absolutely in love with). Excited for my Zerno to arrive, but I won’t be parting with the Lagom Mini. I wish they’d maintained that design language more in the move to the Casa
the conical burr size spec just bugs the hell out of me. It should really be mandatory for manufacturers to use the inner burr size as the standard reference. I'll even go as far to guess the Casa's new 65mm burr is the same size as the 63mm found in the Niche and other grinders.
It bugs me too but it’s an industry standard so what are you gonna do? Just important to not judge a purchase on that metric alone
Awesome review man as always, really considering this as my first grinder. I am drinking mostly espressos but could make both black and milky drinks. Is that a good grinder for this use case? I also don't want too much acidity in my coffee for black.
High clarity grinders don’t necessarily create acidic cups as a matter of course. A lot of this comes down to the coffee you buy. I would have no problem recommending it for this use-case 💯
@@DaddyGotCoffee Thanks for the reply. Would you consider this a good all rounded for a first time grinder owner then? What other recommendations could you make? I am looking for something that is keeping things clean, simple workflow (also for non-coffee geeks), not too loud, and easy to dial in. If you still recommend this, have you found the 48mm sufficient for espressos?
@@ConstantineXXVI Based on these requirements, Casa would be my top recommendation. I think some users who want to get into ssps etc could be swayed to a df64g2, but it’s loud and more tuned for geeks. Espresso on the Casa is delicious. If the other compromises in my video don’t throw you, this is a fantastic option. Overall very impressed with it.
I drink exclusively milk drinks, using medium roast. Been leaning towards niche zero since its know to emphasize body. Would this be a better option, or is the niche best for milk drinks?
If you really want that thick body on med-med/darks on espresso it’s hard to beat the zero. This is a solid option that will give you more clarity for less money
@@DaddyGotCoffee thanks! Yea I think for milk drinks I want that body. I'm considering waiting on the 65mm for this one but idk if that will be better. Any concerns for the motor, especially for the 65? I don't love that it has the duty cycle recommendation. I'm sure that fine for home use but still, makes me question longevity
I have a grinder that needs a full revolution to get to filter, Personally Ive always just seen the 0 as a 10 and then just use whatever the number + 10
Who makes the ceramic dosing cup you have?
It’s www.ceramicastudio.com and I love it!
How do you know if you are in espresso or filter range?
You have to remember 🤭 If all else fails and you really don’t wanna mess with the setting, grinding a bean or two up will tell you in a hurry. Lots of times I would just re-zero the grinder and go back to the setting I wanted if I ever forgot
Nice review. A lot of this is rightly indexed on performance for the price. How did it do in absolute terms compared to the next level of hardware for light roasts like a zerno / p64 with SSP MP?
Thank you! A big part of that next tier is overall build and user experience which should absolutely be accounted for when considering the jump. As far as taste, I’m always hesitant to put that in absolute terms since it’s so subjective. I will say on espresso particuarly this burr is way easier to dial in and is more forgiving than an MP. It has more body but is still an extremely high clarity burr on the conical spectrum. Hope that helps!
@@DaddyGotCoffeeon the conical spectrum how does it compare to the larger Aries? (Taste wise)
Great review, but confused by the suggestion that this is somehow competing for xBloom customers. Perhaps in a fringe number of cases, but I think this is aimed squarely for the very large segment of consumers that want budget friendly but not entry level gear that can do both coffee and espresso. I see this as a df64 competitor and based on your findings a rather formidable one at that
Agreed on the DF64 comparison - solid competitor. I think with xbloom it’s more a matter of timing of the release of these two products. I have gotten asked several times if it’s worth consider spending a little extra and getting an all-in-one, and it is a fair thing to consider, but I don’t think that detracts from the Casa at all. Solid option
If I had the loose cash to buy something like that, it sounds like a great option!
It’s so great!
dm47 comparison is maybe needed
I'm so disappointed- tonight Option-O are releasing more Casa grinders for purchase and I was very much thinking I'd be getting one, but I have to say that the flexing/loose joint is a total dealbreaker for me. I can't stand design flaws like that in products, especially those I use daily. Frustratingly close to an ideal grinder for me!
Great review though, thanks a lot. Glad I learned about that before purchasing,
01 98 and 102 for the books please
Looks like you no longer have the Ascaso Baby T?
It’s still here! Currently doing a full tear down on it!
Waiting for the mischief version
Personally, I can’t endorse mischief products
How does it perform compared to Pietro?
Pietro Pro Brew is clearer for sure. Casa I would describe as juicy while still main thing a lot of clarity. I prefer the Casa to the Pietro B-Modal burr but if absolute clarity is your thing the Pietro pro brew burr pulls ahead
of course, i just paid for the DF64 2 days ago.... DOH!!!
It’s still a great grinder! And… you can always sell it!
I am after DF64 myself also. Why would you want this over the DF64? Do you think its worth ordering for a sole grinder?
@@ConstantineXXVI Ive no idea if this Lagom will be better, i just knew something else would come out before i even got my DF in the mail, lol. I know Lagom is a much better known, high end, non Chinese brand. i got a white gen2 with DLC burrs arriving next week so we'll see. cheers
no retention give a lot of attention for me
Same. Impressive
The cons list feels weird to me (as someone with no option o grinder or need for this one)
“I have a pretty good eye for level”
Why not just use a level and show?
“The elastic range, whatever that means.” Why not learn?
You clearly put a lot of effort in to your videos, so it really sticks out when it seems like a tiny amount of work would have gone a long way.
I was trying to be generous here. 1. It’s not level. 2. “Elastic range of metal” does not mean (in my opinion) what I am showing on video here.
I’m choosing to give option-o the benefit of the doubt on a pre-production model, but you seem smart and have eyes. I have clearly shown my observations on video. Decide for yourself 🤷♂️
On reflection I didn’t love the tone of this reply so rather than remove it, I wanted to drop a follow up. First, thanks for the feedback.
I had actually considered videoing a level on the grinder but thought that would be way too nitpicky (this review has already been critiqued in the comments for being too nitpicky). However, this is a fair point and will consider this in the future.
Regarding the rest, I see my role as a reviewer as testing, making observations and providing a viewer with the necessary info to make a decision about a product. I have identified and shown (clearly imo) the symptom, raised the issue with option o and shown, verbatim, their response to this issue.
Is this a dealbreaker? It will be for some, not for others, and this can be seen in the comments. In my opinion, I have shown what is required for a viewer to form an opinion about this.
Thanks again for the feedback.
@@DaddyGotCoffee I appreciate you circling back. I wrote my comment at an odd hour and while I frame it around “hey you do good hard work, why not do this?” I just noticed I didn’t even lose a bit of as a question which was my mistake.
My goal was to understand the approach or choices, I think TH-cam (Lagos) sponsorships, and personal taste are all such an interesting set of factors that determine an end product.
Anyhow, I’ve seen a few of your videos now and appreciate your content. I know what seems easy or obvious to viewership is (sometimes) painstaking for you. Thanks for replying!
A bit nitpicky with the cons but good to mention them I guess. I don't think it's necessary to open up a grinder and remove burrs for cleaning. Especially on a well designed grinder. I'm sure having the burr bolted down is better than having it pop out easy without tools for alignment and burr stability. You don't want option-o to be just like baratza do you? :p
Hahahahaha I guess not, but also… I am a crazy cleaner. To me this seems like such an easy opportunity. And yes, when it comes to cons, I like to turn over every stone but in this case they in no way take away from the overall value 💯
@@DaddyGotCoffee My strategy is don't fix something if it's not broken, I often hear people taking apart their grinder (or car or anything really) trying to mod things, then they end up creating issues that wouldn't exist otherwise after putting it back together. I figure putting fresh coffee cleans out the old coffee if there's any retention. :p
Looks like they copied the Varia VS3 almost exactly.
#facepalm
Seems like you are forcing yourself to discover disadvantages
Come on, the grinder is perfect for home use
Hahaha! I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a perfect grinder - maybe my next Option-O review will be the first!
For real though, this is a truly excellent grinder. ANY grinder will have compromises, and I always try and at least make a viewer aware of what they are so that they can make their own decisions. In this case (in my opinion), the tradeoffs are made up for in the performance and cup quality.
@@DaddyGotCoffee ... And off course the price, which is extremely low for what you get 😉
@@wakeawaken430 def agreed on this! Great performance, great price!
First?
You are!