Mulino does what its meant to do wonderfully, but now the Maestro does it better. Unless you find a Mulino at a deep discount, go with the newer Maestro.
Positive Product Points
Does an excellent job grinding coffee in a wide variety of grinds (what else do you want a grinder for?). Does a good job of eliminating static. Placement of chute allows most filter holders to be ground directly into. Does not take up too much counterspace. Seems solidly made. Range of grind settings can apparently be altered.
Negative Product Points
Now that the Solis Maestro is available, I see no reason to buy the Mulino (based entirely on reviews, the Maestro does everything positive the Mulino does -- it has the same burr set -- and has fewer disadvantages). Coffee has a habit of getting stuck in the chute (though this is easy to remedy...see below). Grind settings are not precise enough and hard to reproduce exactly; this apparently is a particular problem if you plan to use this machine to grind for a real (pump) espresso machine. A bit noisy (even for an electric burr grinder). No push-button operation (timer only).
Detailed Commentary
When the Mulino came out, it was an excellent grinder for the money. I use it for drip and vac pot coffee and it works absolutely superbly. It's biggest drawbacks are: 1) tendency for grounds to stick in the chute, 2) difficulties in fine tuning the grind (particulary important for espresso), and 3) noise. The first problem is easy to remedy. I don't keep beans in the hopper; I add what I want to grind. At the end of each grind, I remove the static guard (a small piece of metal in the chute) and run the grinder. This expells the remaining grounds without creating enough static that the absence of the static guard is a problem. I don't really care about noise. And I'm not currently grinding for espresso (nor am I altering the grind), so adjustment problems don't phase me.
More importantly, however, these three problems are all minimized by the new Solis Maestro, which is being sold for the same price that the Mulino was. The Maestro is apparently quieter, is more adjustable, and has a different chute that clogs less. It also has push button operation as an option. So, if I were buying today, I'd definitely go with the Maestro.
Buying Experience
As always, I had an excellent experience buying from Tom at Sweetmarias.
