Option-O Lagom P80 review: measurements and espresso

The Lagom P80 from Option-O is grinder number 100 in our test field. You requested it as a milestone grinder, and it has delivered numbers we've never seen in over a hundred tested grinders. Ordered directly from the manufacturer in Germany, it costs around 1,600 euros including tax and shipping. For that, you get 80-mm flat burrs, a 500-watt brushless motor, a grind speed adjustable from 300 to 1,700 rpm, and a single-dosing grinder that follows the basic design of its smaller sister, the P64.

Three things we'll mention upfront. The main peak in the particle distribution is the narrowest we've ever measured. The retention is 0.2 grams. And the grind adjustment scale is hard to excuse for a grinder at this price point. In order.

Design and Technology: The Larger Sibling of the P64

Those familiar with the P64 will recognize the P80 immediately. Everything is a bit larger, a bit more powerful, thanks partly to the larger burr size. 8.1 kilograms at 24 × 14 × 38 centimeters, machined from anodized aluminum and stainless steel. Internally, however, Option-O has rebuilt almost everything: The upper grinding chamber is now a single-piece component, and loose springs and separate bearings are gone when disassembling. The burrs sit magnetically on a three-point mount, and two-screw burrs in the M6x7 format also fit.

Two details stand out positively in daily use. The dosing ring closes cleanly with the sieve. And you can grind directly into a 58-mm portafilter without needing to help adjust the sides.

The knocker at the grinding chamber outlet gets criticism. It effectively helps expel remaining ground coffee. But the mechanism is so tightly designed that it occasionally gets stuck at the bottom and only comes back after slight wiggling. Course participants have also reported this to us. To me, the design feels strange: I don't want to "milk" my grinder. And at the gap measurement, the knocker is almost flush at the top but stands about a millimeter proud at the bottom.

Noise and Speed: 9 Seconds for 18 Grams, 82.8 dB

At 1,100 rpm, our measurement speed for test blocks two and three, the P80 takes nine seconds for 18 grams. With a full hopper, it dispenses 26.2 grams in ten seconds. That's remarkable because the beans are deliberately fed slowly through the screw. Despite the restricted feed rate, the 80-mm burrs grind through at a good pace.

In continuous operation, we measure 82.8 dB. By our protocol, that falls in the mid-range, and by the number alone the grinder wouldn't be quiet. But the number doesn't describe it well here: The sound is pleasant, a solid motor noise that I compare in the test video to an electric car. No resonances, no squealing. Even in purge mode at high speed, it remains tolerable.

Thermally, the grinder is unremarkable. The beans enter at 21.7 °C, and across five consecutive grinding cycles with 20-second pauses, we measure 29.9 / 26.0 / 26.7 / 29.3 / 29.8 °C, averaging 28.3 °C. The sequence doesn't increase, so the grinder doesn't heat up even with multiple shots in a row. That's exactly right for light and dark roasts.

Retention: 0.2 Grams, We've Never Measured Better

For retention, the P80 delivers the value that all future single-dosing grinders will be measured against. Andrea is responsible for this measurement on our test team and approaches it without compromise: loosen every screw, brush out the burrs from below, scrape together everything that can be found. He managed temporarily 0.1 gram and permanently 0.1 gram with difficulty. Absolutely, that's 0.2 grams.

The consequence in daily life is bigger than the number suggests. You can switch beans without grinding something away first. You can adjust the grind and see the effect immediately in the next shot instead of running through half a portion of old grounds first. And the coffee in the sieve is the coffee you just ground. That's exactly what single dosing is about, and Option-O has done the right detailed work here. We'd love to see a few other manufacturers take a page from their book.

This is achieved through two things: the knocker, which is tuned to the angled grinding chamber, and a purge function that increases speed at the end of grinding and blows the rest out of the chamber. The grinder recognizes when resistance drops via a torque sensor, runs up once, and then shuts off. If you want, you can also trigger purge manually with a double press. The remaining values fit this picture: Of 18 grams of beans input, 17.9 grams land in the cup, that's 0.1 gram deviation. Over five portions, the standard deviation is 0.04 grams. Both are excellent.

The Grind Scale is the Biggest Criticism

The P80 adjusts steplessly via a fine thread, and Option-O specifies ten micrometers per line. In practice, that means: one line corresponds to eight to ten seconds of extraction time depending on the coffee. A half line has given us six to eight seconds of difference multiple times when pulling test shots. At grind 0.65, we were at 22 and 23 seconds, at 0.6 then 28 seconds.

This is a problem because there are no intermediate markings between the vertical lines on the adjustment ring. So you're forced to work between the lines, but you can't read exactly where you've landed. 8.1 or 8.15 or 8.16 looks the same. Michel photographs the setting with every coffee because of this, and even then he doesn't hit the position exactly. Add to that the reference line on the housing is thicker than the lines on the adjustment ring, and the spacing between lines isn't even consistent: The distance from 3.5 to 3.6 is visibly different from 3.6 to 3.7.

For a grinder whose strength is precision, this destroys part of that precision. For a single-dosing grinder where you switch between recipes several times daily, it's the most expensive design flaw in the entire device. Those who always grind the same coffee will hardly notice. Those who switch beans daily will make photographing the setting a required exercise.

Dear Option-O team: You build sensational grinders. Make the scaling finer and consistent. And until then, a cleanly printed scale you could send out as a sticker would be a stopgap that you could ship. Individual users are currently building this themselves on platforms online. For a 1,600-euro grinder, that shouldn't be your customers' job.

Reproducibility: The Main Peak Returns, the x50 Doesn't

For the adjustment test, we move from espresso (T4, grind 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, however, shifts from 144.8 to 172.3 µm, a good 27 µm. At the same time, the fine peak drops from 44.1 to 39.8 percent. So the uniform main fraction is back, but the rest of the curve isn't. And because with this grinder it's precisely the fines that build resistance in the puck, you notice that in the cup.

Practical consequence: Simply turning back to the old mark visually isn't enough. What shows up in our measurement data as inaccuracy is largely due to the coarse scale above. Michel notes that with practice it certainly works, but it requires getting to know this grinder. So the P80 grinds reproducibly once you get the scale down.

Particle Distribution: Main Peak at 106 µm, We've Never Measured Narrower

We measure particle distribution in cooperation with the Coffee Excellence Center at ZHAW using the Retsch Camsizer X2. In the espresso setting at 1,100 rpm (T4), the x50 is 144.8 µm, the main peak is 106.0 µm, and the fine peak is 44.1 percent; that's the proportion of ground material under 100 micrometers.

Those 106 micrometers are the value because of which we planned this video twice. We tested SSP burrs, 80 and 100 millimeter versions, blind and non-blind screwed. We've never found such a narrow main peak. For comparison: Everything beyond roughly 300 µm peak width we classify as heterogeneous, and good espresso grinders typically fall somewhere between 150 and 250 µm.

Responsible for this is the feed. A screw slowly and evenly delivers beans to the burrs, and a crusher is integrated into the Mizen-80OM burrs that pre-breaks beans before they enter the cutting zone. Slow feeding in other words, just built-in instead of hand-dosed. The burrs are additionally mounted from the rear without screws, which reinforces both the cutting edges and the consistency of the grinder. Top-mounted screws are actually one of the biggest interventions in grinder behavior you can make.

Interesting is the apparent contradiction in the numbers. The main peak is extremely narrow, yet 44.1 percent of the ground material is under 100 micrometers. That's no accident, it's a necessity: Because the main fraction is so uniform and the intermediate range has hardly any medium and small particles above the 100-micrometer line, we must grind fine enough on the other side to have enough fine material to build adequate resistance and achieve reasonable extraction times. We know the same pattern from all-purpose burrs.

In the shot, however, the grinder or the ground material behaves differently. Instead of seeing first drops after over 13 seconds like with all-purpose burrs, we see the first drops already around nine seconds. Unlike with AP burrs, the puck also maintains its integrity much longer and stabilizes at a steady 4 milliliters per second at the back end. The P80 accelerates, but significantly less brutally than expected.

Who is this curve made for? For light, complex roasts, certainly. Yet our tests with various roasts have shown that medium to dark roasts also work very well while maintaining body. What you need, however: clean puck preparation. Because of the high fine peak, clumping occurs, and without WDT, channeling is a real risk! With this grinder, this isn't a recommendation, it's a requirement.

RPM from 300 to 1,700: What Speed Changes

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

At 300 rpm, the main peak becomes slightly narrower still and the fine peak decreases slightly. That's the setting for maximum clarity. Between 1,100 and 1,700 rpm, the curve barely changes, which is unusual for a grinder with rpm control.

We interpret from the data, and also considering other slow-feeding experiments, that the slow feeding here already reduces the chaotic distribution and grinding in the grinder so much that slower speed doesn't provide additional benefit. Read more about that in our article on slow feeding.

Static, Cleaning, and Operation

The ground coffee "sausages" we lovingly called them with the P64 are history. An ionizer reduces static buildup, and in principle you don't need RDT anymore. Some residual charge remains, and it increases the darker and finer you grind. For daily home use, we'd still work with water spray. But that's no longer a requirement like with the P64, it's a comfort gain. A clear difference from the previous model.

To clean, remove the catch ring and loosen two hex socket screws, then you're at the grinding chamber. It's simple and logically laid out, but it does require tools. That's why we rate cleaning as good rather than very good. For basic cleaning between sessions, you don't need to unscrew anything, but for deep cleaning you do. Those wanting to use grinder cleaner will find Cafetto Grinder Clean in our shop.

On the side are two buttons: a real on-off switch that clicks into place, and the grind button, which runs the grinder until the torque sensor recognizes the end of grinding. Zero calibration is simpler than the P64, a limiter protects the burrs during calibration and can be removed if you want full control.

In the Cup: From Light to Decaf

In the test video, we deliberately brewed at standard nine bars without flow or pressure profiling. Not because it's the best solution, but because nine bars is most common and few machines can regulate flow and pressure.

The first espresso was a light roast, our Shyira. Incredibly complex, with everything this coffee contains and surprisingly much body. Heavy, but elegant, thick-bodied, with a creaminess that lingers in the mouth. We hadn't expected that with this particle image; we were thinking more of a lighter, juicier body. First drop at eleven seconds.

Then our interpretation of an Italian espresso, the Compadre. Fat-caramel, with a cocoa note so clear and tangible you could trace it. Sweetness fully present, a medium to heavy body, then toward caramelized nuts and dark chocolate as it cools. Acidity is low with this coffee anyway, but what's there is clearly structured. Set to 24 seconds and it tastes right at 26 or 28 seconds too, so the window isn't pinpoint-limited.

Finally, the Apas Decaf, decaffeinated in Bremen using subcritical CO₂, so with natural carbonation. Decaffeination significantly changes a coffee's structure and thus its extraction behavior: This coffee doesn't accelerate at the end, the flow actually decreases. We've 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-forward, nougat and dark chocolate, plus extraction behavior that acts uniquely with the P80.

Brazil Decaffeinated APAS Cooperative

To the Coffee

Across all three coffees: The espresso potential of this grinder is outstanding. But it's not a grinder for beginners. You need an understanding of extraction, brewing, and clean puck preparation. The path to the sweet spot is a narrow ledge over a wide stream: Too fine, and you have a clogging moment, and you're working near that edge. Grinders with this particle image show their strengths most clearly on machines that can profile flow or at least pressure. Nine bars works, profiling gets you more.

Technical Specifications Overview

As always, we tested this grinder per our KM protocol and purchased it ourselves. This test was not requested by Option-O.