Option-O · Conical burrRemi
A unibody aluminium hand grinder descended from the Helor 101, offering stepless grind adjustment from French press to espresso with swappable 38mm TiN-coated conical burr sets and near-zero retention. Best suited to filter brewing; espresso is possible but slow going.
The short version
The Remi is the most refined iteration of the Helor 101 lineage — a beautifully machined, single-dose hand grinder that excels at filter coffee and can pull espresso duty if you have patience and the contemporary burr set.
The 38mm conical is a throughput bottleneck at espresso settings, and at $230 USD (plus ~$60 for the espresso burrs), the competition from lightweight electric single-dosers is real.
Why people buy it
- Unibody aluminium machining eliminates multi-part alignment errors and produces a genuinely premium feel
- Stepless 0.5mm pitch thread with self-locking dial allows very fine grind adjustments across the full range
Why they don’t
- Grinding 15–18g for espresso takes over a minute of sustained cranking with the contemporary burrs — fatiguing for daily use
The full tally
- Unibody aluminium machining eliminates multi-part alignment errors and produces a genuinely premium feel
- Stepless 0.5mm pitch thread with self-locking dial allows very fine grind adjustments across the full range
- Swappable burr sets let you optimise for filter or espresso with a single hex-wrench swap
- Near-zero retention (under 0.1g) and magnetic grounds cup make workflow clean and repeatable
- Grinding 15–18g for espresso takes over a minute of sustained cranking with the contemporary burrs — fatiguing for daily use
- Hopper holds roughly 35g, which can be tight for large V60 batches with lower-density dark roasts
- No aftermarket performance burr scene (SSP-class swaps) exists for this platform; burr options are limited to Option-O's own conventional and contemporary sets
What the community knows
Years of owner threads, distilled — well regarded.
Stunning build and smooth action, but premium pricing undercuts value against C40 and Comandante defaults; positioned as filter-coffee specialist with espresso requiring separate $60 burr purchase and 90+ second grind times. Early burr wear and weak customer support documented.
Design pull
Parts & serviceability
parts and repairs — you are never stranded
Beginner fit
kind to first-timers
All 9 community measures
price-to-performance the community respects
shows up every morning, year after year
parts and repairs — you are never stranded
mods, guides, and community know-how around it
kind to first-timers
years before you outgrow or replace it
how far the cup can go, per dollar
speed and simplicity, day to day
Worth knowing before you buy — Beautiful filter grinder that *can* grind espresso if you buy the Contemporary burrs separately and accept a lengthy hand-grind ritual.
Known weak points — Early burr wear (tightening required within months of use); unresponsive customer service.
The measurements
Scored 0–5 on the same rubric as everything on file — the words matter more than the numbers.
The measurements
0–5, one rubric- Espresso
- entry3
- Versatility
- flexible4
- Built to last
- durable4
Position in the market
Every dot is a rival, measured the same way. The gold one is this.
- Lower half for espresso suitability
- a higher ceiling than 34 of the 154 grinders we’ve measured
- A value pick at this level
- 86% of grinders this capable cost more
- Lower half for build
- sturdier than 37% of the field, by the community’s own record
Every dot is a grinder measured on the same rubric. See the whole market
Living with it
The part spec sheets skip: counter space, upkeep, and what owners learn later.
The honest note — Owners outgrow the Remi when daily espresso grinding becomes the primary use case and hand-cranking a 15–18g dose gets tiresome. The natural electric upgrade within the Option-O family is the Lagom Mini 2 or, for a flat-burr step up, the Lagom P64. Outside the brand, the Comandante C40 is the peer-tier hand grinder comparison point.
The full spec sheet
- Class
- Hand grinder
- Burrs
- 38mm conical
- Drive
- Hand-cranked
- Adjustment
- Stepless
- Clarity lean
- Syrup & body
- Espresso suitability
- 3/5
- Brew versatility
- 4/5
- Retention
- ~0.1 g
- Single dosing
- Yes
- Hopper
- 35 g
- Workflow demand
- 5/5
- Maintenance
- 1/5
- Noise
- 0/5
- Build longevity
- 4/5
- Dimensions
- 10.5 × 10.5 × 15.5 cm
Before it arrives
What completes this grinder — the faded pieces can wait.
Coffee scale with timer — Espresso is a ratio. A 0.1g scale with a built-in timer is the single biggest consistency upgrade for any manual machine.
- Coffee scale with timer — Espresso is a ratio. A 0.1g scale with a built-in timer is the single biggest consistency upgrade for any manual machine.
- Dosing cup — Pairs with single-dose grinding — grind into the cup, swirl, and transfer to the portafilter cleanly.
- Grinder cleaning kit — Brushes and grinder tablets keep retention and stale grounds in check.
Feed it right
Week one is dial-in — and stale beans will lose it.
Coffee more than a few weeks past roast won’t extract predictably, and a new grinder gets blamed for it. These burrs pull syrup — naturals and classic medium roasts play straight into their character.
Pick your coffee — any of these dials in beautifully here:
Highland Elixir - Papua New Guinean Sigri PlantationSCA 86Medium-dark · Wahgi Valley, Western Highlands · WashedBright Citrus · Caramel SweetnessSyrup and body, matched to these burrs.CA$22.43 · roasted to order
Lavabloom - Indonesian Sumatra MandhelingMedium-dark · Mount Leuser, Sumatra · Wet Hulled (Giling Basah)Dark Earth · Bittersweet ChocolateSyrup and body, matched to these burrs.CA$19.02 · roasted to order
Wild Ember - Ethiopian Buno Dambi UddoSCA 92Medium roast · Odo Shakiso, Guji Zone, Oromia · NaturalBlueberry · MarmaladeSyrup and body, matched to these burrs.CA$26.83 · roasted to orderWhole bean, dated, ready for your burrs the week it lands.
Roasted to order, daily, in Ajax, Ontario · ships Canada-wide. We’re the roastery behind this database — measuring the machines is how we make sure the coffee gets a fair shot.
On film
How it runs on camera, from around the community.
Common questions
Can the Remi grind for espresso?
Yes, but it requires the Contemporary (espresso) burr set and substantial patience — a 15g dose takes roughly 75–90 seconds at espresso settings. The Conventional burr set can reach espresso fineness in a pinch but is much slower and not optimised for it.
What is the difference between the Conventional and Contemporary burr sets?
Both are 38mm TiN-coated conical burrs. The Conventional set is tuned for low fines and uniform particle size in the medium-to-coarse range (V60, AeroPress, French press). The Contemporary set is Italian-made and optimised for fine grinding, making it faster and more consistent at espresso and Turkish settings.
Is the Remi the same as the Helor 101?
It is the direct successor. Option-O (a merger of Helor Design and Option-O) redesigned the body with a two-strut unibody, a magnetic grounds cup replacing the rubber gasket, a revised adjustment knob, and a slightly smaller hopper (~35g vs ~40g). The core burr platform and stepless adjustment philosophy carried over.
Can I swap the burrs myself?
Yes. A hex wrench is included and the swap is straightforward. Note that the 2021 revision burr sets are not compatible with the earlier Remi or Helor 101 bodies.
Worth comparing
Turin / MiiCoffee
DF54
A 54mm flat-burr single-dose electric grinder that brings near-zero retention, stepless adjustment, and a plasma ionizer to a price bracket that previously offered only conical burrs — distributed under multiple private labels including Turin, MiiCoffee, and others.
US$229–249
Weighing it against something we didn’t list? Compare it with anything on file →
Still weighing it? The finder narrows all 429 down to three that fit your life.
Run the two-minute finder →