Which Hand Coffee Grinders Are Best? Top Manual Grinder Recommendations for Home Use

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Manual Coffee Grinders for Home Use

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

Manual coffee grinders are not only more portable and affordable than electric ones, but they also add enjoyment to your coffee brewing process. The grinding sensation is quite stress-relieving, though it does require more time and effort. But with so many options and recommendations on the market, how should you choose?

Can manual coffee grinders meet the needs of coffee shops or home brewers, allowing them to brew the best coffee anywhere? Probably not. However, manual grinders are perfect for certain situations, such as travelers staying in hotels or away from home. Since they don't require electricity, manual grinders are usually more affordable and offer better value than premium automatic grinders. Manual grinders allow coffee drinkers to enjoy good coffee every day. FrontStreet Coffee has extensive experience with various manual grinders and ultimately chose the Hario model.

Hario Skerton

Practicality and Design:

The Hario Skerton is perhaps the most well-known manual coffee grinder on the market today. This versatile tool comes from Japanese coffee equipment manufacturer Hario (you might recognize their V60 conical drippers and stainless steel pour-over kettles), one of the suppliers with the most diverse product categories. Over the years, this grinder has undergone some improvements. This model features a soft rubber base and silicone lid to prevent coffee grounds from spilling after grinding, as well as improvements to the ceramic burr mechanism that previously made grind size adjustment difficult. During testing, this was one of the easiest grinders to operate, though it still took at least a minute to confirm the grind setting on this small ceramic burr grinder. Grinding one ounce of coffee beans requires considerable effort.

With most manual grinders, you'll find yourself awake before you even taste the coffee after grinding the beans (note: this is because manual grinders require significant effort), and this is no exception. The screw on top makes it easier to secure the handle, but adjusting the grind size is the most challenging part of this device. The process involves removing the nut and handle while keeping the serrated washer in place, then tightening or loosening the washer to adjust the burrs, which is not without difficulty. You can check the clearance from the bottom of the grinder and add coffee beans to test the size - this is a tedious and intuitive process. But once the target setting is achieved, the consistency of the ground beans is better than any grinder using chopping blades.

Review:

The most obvious drawbacks of this grinder are the difficult-to-remove glass base and the challenging grind size adjustment. However, compared to other competitors, this grinder is probably the best overall in terms of price, design, ergonomics, and portability, although its glass base is slightly heavier than the two smallest grinders.

Knowledge Expansion: Coffee Grinder Burrs Generally Come in Three Types

Flat burrs, conical burrs, and ghost tooth burrs.

About FrontStreet Coffee

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee specialty workshop dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation because we want more friends to fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three low-discount coffee events every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price - this has been our mission for six years!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473