Gadget Review: Five of the Best Hand Coffee Grinders

Specialty coffee has a huge problem. It's not nearly as usable and immediately enjoyable as other beverages like wine, beer, and even tea thanks to coffee's two step process. Beans must first be ground and then brewed. Pop a cork, twist a cap, crack open a beer, throw tea leaves into a gaiwan — you're ready to drink. While grinding beans has been around since the mortar and pestle, many coffee drinkers have been loathe to purchase quality home grinders because of their relatively high cost.

In recent years, specialty coffee's answer has been the burr mill hand grinder, a generally inexpensive device that allows brewers to use arm power to adequately grind beans. These mystical objects line the shelves of hip coffee bars and take prominent spots on roasters' websites. Any home brewer worth their salt knows that blade grinders are about the worst thing for grinding coffee. Why? When brewing coffee, it's important that the grinds are a consistent texture and size so that the extraction of solubles is even. Blade grinders tend to pulverize beans, which results in inconsistent bean fragments and mostly very fine particles, all of which extract different amounts of coffee solubles.

So are hand grinders the panacea that satisfies both baristas and avid home brewers in their quest to place the best coffee into the kitchen of every home and office? I'll say it right now: probably not.

Still, there's a place for hand grinders, such as the weary traveler who bounces around hotels or goes into far-flung locales. Also, hand grinders are generally cheaper than their electric equivalents, making them a far better value proposition than a top flight burr mill. Finally, hand grinders represent a serious devotion to proper coffee. A testament to the drinker's commitment to experience great coffee every day.

In researching this article, I went about finding as many hand grinders as I could (sadly, this massively popular Kickstarter funded one wasn't in production just yet), but settled on four different Hario models. I was also able to procure the Porlex JP-30, a sleek little device that plenty of roasters carry themselves.

For the most part, these grinders are best suited for drip coffee, as attempting to grind espresso would be both exhausting and low-performing. Those serious about grinding espresso should invest in something better like a Rancilio Rocky or even a La Marzocco Mazzer Mini.

Hario Skerton

Perhaps the most recognizable hand grinder on the market today, this versatile toy comes from one of the most prolific suppliers of Japanese coffee equipment (you've probably seen their V60 cone brewer and cheerful stainless steel kettle). With some small refinements over the years, the model now boasts a soft rubber base, silicon cover to prevent bean fragments from flying out and wrecking havoc, as well as a mostly difficult to adjust ceramic mill to grind the beans.

During trials, this was one of the easiest to grind, though the tiny ceramic burr mills ensured that I spent at least a full minute in full grind mode. The elbow grease required to pulverize a full ounce of coffee beans would rate somewhere around the neighborhood of "aggressive."

Like most hand grinders, users will find that the act of grinding the beans themselves is a better method of waking up than the caffeinated jolt from the cup. This grinder is no exception to that rule. The nut on top surely makes it easier for the arm to stay in place, but making adjustments to the grind size is easily the most challenging part of using the device.

That involves taking out the nut and arm, then removing the bit that keeps a jagged washer in place. Tightening or loosening this washer adjusts the grinder, but that's not without its own complications. You can eyeball the bottom of the grinder to see how much space you have, then throw in a few beans to check out the size. It's tedious and definitely low on the intuition scale. But once a desired setting is reached, the general ground bean consistency is much better than any beans ground in a crappy blade grinder.

The Verdict: Note significant drawbacks with this grinder, from the difficulty retrieving the coffee out from the hardy glass base to the grind adjustments. Still, ranked against its peers, this grinder is probably the best overall package in terms of price, style, ergonomics, and portability. Though that glass base does make it slightly heavier than the two smallest options on the board.

Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill - “Skerton”

• $29

Prices taken at time of publishing.

• $29 at Amazon