Recommended coffee grinder

[Major Nikon]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001802PIQ

I've owned many coffee grinders over the years both electric and hand crank. My previous hand crank grinder was this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-CM-45CF-Ceramic-Coffee-Mill/dp/B000EFZKTC

For whatever reason this one is much more expensive, but at the time I bought it there weren't many good ones that were cheaper. I love this little grinder, but it's a bit small for anything other than a single serving. I used the heck out of it and it was great for travel because it was so portable, but I've been wanting one that has more capacity. So when my old pepper grinder finally gave up, I delegated the Kyocera to pepper grinding and ordered the Hario mill.

Right away I really liked the Hario mill. It has very few parts to it, so it's easy to disassemble and clean. It's easy to adjust and the simple locking mechanism insures it won't become maladjusted. Previous versions lacked the flexible lid, which allows you to flip it up for loading, and once loaded it insures the beans don't come flying out, even if you load it to capacity.

The best part about this mill is the grind quality. Cheap whirly bird electric grinders are better than no grinder at all, but they don't really grind. Instead they just pulverize the coffee which results in very inconsistent grinds. This means at the microscopic level the tiny pieces of coffee will be of various shapes and sizes. The result is at brew time some of the coffee gets overextracted and some gets underextracted. If you want great coffee, you need a decent real grinder, which means a burr grinder. The Hario mill is perfectly capable of great coffee and for a $30 grinder, this is a very good thing. The burrs are conical ceramic, which is nice. You can expect this grinder to last for many years of daily use. The tradeoff is it's not electric, which depending on what you want this may or may not be a good thing. The burrs on this grinder are relatively large, it has a rubber bottom which steadies it on the counter, and a decent sized crank. All of this means it's relatively easy to use compared to many hand crank grinders. Personally I think it's a pleasure to use and I just don't think you're going to get the quality of grind in an electric model unless you spend upwards of $100.

Pair this grinder with a Chemex, a goose neck kettle, and some really good freshly roasted coffee beans and you have all you'll need to make some truly great brewed coffee.

[cbayer]

1. I really like it, but we try not to put glass on the boat.

It just doesn't sail well, lol.

I may get one anyone. We use an electric one and while it doesn't take much electricity, I agree with you thoughts that it just pulverizes the coffee.

Thanks for the review.

[Major Nikon]

2. It's basically like the difference between a hammer and a file

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

3. I've relegated my whirly bird grinder to spice grinding

Which it does well.

I too have a Hario and I really like it.