Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Jay_HW
3
Oct 26, 2017
Hay fellow enthusiasts. I am a strong believer in freshly ground coffee beans and the grinder does matter. What I care about when it comes to grinders are, how coarsely and how efficient it is for my daily process. I don't give two shits about what brand it is as long as it has some nice blades and doesn't burn my beans while grinding em. As for brewing my coffee I do prefer the French press. I know it shaves a couple of extra minutes off the morning serenity before work, but hopefully with a proper grinder it will all balance out. Gotta agree with Breadagression though if you're using drip like some "mad man" why even bother with a grinder your going to have bad coffee regardless.
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
Jay_HWHay Jay,
Sounds like you enjoy your beans ground well. You also mention grinding with blades. Give a conical burr grinder a try and prepare your mind for explosions. It doesn't even have to be ceramic— your grind consistency is going to improve by long jumps and dolphin dives.
Sincerely, Conical burr grinder advocate
Tesshan
46
Oct 26, 2017
Jay_HWGrinding by hand every 2nd day :) It is a nice exercise.
UnixRonin
94
Oct 26, 2017
Jay_HWIf you say the grinder matters, why are blade "grinders" even part of the discussion? Blade mills don't grind the beans in any controllable fashion, they just smash them into random-sized fragments.
caiobrighenti
47
Oct 26, 2017
Jay_HWHey Jay,
I would totally recommend an adjustable hand grinder. It's super cathartic to have to manually grind your beans before brewing, and you avoid the issue with burning them like cheap electric ones do.
I have the following one and it produces really nice results, especially for the price. The grinding chamber fits about 35g but it's just a matter of grinding multiple times if you're brewing a lot of coffee. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JOMO5FA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
BaconMan
4
Oct 26, 2017
Jay_HWIf you're going to grind your own beans, might as well give a damn about the grind coarseness, it makes a big difference, as any espresso junkie will tell you.
djfluffkins
157
Oct 26, 2017
Jay_HWI personally like this hand grinder: https://www.amazon.com/Handground-Precision-Coffee-Grinder-Ceramic/dp/B01GQVHPLI/ref=lp_15852093011_1_1?srs=15852093011&ie=UTF8&qid=1509048065&sr=8-1
Just remember, most of the coffee industry moves towards finer grinds and not towards coarser grinds and the physics of how conical burr grinders work make consistency in coarse grinds more difficult anyway without a stronger level of stabilization. (hence why the Hario Skerton has it's own mod to accomplish this)
That being said, I'm with Breadagression, if you're really going all the way to French press, it's going to be hard to notice the difference. Bad brew method = bad brew.
WaltherC94
4
Oct 27, 2017
djfluffkinsI wanted to like the Handground, their concept seemed so well thought out, the bevel gear system which turns the burr axially, reducing wobble. It seemed destined for great things, but unfortunately the build quality and tolerance of the grinder was very disappointing. It came out of the box grinding way too coarse (the finest was coarser than a cold brew grind), they supply shims to adjust it, but it just feels odd that a brand new product would require adjustment out of the box. The worst thing though? Even after adjustment, it's way too coarse! I typically grind my drips at 5.5-6.5 on a 10 scale, the Handground has an 8 scale I think, and I'm grinding at 2.5-3. There are tons of fines in the grind, and the grind consistency is unfortunately not on par with other grinders in the market. The only thing that I like about Handground is that you can grind quicker with the bevel crank, but even that is an extremely awkward process because you have to press down quite firmly on the grinder to prevent it from moving. I have to press my other elbow on the top of the grinder while I turn the crank in order to get any decent cadence.
Also, I disagree with the others, a French press isn't necessarily a bad brew method, you just have to learn the proper technique (and a French press coffee is a much harder technique to get the hang of than a drip). The agitation process of brewing a French press becomes extremely important because you no longer have that continuous flow of water to agitate it. Take a spoon and paddle it in the press in a fore-aft motion (not swirls!), then turn 90 degrees and repeat. Do this every now and then to ensure that the grounds don't settle for too long at the bottom of the press. Before you plunge, give it a nice big swirl so that the grounds get suspended completely in your coffee before being pressed down by the plunger. And remember, the more you agitate, the shorter you steep (so that's some efficiency for your daily morning routine there).
Jay_HW
3
Oct 27, 2017
caiobrighentiHot damn that's exactly the type of grinder I need. I've lived in kinda rural areas so the last grinder I saw in the store had blades so I assumed (falsely) that was the common practice and it cost like 80 $ for a small electric plastic box. I've used an old blender for my coffee beans that I stacked with double blades for thickness so it would crush the beans more than slice em and kept it at slow speed's. So I'm accustomed to grinding a little extra in the day before, so I'm good if I'm running late the next day. I got say thanks to all of you for your consideration, helpful information and a purchase of a sweet new hand grinder, I think it will be worth waking up a little bit earlier for a hand grinded morning cup.
djfluffkins
157
Oct 27, 2017
WaltherC94That really sucks! I would have been PISSED if mine was like that. I wonder how good their support is if you contact them about it. I V60 and Kalita at 2.5 and do 7.5-8 for drip.
I would definitely consider trying to RMA it if that's the problem.
I also own a porlex and a skerton so from the perspective of the actual grinding and needing to hold it down I think it's far superior. The amount of effort in stabilizing the rotational torsion is far greater than forcing something down. I did 200g for cold brew in about half the time it would have taken me with the skerton.
CallieT
13
Oct 27, 2017
Jay_HWWoah slow down there buddy. Blades are no good and will burn, you want burrs. A conical burr grinder. Get on craigslist and eBay/Amazon is you cant find good used. A hand grinder is going to be cheaper then a plug in... next have you heard about kruve? They perfect the grind. You put the grinds in a box with filters and shake until separated into different grind sizes. It’s the next evolution for coffee snobs
PRODUCTS YOU MAY LIKE
Trending Posts in More Community Picks