I’m pretty new to the world of coffee, at least to caring about it, anyway. I’ve been drinking drip coffee from pre-ground beans for years but wanted to start getting more into it. I picked up a moka pot and have loved it so far, but I’m stuck either using pre-ground or a blade grinder. I mostly do my coffee around 5:30 in the morning, a few hours before my infant daughter and wife are awake, and don’t want to risk waking them so I was thinking manual. I also don’t have tons of money to spend right now, since most of my money goes toward my daughter. My absolute cap would be $200 CAD but the cheaper the better honestly, as long as it isn’t really bad. I saw the Timemore S3 was very highly reviewed, and I can find it for around $180 CAD right now, so that’s what I was thinking, but I’ve only started doing research yesterday so I’m probably missing a thousand good models. Does anyone have any suggestions for models or blog posts or anything to look at? I’d really appreciate any help. The grinder would be used mostly for moka pot but I do also have a French press (mostly for my wife) and the aforementioned drip coffee machine that I’d like to be able to use the grinder for too. Espresso is off the table due to finances so I don’t need something that can go that finely ground.
I got a Hario Skerton Pro for about £50 to grind beans really coarse for cold brew and it’s been incredibly reliable and comfortable to use, but it might be a lot bigger than you need if you’re only grinding one coffee at a time
I looked it up, looks to hold around 100g. I only really need 20g, so definitely a lot bigger than necessary for me. Thanks for the suggestion though. If I ever need a large grinder I’ll keep that one in mind.
DO NOT get the cheap Bodum burr grinder.
It grinds the beans to different, consistent sizes well enough, but the thing shits grounds all over my counter. I hate this fucking thing.
So glad to see someone recommend getting a cheapo Chinese steel one off Ali Express or some shit, tho, I’ll try that. I don’t wanna spend fuckin $200 on a coffee grinder, that’s madness.
When I started looking for a manual grinder for travel, everyone’s just casually tossing around a Comandante mk4 and that thing is hundreds of dollars. I’m sure it’s great, but I’m not dropping that much on a grinder that’s going in a suitcase when I could buy fucking $200 in better coffee and a decent enough grinder.
I have a similar experience with the Bodum. Also, it’s not the best for cleaning. It was acceptable at grinding but messy.
The Kingrinder models are affordable but seem to be pretty good quality.
You know what you’ll use it for. You have a clear budget. You found a good grinder. Sounds good!
For what it’s worth, the cheaper Timemores could also work, although the S3 is beautiful and works great for your purposes.
I appreciate hearing that. Do you have any experience with the S3?
Not with the S3.
However last Christmas I gifted a Timemore C3 to my partner’s parents and the coffee was great!
I did notice the C3’s chamber is smaller so for my usual dose (30g) I had to refill in the middle of grinding. I also think the coarseness steps are a bit large, compared to things like the ZPressos or the S3.
If you’re set on your budget, those quality-of-life issues won’t be a thing with the S3.
I have been using the C3S Pro (currently less than $100 US) and it has been great. It only holds about 20-25g with the lid.
I do recommend getting a little electric screwdriver with a low speed ~200rpm to prevent tennis elbow if you’re going to be using a manual grinder daily.
From a quick search it looks like the S3 can hold up to 30g of coffee and I think my moka pot is around 17-20g, I can’t quite remember the exact amount off hand. So it should be fine.
Look for a used grinder on craigslist, buynothing groups, etc. for a better deal on a “more serious” grinder.
I bought a Baratza Encore base model from someone who was moving on to espresso, and it’s been great!
It’s a popular machine, with repairability with readily available parts, and even some aftermarket burrs, is a great feature of the Encore.
I have a baratza model that’s effectively the predecessor to the encore, and it’s completely compatible with all the encore parts.
I bought it over 10 years ago from a thrift store, and I’ve replaced the burrs, the burr carrier, the grind adjustment, and the gearbox. I’d still be using it daily if I hadn’t started making espresso.
I bought a 1ZPresso JX in 2020, since it was getting a lot of positive reviews at the time. It’s the only grinder I’ve owned, and has worked great every day since then. I think it has been replaced with a newer model now, but there’s still something similar available. It was expensive for a coffee grinder, but at this rate, seems like it’ll be the only one I ever buy.
I clean it when I remember to (every few weeks…or months) just by grinding some Urnex Grindz cleaning tablets in it.
I have not used it for a moka pot; I only do pour over. I vaguely remember a reviewer saying it has a good grind size for a moka pot too, though.
I’ve seen lots of good things about 1ZPresso. I was kind of torn between them, Timemore, and KinGrinder. Not super set on one or another, other than the S3 currently being my top pick. But I’m not set on it or anything.
Well kingrinder is just a rebranded 1zpresso of the discontinued 1zpresso Q2 and one of the older J models.
I have the Q2 and it is awesome for filter, but takes forever to grind for espresso, like 3-5 minutes forever lol.
I didn’t know that, that’s interesting.
3-5 mins sounds painful (both figuratively and literally). From what I’ve read online, the S3 I’ve been looking at seems to be around 45 seconds or so for 18g at moka fineness (slightly more coarse than espresso, finer than filter). That seems more reasonable to me.
I use a Timemore Chestnut C3 (about $100CAD) with a Clever Dripper (about $45CAD) for my daily coffees,
and (though, I know you’re not doing espresso) a Breville Infuser & Eureka Facile (got 'em both for $800CAD total) for my shots & lattes.
How do you like the C3? It’s a fair bit cheaper than the S3 I was looking at.
It, plus the Clever Dripper, makes great coffee. Easy to use, fast, easy to clean. I’m happy with it. Will it do espresso? Nope. But I don’t want it to.
Fair enough. I don’t need espresso anyway.
I use a Timemore C2 since years for AeroPress, neat cheap and reliable: I believe a C2S or C3 would be also a good choice while saving a good chunk of money, but the S3 looks really nice, a really solid option!
I appreciate hearing your perspective! Nice to hear someone with somewhat related experience. Thanks for the (sort of/adjacent) review.
The baratza encore is still a go to but it’s over your price range. I don’t think there’s an electric grinder much cheaper than that which is equipped with actual burrs - and they’re all loud! Timemore gets good reviews whenever i see them.
Yeah, in addition to noise, price was also a reason I’ve been considering hand grinders. I figured in the lower end at least a hand grinder at the same price as an electric grinder would offer better results since less money would be spent on the motor and more on the grinder and other mechanisms. I’m also not too knowledgeable though so I could be way off course.
There’s a story about Bella Abzug. One day she was with a group of other women and someone spilled gravy on a new silk blouse. Everyone was in a tizzy about finding the best dry cleaner. Finally Ms. Abzug said just use soap and water. Everyone was aghast. You can’t use soap and water on silk!
Why not? What do you think the Chinese emperors used back in the day?
Don’t listen to the people who tell you that you need expensive stuff.
I like that analogy. I’ll read up on her more too, she seems like an interesting person for sure. I haven’t heard of her before. Thanks for the wiki link.
My wildest coffee device is a $9.00 frother. A friend regifted me my first one, and I think I’ve brought two more. I nuke my cream for 30 seconds and then whip it and pour it on top of the coffee. I like to add a dash of cinnamon.
The grinder I use was $20 [?] at the hardware store. I use a stove top espresso pot.
I have Baratza Various and it had been pretty reliable, but then it wasn’t. I took it apart to inspect the situation and I found grounds EVERYWHERE inside the case. I gathered them up and it was over 20g of grounds. Ridiculous! I still haven’t finished repairing the thing yet…
I will say, electric isnt always loud, but electric+affordable will most likely be.
Pretty much anything electric grinder cheaper than a baratza encore (which is a great grinder and $150), works by basically spinning a burr really fast, and the impact of the burrs hitting the beans breaks them. Better burr grinders have motors with more torque, and they spin slower, and beans dont “shatter” the same way. This means the real cheapos are very loud, and grind inconsistently.
If you have an infant, though, a hand grinder is probably the way to go. There are a couple things I would look for, especially as a daily user.
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Capacity big enough for your normal usage. I typically use over 20 grams per cup of coffee, but lots of grinders only fit 15, so I’d have to grind twice to get a cup.
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An easy way to drive with an electric drill (e.g. mine has a hex head you can just put a socket driver on), so you can use that when you dont need to be quiet.
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An easy way to see and adjust grind settings. If you just want to do moka pot every day, it’s fine to get one that is “set and forget”, but if you are switching to a coarser grind for French press, you dont want to have to count 43 clicks every time.
Personally, I have a kingrinder that works great for me, but I think any of the timemore or 1zpresso grinders will work great for you, too.
Awesome, your comment has been very helpful, thank you.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cin2IZbKzU
That’s only one opinion but I watched enough reviews to decide on the k6 for my needs. I’ve been happy with it after years with an oxo grinder. I use an aeropress most days with the occasional french press and moka pot.
I got pretty lucky with an aliexpress cash back promo from rakuten when I bought it. They come around fairly often if you’re willing to wait.
I’ve had the JX-Pro for a few years now, first for pour over and now for espresso. I’ve been very happy with it and it’s still grinding very consistently even with the zero amount of maintenance i’ve done with it :D
I imagine the J-Ultra is just as good or better.
I feel like its unfair to put the timemores in the lowest category when there are still plenty of people buying hario grinders, or off brand equivalents.
Agreed, that list doesn’t help much because there is no indication of price points and the grinders are already the good picks among the available pool. I don’t know how good the video is, but I don’t like that channel much.
The only reason I went with that channel as my example was the easy to understand list within the context of the rest of the video. I usually prefer Hendrick’s reviews (Hand Grinder Tier List) but it’s nice to get multiple opinions.
Sure :) many like that channel and I also used it as a source, it is a valid choice! It is a valuable list, it just needs to be read with the proper context.
Lance Hedrick is awesome, so entertaining!
That is a very lovely list. Thank you for sharing it.
When I started my at-home coffee setup I went with a super cheap amazon special. It’s loud, it leaks all around the catch cup, and it’s not very easy to clean. But it does turn the beans into powder that my drip machine does a good job with, so I’ll be keeping it until it inevitably breaks. When that happens, i’ll be checking your list first, instead of the startlingly few reddit threads i could find.
Thanks, I’ll look into that more.
The breville smart grinder pro on that list is excellent for a reasonable price.
If grinding in the morning, I’ll cover it with something to dull the noise a little.
Duly noted. Thanks.
I don’t know the hand grinder space enough to make a recommendation but I’ll at least suggest you don’t get anything too cheap. My first grinder was some dropshipped hand grinder I got for about $15 and it made me never want a hand grinder again.
Yeah that was my worry. At first I thought of just getting the cheapest I could find but figured it would probably turn me off from using it, which would end up being a waste of money.
Maybe also check out https://kinugrinders.com/
I only see Euro prices, so x1.5 may be cutting it very close. But they offer precision engineering, which will give you a lot of control and reproducibility for your brews.Current exchange rate is 1.6, so their cheapest is a couple cents above 200 CAD, plus whatever duties and taxes on top of that. So probably too steep, and that’s for their entry level one. But they look neat, I might bookmark them anyway and keep it in mind if I ever want to upgrade one day.
Though their entry level might be above the top tier of other manufacturers. Maybe you can find some tests.
Fair. I don’t know anything about them, I’ll do a little research into them.
