# Hario Mini Mill Short Review



## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I have had this grinder for a while, and I'll start by saying I don't have anything to compare it to hand grinder wise, so this is just my experience of it rather than an exhaustive review on how good it is in comparison to the market.

Its safe to say the Hario Mini Mill is one of the cheapest hand grinders you can buy, bar a few unknown brands. Mine cost me £17 delivered to my door at the time which is dead cheap when a Porlex will set you back around £30.

Cheap, however, I think for a good reason. The grind consistency is really very poor. Again this is just in comparison to Mazzer SJ I use at home, but the difference in the size of the grinds it produces is huge:

(Click to make bigger)

  

The above was with a particularly tough bean, I had to put some real welly into it to grind it, and this is where it is at its worst, it fares slightly better with darker/more brittle roasts.

This has to be largely down to the somewhat loose floating bottom burr:











Which just has a huge amount of give in it, I can see exactly why a tough chunky piece could get through one side whilst smaller pieces grind up on the other.

Grinding fresh coffee in this will be better than buying pre-ground, but if you care enough about the flavor of the coffee to be buying fresh in the first place, it probably pays to save a bit and buy a more respected hand grinder.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

The burr wobble & particle variability decreases as you set the grind finer, it may be cheap but it's still excellent value for money. It's not a good grinder for coarse grinding, but neither are comparable grinders.

For French press, Turkish, Aeropress, single cup pourover & Clever it performs pretty well, the main downside being the amount of time it takes to grind larger doses (anything over 15g)...again this is common the the ceramic burr hand grinders in this class. Very fine settings are particularly slow with this grinder (mine used to stay between 5-8 clicks). But you can certainly use it to make delicious coffee.

The handle is a bit short & flimsy, a Porlex handle makes life a tad easier.

To get a significant improvement in grinding speed costs £90-£150. There are much worse hand grinders for more than twice the price of the Hario Slim.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Your burrs seem to be set outside a useful range judging by the grind photo.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

This 'boldering' is evident at finer grind settings as well. A good 50% of the above photo is in a reasonable french press level grind, a lot of it is not.

Here is another image 4 clicks in from the above.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

French press level grind for me on the Hario was as fine as I could go whilst grinding a dose in the time a kettle boiled, less than a turn out from lock up.

You don't want any really big chunks in a French press grind, whatever grinder you use.

Sure, it's a little, cheap, grinder with easy to turn burrs, so it's best to play to its strengths (light, easy to stow, good ergonomics, small doses, finer settings) than to be disappointed that it's not a Hausgrind or a Lido.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

MWJB said:


> French press level grind for me on the Hario was as fine as I could go whilst grinding a dose in the time a kettle boiled, less than a turn out from lock up.
> 
> You don't want any really big chunks in a French press grind, whatever grinder you use.
> 
> Sure, it's a little, cheap, grinder with easy to turn burrs, so it's best to play to its strengths (light, easy to stow, good ergonomics, small doses, finer settings) than to be disappointed that it's not a Hausgrind or a Lido.


I am most certainly not expecting a Hausgrind or Lido for under £20. I have seen another user on here a while back comment on the Aeropress pucks he was getting with his Hario Mini Mill. As it brewed the larger particles come to the top and smaller to the bottom, so the puck ended up with this strange 'flowering' at the top, hard to describe. He said as soon as he bought a new porlex this issue went away.

As I said I cant personally comment on the Porlex, but that is the real consideration here. If someone is thinking of buying a Hario Mini Mill, they could realistically think about saving a bit more for a Porlex, the Lido and Hausgrind are both very much 'high end' in the hand grinder market.

I haven't got any more beans at hand as I'm at work, but I'll have a look at the consistency at the even finer levels. But I dont have any real control over water temp here at work as we are supplied with urns, or if I'm lucky, a regular kettle, so the coarser grinds allow for a bit more give in the prep.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Something I forgot to add is that it is possible to get a much more even consistency by putting the grinds back in for a second run through, which seems to break down any major boulders.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

The difference between the Porlex, Rhino & Hario Slim is more to do with ergonomics than with grind 'quality', I have owned all 3...plus numerous other hand grinders, there is no reason why the Hario would throw up an unusual amount of boulders compared to Porlex or Rhino, at the same number of clicks on my Porlex I got a finer grind from the Hario.

How many clicks out are you set at?

If you're grinding doses over 15g or so, or need a consistent medium or coarse grind (French press doesn't, Chemex & Kalita Wave might be troublesome) then it's fair enough that the grinder isn't for you.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

About 18g, I'm not sure on the clicks, I just tightened it to adjust it out to about 5 clicks and put about 3 beans that were in the bottom of the bag through.

But at a guess 8 or so clicks from closed.

One click is near to espresso grind, in fact a long time ago I used one of these grinders for espresso on one click, so I wouldn't put that anywhere near a typical french press grind.


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