# What Grinder for brewed Coffee?



## mctrials23 (May 8, 2017)

I've realised recently that I don't really get on well with drinking too much caffeine and it tends to give me brain fog and generally has quite a lot of adverse effects on me. As a result I am getting rid of my espresso machine and grinder and downsizing to a brew setup that I can use at weekends.

My question for you guys is what grinders are you all using if you don't have to worry about espresso. I have a Mythos Pro which is a great grinder but its not very low retention and if I am drinking the occasional brew in the week and only a couple on weekends its not the right grinder.

I'm considering a nice handgrinder but I don't know if I would be better served with an electric one like the Fellow Ode or Wilfa Svart.

Any thoughts?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

What brew methods are you contemplating? Paper drip, or immersion like French press/Clever/Aeropress?

Bear in mind that the dose is the biggest factor in caffeine for Arabica, so you won't reduce your caffeine intake unless you reduce your dose size and/or number of drinks as well.

For coarser manual methods like V60, Chemex, Kalita Wave or long steep insulated French press, hand grinders are not too demanding. A Fellow Ode or either Wilfa grinders, as well as Baratza Encore/Virtuoso would be fine for these scenarios. All hand grinders go coarse.

For finer brew methods, like Aeropress, Clever, small glass French presses, with reasonable doses sizes, you might prefer electric, especially for multiple doses (I have electric grinders, but I was quite happy to grind 15g fine for a Clever brew today on my Feldgrind). Fellow Ode might not be great for these scenarios. Maybe avoid Aerspeed/Zassenhaus Panama & Quito/1Zpresso Q2 for these scenarios.

There's no reason why you shouldn't spend more if you want to.


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## mctrials23 (May 8, 2017)

I know that filter isn't going to change the caffeine intake much, its more than espresso is something that seems much harder to do if you only use it at weekends. I also have about £3k of espresso gear that would be sitting here being wasted.

As to what method I will be using, probably V60 and french press for the most part.

I'm somewhat temptd by the Lagom P64 but thats quite a lot of money for a brew grinder.


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## Jason11 (Oct 25, 2019)

I think a quality hand grinder would fit the bill nicely, no retention and easy to clean and pretty easy to grind for filter coffee. I've got a Ceado e92, Niche Zero and a pair of Comandante C40's but always reach for the C40 when I'm using the clever dripper.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

mctrials23 said:


> I'm somewhat temptd by the Lagom P64 but thats quite a lot of money for a brew grinder.


 Small footprint, looks nice, if it makes you happy, why not.


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## 27852 (Nov 8, 2020)

I hand grind 20-25g of coffee each morning on my 1Zpresso JX for v60. It is pretty fast and enjoyable to use. I personally like the hand grinding experience as part of the workflow and use my electric grinder for espresso only. I think the general rule is you'll get a better burr set for your money in a manual grinder vs electric. However if you're selling your espresso set up you can probably come out with spare cash even if you do buy a great electric grinder.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Kjk said:


> I think the general rule is you'll get a better burr set for your money in a manual grinder vs electric.


 I don't think there is any evidence of this. Apart from my Zassenhaus hand grinders, my steel burr grinders all use burrs first seen/designed for electric grinders (Italmill, Etzinger etc.).


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## MST (Dec 21, 2020)

mctrials23 said:


> What grinders are you all using if you don't have to worry about espresso


 My Aerspeed grinds at about 2 seconds per gram of coffee, so 30 seconds for my 15g in the French press. Holds a little over 20g of beans.

The Aerspeed is a mini grinder, designed to fit inside an aeropress. They've recently (January 2021) changed the burrs to make it a little speedier than the previous Aerspeed.

While it grinds as fine as Turkish and can do espresso, it's intended for coarser grinds.

Benefits:

- small

- grinds faster than other small grinders

- finer adjustments at coarser grinds than the aergrind

- easy to adjust the grind setting, handy if you're switching between french press and V60

Negatives

- £90

- takes just over 20g of beans

- a little fiddly in use (fitting the handle and cover takes a bit of peering at. Think plugging a micro-USB cable into your phone. Not a big deal but also not a pleasure).

If it won't leave the house I'd recommend a full size grinder. I'll be bringing this with me when I travel so I save half a kilo this way.


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## Zephyp (Mar 1, 2017)

My current filter grinders:

Lido 3 ($250 ) Great grinder that I use at work. Grinds 15g in 15-20s, but at the cost of size. It's quite large.

Commandante C40 ($300): Used at home for years and still use for travel. Small, well made and overall a very good grinder.

Wilfa Uniform ($250): I've been considering an electric for some time and bought this in December. We make moka and filter at home. I've used the C40 for both, my GF the WSCG when I was away. Now we grind both on the Uniform and my brother is borrowing the C40. I think the Uniform is a great grinder and would buy it again. It doesn't make better coffee than the C40, but it is electric. I still use the C40 for travel.

I don't think I could tell these three apart in the cup.

If you are considering a P64, that's quite the jump in budget from the rest, but coming from an espresso machine you're maybe not too hesitant to put that kind of money in it. I could see myself buying a grinder in that segment, but it's difficult to tell if I'd find it worth it. Ideally I'd maybe look for a used one, use and compare it for some time and decide if it's worth the upgrade from the Uniform. I drink coffee every day and if a $1000-3000 grinder would make a significant enough difference, it might be something to prioritize. It's an investment that will last for many years.


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## abelated (Apr 14, 2020)

If you want to spend some money but not the 1600 for a Lagom and don't mind being a bit hands on you could get a wilfa uniform and upgrade to SSP burrs perhaps.


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## Like Medium Strong Coffee (Feb 18, 2021)

JX Pro setting 1.3, Aeropress, 18g and ~30 secs. We do 2 back to back grinds - 12g and 18g.


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## Matt D (Apr 13, 2020)

I have only recently started brewing V60 , but it has changed the way I grind

1/ a grinder that produces a lot of fines such as a Porlex really shows up in the cup - very unbalanced

2/ The retention on my Gaggia MDF became an issue after I saw how much it retained whilst upgrading the burrs .

I have now sold my Gaggia and have bought 2 old German hand grinders , one with a mokka burr , and one with a brew burr - both producing tastier extractions for Espresso ( Gaggia Classic ) and pour over respectively

I am looking to upgrade to a modern hand grinder in the summer , but I'm more than content with my bargain buys at the moment !


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Matt D said:


> 1/ a grinder that produces a lot of fines such as a Porlex really shows up in the cup - very unbalanced


 Set the Porlex coarser, so it produces similar fines to other grinders, then slow the pour to lift extraction.

Improvement from other grinders, compared to Porlex/Hario Slim/Rhino is fairly subtle. Biggest downside to the ceramic burr ginders is how long they take to grind.


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## Matt D (Apr 13, 2020)

Thats a great tip - I ended up having to go quite course on the Porlex to get an acceptable filter time , but then boulders started to appear ( I even resorted to sieving the boulders which made a difference to the taste ) , however with the German brew grinder the grind size is so even I have been able to go a lot finer


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