I appreciate there are a fair few YouTube videos on this topic but it would be good to get some opinions on here! I’d been considering buying a Niche so I could switch between single-dosing for V60/MoccaMaster and espresso. However, my x54 has been behaving fantastically well lately which means a Niche would be a bit extravagant. I’m keeping an eye out for the updated Ode as an option for filter, but I’m also considering a hand-grinder as it would be good to have one for travel as well as home use. As per the title, what’s the best hand-grinder under £200? Speed isn’t hugely important as I only tend to make filter once in the morning, so quality is key! Edit: I could stretch to £250 if the extra £50 is worth it as I see the Commandante is £249.

@"Ernie1"#p9801 Commandante, Jx Max, Jx Pro, Feld to name a few.

> @"Cuprajake"#p9812 1zpresso jx pro is very good It is…I have one, and it works well, I think they even gave it double the adjustment points now.

You mentioned a Moccamaster, how big of a dose are you anticipating?

@"Ernie1"#p9801 I have a Comandante and have had it for a couple of years and love it to bits. It’s solid, extremely well made and the grind quality is fantastic (by my judgement at least). Can easily grind for espresso and pour over, the ‘clicks’ stepped adjustment makes it easy to reproduce grind sizes, switch between brew methods and also really useful for sharing recipes. My only gripes would be that the barrel can quite often slip in my hand while grinding for espresso, there are bands you can get that would hopefully help with grip but not managed to pick one up yet. Other than that, with it being stepped then sometimes I’m between clicks for the right grind. There is a red clix mod which essentially halves the step size (or doubles the number of clicks) so I’ll likely pick that up soon but it obviously will never be infinitely adjustable like a non stepped grinder. These are pretty small issues for me and I would 100% recommend it. There is no question about the quality or that it will last for many, many years.

Owners of the 1zpresso jx pro rave about them. I have a Kinu M47 Classic and it's pretty awesome. Never had a 1zpresso jx pro so can't compare.

@"MWJB"#p9820 It’ll be 35-40g max, I tend to use the Moccamaster if I’m making two cups, V60 for one. If family/friends are over they usually want espresso drinks. It’ll also only ever be used for brew so finer settings with fewer steps shouldn’t be a huge problem. Sounds like the JXPro/Kinu/Commandante are all pretty favourable so it’ll just be down to aesthetics I suppose! Thanks for the replies

BTW, we have a JX pro; it’s great and we use it for pour overs and espressos.

Thanks, lots of votes for the JXPro! The official product listing says 30-35g capacity. I’m guessing that means 36 fits in ok? I rarely dose more than 34-36g for two cups of pourover but is 35g an actual maximum?

@"Ernie1"#p9801 - not a hand grinder but, for approx. £100 (or a lot less second hand) you can buy a Wilfa Svart which does a fantastic job for on the filter front. I sold mine after under a couple years of ownership. I realised filter isn’t my thing.

Best hand-grinder under £200?

Ernie1

Frothbewithyou

Ha! Definitely not the same person.

It was also a good year for Harley Davidsons, which is where my username comes from. Another of my passions.

I need to choose less expensive hobbies…

Welcome to the C40 club! Let us know how you get on with it.

Stevebee

Good choice on the C40, especially for pourover. Lots of recipes where the number of clicks is given is helpful as a starting point. I don’t use it for espresso as whilst it is possible, is a step too far in terms of workflow / time / effort. Possible exception if I’m using the Robot is my Helor Flux as it grinds easily and quickly with its gear reduction. Bit steep for a hand grinder though.

Haven’t used 1zpresso but Feld47, Kinu47, OE Fixie etc.. do give a similar grind consistency. Just prefer the C40 in taste for pourover but it is splitting hairs

Ernie1

Yep, really pleased. Having had it a week now I can say with confidence it’s producing some of the best pourover coffee I’ve ever made, both on the V60 and Moccamaster.

It’s a joy to use, and 32g in the morning takes barely any time at all to grind with little effort.

I hadn’t heard of that pricey grinder you mentioned but I probably should stop Googling it as it looks rather special!

ken0062

All this talk about C40’s is getting me tempted, how much of a difference in taste would i expect to gain from my humble MBK aergrind

Mark-drinks-coffee

ken0062 All this talk about C40’s is getting me tempted, how much of a difference in taste would i expect to gain from my humble MBK aergrind

I’m not sure if I could taste the difference between a brew with a C40 and a more entry level grinder (if that’s even the right phrase) based purely on how skilled my palette is. I did previously have a Hario Mini Mill but any improvement in my cup is likely more to do with better technique than purely the grinder.

Pretty sure the reviews/ tests for the C40 show it’s grind profile is pretty good, i.e. less fines/ boulders compared to other hand grinders. Whether you can taste that in the cup probably depends on how skilled your palette is.

What I do get with the C40 is consistency, i.e. every time I set it to ‘x’ clicks it’s exactly the same each time, which wasn’t the case with my previous grinder. It’s also much easier to set it to the right number of clicks whereas with the Hario I never knew exactly which setting it was on. All of this means a consistently better cups than I had previously.

tompoland

Mark-drinks-coffee I’d bet dollars to donuts you would notice the difference. I’ve done a few back to back grinder tests (not exactly like Hoffman or Rao!) and each time I was surprised that I could notice a significant difference. I guess I was not surprised that the burrs produced different flavors; it was more that my unsophisticated and uneducated palate could detect such a marked difference.

(Caveat: the tests have to alongside each other or at least back to back.)

tompoland

DavecUK Me too. The Kinu M47 Classic grinds in close to the same time as my Niche did. I guess I have fast twitch muscles? Sometime between now and the end of eternity*, I have Malwini Livi hand grinder arriving. My guess is that it will grind my 18 grams in under 30 seconds, maybe less. (I’ll let you know 😀)

** Ordered last June

Frothbewithyou

@Mark-drinks-coffee @Ernie1 just to commandante users, I have found that for speciality coffee, especially lighter roasts I find going down to the 17-19 click range has been amazing (18g to 1:16 ratio)

I think the guidance for 24 clicks for pour over is very subjective and I have found experimenting is still recommended. I have 3 beans on the go for tasting at the moment,one is 17, one 18 clicks and one is 19 clicks.

24 was too coarse and flowed too quickly. Results may vary but thought it was a handy tip 👍

I haven’t attached my red clix upgrade yet as I familiarise myself with it. It’s been amazing though and a game changer for pour overs for me.

Mark-drinks-coffee

Frothbewithyou

Is this for a v60/ pour over? I fell out a bit with pour overs a few months ago and now mainly stick to clever or espresso.

I was finding it really hard to get a consistent recipe that gave me good brews with the v60, a lot of the time it was draining too quick but I was up around that 24 click range so it might be that I need to knock it down to around 18 and try again - great tip!

Interested to hear how you get on with red clix, my first thought would be it would be more applicable to espresso than pour over as I’ve not found myself between clicks on pour over but definitely have on espresso.

Ernie1

Yeah I agree. I tend to favour medium/darker roasts but the few times I’ve had a lighter roast it’s definitely needed to go down to the kind of range you mention.

Frothbewithyou

Mark-drinks-coffee So v60 (tried plastic and ceramic made no difference), Hario 02 v60 filters, Coffees were all ‘light-medium’ roasts from Carrington Co, Blackcat and Roundhill.

I found 24 ran wayyyyy too fast. Under-extracted I tend not to use recipes and I am getting more confident using @MWJB guidance of ratio + experience to guage how the v60 is going.

At 17-19 you are getting with these coffees a nice bed afterwards (not sludgy) a good flow rate through the coffee bed and minimal fines on the wall using the swirl technique everyone uses.

Tried these clicks with 1 pours, 2 pours and 3 pour intervals all with a bloom phase and all the coffee has extracted well with different bodies and flavours but none of the unwanted stuff.

The redclix was a buy because they were available. I really enjoy hand grinding so when I get a espresso machine I will use my X54 and Commandante in combination to do espresso. (commandante for tasting, x54 for my go to favourite).

Right now I do 2 c40 v60s a day and 2 ×54 aeropress’ with my favourite at the moment Coffee by the Casuals Kenyan Mikhari

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