Is there a best hand grinder for the Ponte Vecchio machines?

I notice a lot of lever folks use hand grinders and rather than be an oddball maybe I should get one.

I know zip about hand grinders other than I have one for emergency power outages but it's a very "dust and boulder" type of camping grinder.

I'd like to match something to the PVL and have seen several small and modern looking hand grinders around. Used to be there were the vintage wood ones and a few cheap plastic pistol grip looking grinders but I've seen several new looking models in some lever pull vids.

What are the options for a nice paring of hand grinder to the PVL that will give me good shots?

You can look over the HandJive thread on the grinder forum. Plenty of photos of various hand grinders. A good-quality used, and some of the new models will work well for the PV. If you buy used, you'll need to ask the seller if it grinds fine enough for espresso - not all vintage hand grinders will do that.

I've used second-hand hand grinders for every one of the 5,000+ shots I've pulled on my Export over the past 5+ years, and I have been very satisfied with the results. Hand grinding takes a little patience, but for 1-2 people it is pretty time-effective and produces almost no waste of coffee beans. For daily use for more than 3-4 people had grinding would become tedious.

The OrphanEspresso Pharos hand grinder is the obvious partner for a Lever machine. Utilising a commercial conical burr set there is really nothing in its league as a serious hand grinder IMO.

I use one with an Izzo Pompeii Lever and I love the quietness of coffee making with this partnership!

peacecup wrote:You can look over the HandJive thread on the grinder forum.

20 pages in and it's looking like the vintage grinders are the only thing mentioned so far.

What are some of the good modern options?

The Kyocera CM-45 CF works amazingly well, but it does help if you modify the adjustment wheel a bit

http://www.orphanespresso.com/Kyocera-C..._1993.html

Ray

I like my Porlex better than my Kyocera.

http://www.porlex.co.jp/1-coffee1.htm (check out the three links in the bottom, right-hand corner)

However, DON'T drop the ceramic burrs!!!

Hand grinding is an effective way (the only way in fact) to reliably brew excellent espresso without spending several hundred dollars on an electric grinder. A good restored vintage mill or new hand mill should be less that $100, and unrestored mills can be had for less than $50.

Before taking the plunge for an OE Pharos, however, ($250) I suggest you try hand grinding with a less-expensive mill for a while. You may well decide hand grinding is not for you - it does take a little more patience than does an electric mill.

I consistently pull excellent shots with my vintage hand mills - they are easy to use, dose with, and adjust, and they are amazingly consistent. The two shots I just pulled were heavenly in fact. It's been suggested here on HB that the Pharos produces even better espresso, but I suppose only the most highly-developed espresso palates (i.e. not mine) would be able to discern the difference between one of my hand grinders and a Pharos.

PC