Hello All,

This is my first post.

I have spent what seems like hours pouring over the Hand jive thread and searching elsewhere on the site for insight into a hand mill for travelling with the Clever Coffee pourover. It seems like the Peugeots are well regarded in general - I am attaching a picture of an old one (Model T, as far as I can tell) - is this a good option if it works as designed?

Is there a range of Peugeots that are preferred?

Are there other sure-ish fire vintage options beyond Peugeot?

Is the Lido going to out-perform an ace vintage machine?

Budget-wise, I am willing to go to the Lido level, but if I can get excellent performance for less, that would be better, for me.


Thanks so much,

John

Depends what you mean by "travel" grinder. If I were to get a Peugeot mill for travel purposes, I'd get one like this:

http://www.orphanespresso.com/assets/images/CG-153.jpg

(Note that normally these are painted in a cream/off-white color-something like the color Peugeot used for its funnels in later years.)

The link above shows the smallest of the metal Peugeot travel grinders. There are also some hour-glass shaped models that are a little bigger. To find these Peugeot travel grinders, you'd have to spend some time searching on eBay France. They must be collectible, as they aren't cheap.

While I sometimes carry wooden mills for travel purposes, I think there are better options than the one you're looking at, which is really pretty old (and could be big-those actually come in different sizes). I've had good success using mills from the 1950s and even 1930s, but some of those T mills are even older than this.

Wooden mills like this are pretty nice for traveling with (I'm on the road with this one now):



A Peugeot is probably even better as a dedicated pourover grinder than something like this KyM, as it will produce fewer fines because of fundamental design and manufacturing differences. While the Lido is undoubtedly a better grinder in some regards, a Peugeot will grind faster than the Lido, if that matters to you.

I don't know much about Peugot grinders so I'll defer to those that do, but I can say that when it comes to drip/pourover/siphon the Lido destroys my KYM, but when it comes to espresso the KYM beats up the Lido hardcore. Surprisingly its a draw with the Aeropress, really depends on the style of brewing I am doing.

My KyM does a decent pourover but sucks at espresso.
Skerton works okay for pourover at work.
The Lido, however, is hands down the champ at a coarse grind. Just run your fingers through the grinds - I just can't believe how even they are.

The Lido is a passable espresso grinder, but where it really shines is drip.

(caveat - I have an early Lido - some improvements have been made in later builds)

Align your LIDO per the latest OE video instructions and it's a very nice an excellent espresso grinder.

To the OP, if you're already able to spend for a LIDO you get your money's worth.

I haven't spent more than $40 (shipping included) on eBay for any of the many German Turkish style mills I decided to collect over the past year. If you are patient you can find some nice grinders that blow past the Skerton in build as well as grind quality - most approach the Lido in each category too.

These differ from traditional Turkish mills because the burrs are the same as what you find in the wooden versions from my experience. The brass (or chrome plated brass) bodies give durability that has stood the test of time and likely will continue to do so as well.

These sell for less than the pretty wood box versions for some reason, but I can't understand why. I recently bought a KyM for less than $25 shipped that is capable of espresso, drip, or press because the seller did not understand the mill was assembled incorrectly and thought it was not adjustable according to the listing.

Even knowledgeable sellers tend to get few bids on quality brass mills so you don't need to "strike gold" to find good values. If you want vintage then being patient and persistent will prove rewarding.

drgary wrote:Align your LIDO per the latest OE video instructions and it's a very nice an excellent espresso grinder.

What would the latest video be? Does it have anything to do with what they changed in the more recent LIDOs?

And to the OP, before buying my LIDO, I spent more than 100$ for two vintage hand grinders, one Peugeot and one Armin Trosser. I might have had my expectations too high but the grind is not as consistent as what I thought it would be. The LIDO on the other hand has served me really well so far. I thought about selling the vintage mills but I grew attached to them.

SimonPatrice wrote:What would the latest video be? Does it have anything to do with what they changed in the more recent LIDOs?

This should do it. If you're still not getting the adjustment range you want for espresso ask Doug and Barb.

Thanks!