There is at least two, and probably a handful of German-made grinders, and at least one Dutch, that are beautiful, functional craftman's art. The burrs are "garinteed forged" and the adjustment mechanism is well-enough designed to grind fine enough for espresso. They produce even, clumpless grounds. When grinding they feel great. Whether they ever wear out I don't know, but the one I have paired with my Caravel is 50 years old, and it grinds so fine and evenly that it produces a grind so fine I can stand on the handle of the Caravel and stall it completely. To me, hand grinding is an integral part of the espresso-making experience. I don't drink any other kind of coffee, but I suppose they would work.

An inexpensive solution would be one of orphanespresso's "non" espresso grinders.

Well, my grinder was backordered from Italy, and then it never arrived when they said it would after they told me it was no longer on backorder. A week later I call and they tell me there was a mix-up and that model was still on backorder for another month but I could swap it for one they have in stock. Sooo, I tell them yes, go ahead and swap them. A week later I get a refund email from them so I guess they were not interested in selling product. So screw them, don't use Cuda Kitchen (or Cuda Coffee). I will look elsewhere.

How cheap is cheap? I aways keep an extra for HBs who want to try one, but shipping from Sweden costs a few $. Feel free to PM me.

PC

I just recently purchased a hario grinder. Just curious, has anyone come up with a good modification to reduce the "play" in the burrs during coarse grinding?