I will be moving from a field office to the corporate office in the near future. Unfortunately I don't think I will be allowed to bring my office espresso setup (VBM and Cimbali Max) to the corporate office. Their coffee machine is one of those drop in packet instant swill dispensers and is absolutely horrid. So I am taking my French press along, maybe eventually I can sneak my big kit in.

The problem I am left with is grinding. All of my grinders are rather large and produce an equally large noise when grinding up beans, so I decided to break down and look for a hand mill. Some of the grinders on eBay are going for ridiculous amounts and the few I have seen have some ugly looking burrs. A new Zass is going for $80 which is still darn steep for $12 worth of metal and $2 worth of wood. I got to digging around looking for other options when I came across Cuda Kitchen they have new old fashioned hand mills made by La Pavoni and for very reasonable prices so I ponied up and purchased one. Since it will be for French press and maybe vac pot if I can sneak that in the office at some point I was not worried about the burr set. I will update the post with some thoughts after it arrives and I get a chance to try it out which will probably be December given my current travel schedule. But I thought I would drop a line just in case someone is looking for a hand mill at a reasonable price.

Looking forward to it!

I have a Maestro Plus at work for press and it's pretty loud! I'd love to take it home and get a decent hand grinder for work.

Look at Doug's orphanespresso site for used grinders suitable for espresso. Can't you use a lever machine at the office?

PC

Possibly. That is how I worked up to the big pumper. I started with something small, then added something a little larger, then a little larger, etc... But the corporate office of a global company is a little different situation. The position is a little different as well so the professional expatiations are a bit higher. I am no longer the local jack of all trades IT guy in a field office but one of 3 guys that manage the core systems for the entire company.

Hi Dave,

Which model did you purchase? Any idea what kind of burr set you're in for? Trespade-like conical or faux-burr bean crusher? Maybe you could post a picture of the burrs when you receive your new toy.

The Hario Skelton hand grinder caught my eye the other day on Barismo:
http://barismo.com/coffee/2008/10/hario-skelton-mill.html
...and I found a few comments on Coffeed:
http://www.coffeed.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2307
...but I didn't really get enough info to pull the trigger.

A cheap, quiet, and consistent hand mill sure would be nice for office use and for entry-level coffeegeeks looking to replace a blade grinder.

Ryan

I got the wood with the black top and brass cover, EGH-FK-01AB. No idea about the burrs. I rolled the dice on this one although being a hand mill; I don't think it will have crusher burrs. It would hard to crank if it were. Even the 100 year old hand mills had teeth. If nothing else I will have something pretty to put on a shelf.

portamento wrote:Hi Dave,
The Hario Skelton hand grinder caught my eye the other day on Barismo:
http://barismo.com/coffee/2008/10/hario-skelton-mill.html
...and I found a few comments on Coffeed:
http://www.coffeed.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2307
...but I didn't really get enough info to pull the trigger.

A cheap, quiet, and consistent hand mill sure would be nice for office use and for entry-level coffeegeeks looking to replace a blade grinder.

I can attest to the Hario Skeleton Mill. It produces a great grind and is very well built. Especially for the price, it is a great grinder. I sometimes use it instead of my Super Jolly if I just have a small amount of a coffee left (as almost none gets lost in the body) or if I really want to get the full aroma of a coffee.
I can also attest to the guys at Barismo. They are really great and easy to work with.
If you have any questions about the grinder, feel free to ask me (or e-mail someone at Barismo)

-Ben

Thanks Ben.

I currently have a Mazzer Mini that I use for espresso -- but I'm not satisfied with the grind quality at coarser (press, drip) settings.

Any chance the Hario might provide a better french press grind than flat burr espresso grinders like the Mazzer?

Seems like the slow, conical grind from a hand grinder might be superior, assuming the burrs are quality and well-mounted.

Ryan

In my experience (read: take it with a grain of salt), the slower rotations of the hand grinder, combined with the conical burrs produce a very even grind. I have never used it for a French Press. If you give me a few days, I can compare a coarse grind from my Super Jolly with a coarse grind on the Hario. You could probably also just e-mail Jaime (jaimeATbarismoDOTcom) and he'd probably be able to answer right away, since he has a wealth of experience with this grinder.

I contacted the vendor I got my grinder from, it is on backorder. ETA December 1st. hopefully this wont turn into perpetual backorder.