Hi All,

Long time, no HB!

Does anyone out there have experience with the Zassenhaus Emma wall grinder? I can't find a review anywhere. I'd post a link to Amazon or wholelattelove but don't want to violate any forum rules, and it's an easy search.

I'm on the seemingly endless quest to find a suitable manually powered grinder. The ergonomics of all the handheld manual grinders I've tried are just too irksome. The Pharos with retaining dogs overcomes part of the problem for me, but I didn't like all the Pharos fiddles (especially that of getting the grounds out of the thing).

I could list all the other manuals I've tried, but it would be quicker to sum up the deal-breaking qualities:

excessive retention/wild dispersal of grounds, including static cling and static fling

unacceptable grounds consistency (specifically, too many fines in a grind meant for pourover/Clever dripper/French press use)

fiddliness

too many turns of the crank

crank too hard to turn

The Emma may fall down in the last category; it doesn't look to have very hefty burrs. I could see fines being a problem also.

Somewhere online I saw a mention by Doug or Barb at Orphan Espresso that they were thinking of (or working on?) a wall-mounted grinder. I would snap it up if they produced one that performed well and was reasonably priced for what it offered (the Pharos and Lidos are reasonably priced, IMO). Something overbuilt and super-durable, with the Pharos burrset and a great big crank that would deposit the requisite amount of grinds into a glass container with minimal effort.

I haven't been able to track down the reference, and don't want to bug the Orphan folks, but if anyone knows more, I'd love to hear it. And of course, any reccos for wall grinders that work. Seen some antiques that look tempting.

Thanks, be well!

A Spong works fine as a wall mount grinder. Mine has a place for 3 screws to wall mount it.

Ira

Ira,

I have a Spong #2 and there a few things about it that don't suit me:

1. capacity (but a #3 would settle that, or pouring in more beans)

2. grinds retention

3. grind consistency

It's going on Craigslist when I get time.

I just became aware of the HG One, and even though it doesn't meet my "affordable" criterion (or the "compact" one), I'm intrigued. Looks like it would last forever, effort seems minimal (and not too jerky/hard on tendons). Just wondering if it will grind coarse enough for pour-over. Need to check reviews on HB.

Cheers!

After my Emma post was moved to "Buying Advice," I looked through this forum and found a lot of information on the hand-powered options that have emerged over the past two or three years has. It's been a lot of fun, and man,there are so many choices!