Hand Grinders: How long does it take to grind for espresso?

#1: Post by **h663rst** » January 21st, 2022, 12:54 am

I'm planning to enter the world of espresso coffee as I've been a drip/filter coffee guy all these years. From research, I've learned that grinders are very important especially when it comes to espresso.

I currently own a hand grinder but its only made for coarser grinds which I use for my Aeropress and tried to grind finer just to check if it can somehow do finer grinds. It does somehow work but it took me around 5-7 mins for a 14g coffee, which is a lot.

I don't really have the budget for electric ones as I think the cheapest decent model that is available in my country (PH) would be the DF64 ($400 USD), but that is almost twice as expensive as what I'm aiming for.

Currently I'm eyeing on 1zpresso J-MAX ($200) which fits my budget and have read good reviews about it. Grind time is not something being discussed based on the videos/articles that I saw, so if anyone here could share their grind times with espresso hand grinding it would help me a lot. Thanks!

#2: Post by **BruceWayne** » January 21st, 2022, 12:58 am

I haven't really timed it, but well under a minute for 17g at an espresso setting, maybe 30-40 s. It's faster and easier to use than the Lido E-T.

#3: Post by **rainy_coffee** » January 21st, 2022, 1:05 am

I don't have experience with that particular hand grinder but with the Kinu Phoenix, grinding 18g for an espresso on the Cafelat Robot takes somewhere between 30-60 seconds depending on how fast I feel like spinning the lever. I haven't timed it specifically. It's way faster than when I used to try using a Hario Skerton to do that for our old Delonghi, so the burr and grinder do matter some.

January 21st, 2022, 1:06 am

BruceWayne wrote:I haven't really timed it, but well under a minute for 17g at an espresso setting, maybe 30-40 s. It's faster and easier to use than the Lido E-T.

Thanks for sharing. I was worried that buying espresso hand grinders will just provide better grind size consistency, but the grind time will still take quite a bit of time. I think under a minute will be fine for my needs.

January 21st, 2022, 1:10 am

rainy_coffee wrote:I don't have experience with that particular hand grinder but with the Kinu Phoenix, grinding 18g for an espresso on the Cafelat Robot takes somewhere between 30-60 seconds depending on how fast I feel like spinning the lever. I haven't timed it specifically. It's way faster than when I used to try using a Hario Skerton to do that for our old Delonghi, so the burr and grinder do matter some.

This is good news! I'm not looking for answers in particluar with J-MAX, but any that are marketed for espresso in general. My current one functions like your Hario so this gives me a pretty good idea. Thanks!

#6: Post by **erik82** » January 21st, 2022, 2:10 am

Having used the Kinu M47, Commandante, Lide 2, Lido 3 and some more they're all at around 1 minute for light roasts and around 40s for darker roasts. You'll just have to experience if the hassle is worth it for you. Handgrinding for espresso is much more difficult then for pourover but can be done well with a good hand grinder. If you're only making 1-2 espresso a day you'll be fine.

#7: Post by **Nate42** » January 21st, 2022, 7:54 am

Large burr hand grinders are much faster but harder to turn. Pharos can grind an espresso dose in 20ish seconds. Whole process including getting beans in and out again is probably closer to a minute though.

#8: Post by **mborkow** » January 21st, 2022, 8:57 am

I have been using hand grinders exclusively for over a decade and have settled on an OE Pharos as my daily grinder. It grinds about one gram of coffee per handle rotation plus a few extra turns at the end to get any fragments after I knock it on the counter a couple times...less than 30 seconds total per shot. I typically grind four shots per morning. Sometimes I eye a Monolith or something like the new Key and wonder what I am missing but then I look at the Pharos and am seduced by its utter simplicity and lack of complication and electronics and realize I'm happy with it and that it will never fail me.

#9: Post by **Urupackers** » January 21st, 2022, 9:57 am

I have the 1Zpresso Jx Pro that have 48mm steel burrs like the J Max, not coated in the Jx Pro, and I grind for espresso 16/18grs. of medium roasted beans in around 30/40 seconds, I think the J Max should be around +-5 seconds from this time.

#10: Post by **spressomon** » January 21st, 2022, 5:02 pm

Of all the ~48mm burr-set hand grinders I have owned and used over the years, the Apollo was the fastest: Generally, it only required 50-60 revs to grind ~20g of beans. The penalty for this aggressive burr design: For harder beans it could be a struggle. Otherwise for softer beans, typical medium-dark and darker, grinding effort was not a problem. And the taste profile from this grinder was just super.

The OE Lido OG I am using now and its predecessor, the 1ZPresso JE-Plus, typically require ~200 revs for the same 20g dose. Of course, with the higher mechanical advantage of these burr-sets, grinding harder beans isn't really a problem. But, for more than a couple espressos at a time, the 200 revs gets to be a bit much...for me anyway.

I also have and have used extensively, a Mahlgut MG-1 with same burr-set as the Pharos and for softer beans its fast and very nice to use. When anchored, even the hardest beans are no problem. And, typically, its 30-40 revs for the same 20g dose. Although I have not conducted triple blind taste tests or similar, after years of using the MG-1 (and the former Pharos with mods before it) I do believe the flavor difference is noteworthy and my favorite overall of all the hand grinders I own/have owned.

The Apollo was my 2nd favorite for tasty espresso.

Just my $.02.