Idson Ceramic Burr Manual Coffee Grinder-Mini Hand Crank Coffee Mill - Stainless Steel,Adjustable,Portable,Slim Design for Home and Travel- Aeropress Compatible

I ordered this ages ago, but only started using it about a month ago. I wish it had some setting markings for the size of the grind. I bought a few ounces bulk beans at the grocery store and used their grinder, set to "expresso". I used a small amount of the pre-ground coffee and made small piles on a plate using the grinder and making adjustments with the wheel until the coarseness seemed to be a pretty close match. It would be nice to be able to "mark" the spot so I could easily go back and forth between drip and expresso grinds, but it's not a deal breaker on an inexpensive tool. I don't drink enough coffee to use up a bag of ground coffee before it starts losing it's flavor, so it's nice to be able to grind enough to fill my travel mug with my homemade latte. (Lots cheaper than at the big 'Bucks stores!) It takes a couple of minutes to grind enough for my small expresso maker, which is reasonable for me. My mother teased me at Christmas because of the time I put into making the coffee! I like the small size, it traveled well and it doesn't take up a large, permanent space on my counter at home. Some reviewers complained about the handle making it top heavy, or requiring more space to store. I use one of the extra thick rubber bands that comes on broccoli or asparagus bunches and it just fits when I make a double wrap around the top half of the grinder. The handle fits under the rubber band and keeps the pieces together, and helps with the top heavy problem. This was a reasonably priced way to try out a burr grinder. I may try an electric one in the future, but since they are much more expensive, noisy, and require a lot more space to store, I'm happy for now with this small hand held grinder. A few times, it has seemed to "bind up" when I'm grinding. Rather than forcing the issue by applying more power to my turning, I just make a slight "reverse" move with the handle and it seems to allow the beans to shift and the problem is solved.

I was offered a coupon that covered $3.95 of the purchase price, I paid a nickel less than $10 total for this manual coffee grinder. I disclose this to differentiate between the items that are sent for free or less than a $2 cost and the ones that I am given a modest discount on. I accepted the discount so that I could review the item. This grinder is a good one. Is it perfect? Nope. I am a skeptic and find little "perfect" in the world. What this is, is a great coffee grinder for the price. There is a ceramic burr that grinds the beans or spices. It produces coffee that is ground far better than my electric grinder that resembles a teeny food processor. I could taste the difference in the coffee I made grinding the beans in this manual coffee grinder vs my electric weed wacker looking contraption. The burr is adjustable, but use caution as stated by the clear directions! If you tighten it too much, you will damage the ceramic. Ceramic grinding too tightly against ceramic will result in a broken grinder and an angry purchaser. Once you find the perfect grind, you can leave it adjusted that way. The handle detaches easily, and the top lid where you pour in the beans or spices lifts off. At the bottom there is a catch cylinder for your ground coffee, there is a little window for easy viewing. I am a lazy wench. I measure my coffee beans, I do not measure my grounds. This means I can leave the bottom off and grind directly into my filter basket or French press. I grind until the beans are all ground, tap it a few times to get any stray grounds and skip the step of washing coffee oils out of the catch cylinder. (SOOO much nicer than the weed wacker/food processor style grinder! That has to be washed out once a week to get rid of any potentially rancid grounds.) I made sure to replace the catch cylinder to protect the ceramic burr grinder. I looked at the pictures before ordering and I rolled my eyes. I assumed this was going to be hard to turn. The handle looked awkward. I am excited to say I was incorrect in that assumption. The handle is very easy to turn and will not cause pain in my wrists even if I need to grind enough coffee for the coffee urn. (Granted, it will take some time, this grinder holds around 6 tablespoons of beans which equals around 15 cups of coffee.) I was highly skeptical before purchasing this. I did not want to pay just under $10 to review a new grinder that might be awkward to turn, but I have been discontented with my blade grinder for quite some time. I decided to take the chance. The coffee tasted good but not sublime because it was being hacked up, not ground. Some people cannot taste the difference, but I sure can! I will be keeping this item in my kitchen for daily use.

I don't want to give this a bad review; it did everything it said it would do. I was trying to use it for wheat grains, and it ground them nicely into flour, but I couldn't get it to adjust to a different coarseness. My son, however, said that was normal, and I would need a different kind of grinder to get the kind of grind I wanted, which was for whole-wheat porridge. The only other complaint I had was I found it very hard to turn the handle to grind; my son had no problem at all, so I am inclined to believe it is because of my much weaker hands, which admittedly, lack strength at my age. I do like the compact design, and how nicely streamlined it is. I actually got this for my son, who is in the National Guard. He likes to take a French Press with him on drills, as he detests Army coffee (who doesn't?). He's picky about the freshness of his coffee, also and I thought how perfect it would be for him to take into the field. (He's no fool--his perfect coffee is officer bait...they follow him around at rest stops like hungry puppies.)

Works great but not durable. Hario does the same, better, though this may be better for travel.

Initially i thought it was great but i was deeply disappointed this morning while in the middle of grinding it suddenly stopped grinding. I was turning the handle but nothing was coming out so looked at it and noticed the plastic base holding the cone was cracked. Yes things break over time but 2 1/2 months is just bad. Unless the design is changed i don't plan on getting another one.