My thoughts on the Hario Skerton Hand Grinder

One of the most important factors to brewing a good cup of coffee or pulling a good shot of espresso is how well the beans are ground.  This is the one fact that everyone seems to agree on.  As far as I know there are only two types of grinders - blade and burr.  Blade grinders are pretty much frowned upon by any respectable coffee connoisseur, however they are very cheap and for most drip coffee drinkers in the world they do the job adequately.  Burr grinders are the de facto standard in the gourmet coffee drinking world and is the only acceptable way to grind beans fine enough for espresso.  The reason why burr grinders are preferred over blade grinders is that the fineness of the grind is consistent.  Burr grinders crush the bean between a moving grinding wheel and a non-moving surface to achieve this consistency and the fineness is controlled by how close the two pieces are to each other.  Blade grinders  use a spinning blade to chop up the beans and the only way to control the fineness is by how long you let the grinder run.  This not only causes uneven sized grounds but also heat (which effects the taste) and static electricity (which makes the grains stick to the grinder). The  uneven sized grains can range from big chunks to smaller grains.  Bigger grains will be under-extracted while the smaller grains will be over-extracted, resulting in inconsistent taste from pot to pot.

It goes without saying that for my adventures in coffee I would need to purchase a burr grinder.  If it were only that easy.  First off there are two types of burr grinders - conical and wheel/flat.  Where both types will produce a consistent grind, the conical burr grinders are preferred because they allow for slower grinding speed which will reduce the amount of heat during the grinding process. Then there are other considerations such as the speed, dosing capability, the type of grind adjustment available, and of course the price.  In my current situation, price is the most important factor to me.  Unfortunately a good entry level burr grinder costs at least $300 which is out of my price range (at least for a few months).  Of course those are all electric grinders with motors in them, so take that out of the equation and you have something that I can afford.  Enter the Hario Skerton Hand Grinder:

There seems to be a consensus that this is the best grinder on the market for the price (at least at the time I bought it).  I got it from reseller at Amazon for $45 and couldn't be happier.  And you will have to take that with a grain of salt as I have nothing to compare it to except a cheap ass blade grinder that I was using previously.  I've only used it for pour over brewing but have tried multiple grind sizes.  I have no concerns that it can grind fine enough for espresso once I start using my borrowed La Pavoni.  It has a very solid construction with ceramic burr's and it is easy to take apart to adjust and clean.

The ceramic conical burr's produce a very consistent grind and don't float as plastic burr's on cheaper grinders do.

The bottom of the glass container has a rubber ring around it to prevent sliding while grinding, which is very handy and it comes with a screw top lid if you happen to grind more beans then you can use.  The handle is sturdy and the ergonomic design makes it easy to turn.  I only grind about 10-12 grams of coffee at a time and that only takes me about 1-1:30 minutes to grind with the Hairo.

If there is one thing that I don't like about this grinder is that there is no way to determine the grind size without actually experimenting with the manual adjustment to see what comes out.  It takes a few times to figure out not only how each turn of the manual adjustment affects the grind size but also the speed at which you turn the handle to ensure consistent sized grains.

Overall I'm very happy with this grinder but can't wait till I can save up enough to get a Baratza Virtuoso Preciso.