Porlex Mini Coffee Hand Grinder, Stainless steel, Metal

Product Information

Are you looking for a travel-friendly grinder or a home model? If you like to take your AeroPress on the road, you may want to choose a hand-operated model that will fit inside. If you don’t want to put in the elbow grease and don’t want to prioritize portability, you may appreciate the added features of an electric model. The K-Max also has a magnetic catch cup. Again, this is a pleasure to use. It might seem like a small thing, but it’s so convenient. Another nice feature of the upgraded “Pro” is the new handle. Before the handle was somewhat flimsy and a little on the short side. The new handle gives you a nice solid feeling when grinding and uses the force better. Simple laws of physics right there. The Porlex Mini Mill is the ultimate grinding tool for the travelling coffee enthusiast. Though skeptics may not have thought it possible, the designers at Porlex managed to build a lightweight, precise, durable, and consistent grinder that is still small enough to fit inside an Aeropress. While the size definitely means sacrificing capacity, it’s well worth it for campers, digital nomads, and holidaymakers who want guaranteed delicious coffee on the move.

If money is no object, and you’re primarily looking for a grinder for manual brewing, this is still a very solid choice. It has an anatomically shaped handle that spins smoothly due to being mounted on ball bearings, and on the inside, there’s a set of 38 mm steel burrs. By now, we have seen this design often, and it works perfectly fine for these pour over-centric home grinders. If you’re looking for the best all-around manual grinder, look no further. You can brew all types of coffee with this model, and you’ll enjoy every second of it.The Comandante has smaller burrs than grinders like the 1Zpresso Jx and Lido 3, which have 48 mm burrs. Especially compared to the Jx, it seems a bit slow. The C40 took 50 seconds to grind 20 g of coffee in my testing, whereas the Jx could go through the same amount of beans in just 23 seconds. The cylindrical body of both grinders are constructed solidly from brushed stainless steel, and the crank arm from die cast stainless steel. This was particularly noticeable when grinding for methods that require a very even grind, such as espresso. At finer ranges for espresso, moka pot and Aeropress, the Porlex Mini ii produces a lot of fines. However, as I moved into coarser ranges for pour over and French press, the grind size became extremely inconsistent with huge numbers of fines. Meanwhile, it is even more lightweight than the Q2, at only 360g. Like the Q2, the Timemore Nano has an aluminum build with 38mm steel burrs. We are particularly impressed with the Nano’s foldable handle. Overall, the Q2 and the Nano enjoy a similar build quality. For more information, read our Timemore Nano review here. Porlex Mini

For this test, I used two Gabi Master A’s, which don’t allow any personalized technique. If you use the C2 daily, your brewing style will naturally become more attuned to the particular grind distribution, and you should be able to make brews that compare to more high-end grinders. The most significant disadvantage is its small capacity, meaning that if you’re traveling with a group of coffee lovers, making more than a couple of cups will take a while.Of course, that capacity is also one of its disadvantages, as it means if you’re brewing for several people, it will require more than one batch. It’s also more expensive than similar entry-level hand grinders.

Hario Skerton is one of the most iconic hand grinders. This is the new and improved “pro” version of the classic model. Even though the grinder is fast and aggressive, it’s still smooth to handle due to the smooth bearings and slim diameter. It’s easier to grip compared to more beefy grinders such as 1Zpresso Jx, Comandante, and Lido 3. The idea is that you grind just what you need and don’t have any beans left in the hopper. At the same time, it’s ideal to have a grinder with a chute and grind pathway that is designed to retain as few coffee particles as particles. The goal is to have “zero retention”. This is actually quite difficult for an electric grinder to achieve. But most (if not all) hand grinders will deliver when it comes to this aspect.Aeropress brewers in particular love this grinder, given how it fits right inside the Aeropress for super-convenient travel.