The Best Hand Coffee Grinder

If you can appreciate the fact that you’ll get better flavours and aroma in your coffee when it’s freshly ground, you’ll probably insist on grinding it yourself so that it’s the freshest that it could possibly be. Electric grinders can be convenient for use at home, but a hand grinder has the advantage of producing a finer and more consistent grind while not generating any heat that could affect all of the flavours and aromas in your coffee. On top of that, you can’t take an electric grinder with you if you go camping - but because a hand grinder requires no electricity it’s great to take along so that you can enjoy the freshest coffee even while sitting around a campfire. Even if you don’t intend to take your coffee grinder with you when you go camping, it’s always nice to have a device that doesn’t require electricity or batteries to function just because it’s so much more convenient.
There are several variations on the manual coffee grinder, but the two main ones are the Turkish-styled ones which look something like a large brass pepper mill, and another design which is usually a cast iron grinder with a wooden box. Turkish coffee grinders are the best, because they can produce a fine grind and are small and portable. The traditional Turkish grinders are made from brass and typically have some engraving work on them, so they look beautiful in addition to being functional. Generally, a good Turkish coffee grinder will have a detachable bottom so that the coffee grounds have a place to fall instead of getting all over your kitchen counter, and this distinguishes them from pepper mills though otherwise there’s not a huge difference in terms of design. There are a number of manual coffee grinders on the market today that copy the basic concepts of a traditional Turkish grinder, but are made from stainless steel rather than brass and that utilise ceramic burrs rather than metal ones for a more consistent grind. Without a doubt, the traditional Turkish grinders and their stainless steel counterparts are the best way to grind your coffee if you value a consistent grind and the ability to take your coffee grinder anywhere.
Aside from the handheld grinders, there are the larger western-style grinders that were popular a century ago and that can be found in antique stores. They’re still available new, and if you want a larger grinder that looks nice sitting on your kitchen counter then these are the way to go if you have no intentions of taking it with you anywhere. These are typically made with a wooden bottom portion that includes a drawer for catching the grounds, and a cast iron top that has a hand crank. If you’re interested in grinding a larger volume of coffee, this style is a bit more effective since you get a bit more leverage with these than with a Turkish grinder. In terms of price, Turkish-style and cast iron grinders come in about the same range so there’s little reason to choose one style over the other based on cost and it’s purely a subjective decision based on your preferences. 
Manual coffee grinders are intended to do only one thing - grind coffee and spices - but the good ones will allow you to adjust the grind somewhat. Espresso and things like Indian filter coffee and Vietnamese coffee require a fine grind while Turkish coffee requires a powder-like consistency, so you’ll need to adjust the grind a bit to get the consistency that you want. Any coffee grinder worth buying will let you set the grind to your preferences, and there’s really no point investing in a manual coffee grinder that doesn’t let you make adjustments for this. Fortunately, both Turkish-style grinders and the cast iron ones are typically adjustable, so this shouldn’t be too much of a problem regardless of which style you choose.
Grinding your own coffee at home is the perfect way to maximise flavours and to get the perfect consistency - those ones in grocery stores don’t really work all that well if you want a fine grind and will often lead to disappointment. Buying pre-ground coffee might be convenient but you inherently loose some flavours and aromas that add more depth to your morning cuppa - even if it’s made from high-quality beans. You can always use an electric grinder, but the fact remains that these tend to produce a less consistent grind, make a lot of noise, and there’s the added factor that they tend to heat up during use and can throw off the flavours of your coffee - making a manual grinder the obvious choice for the perfect cup, without needing to worry about the motor ever burning out. A manual grinder can produce the perfect grind, requires no electricity, and can potentially last forever if you properly take care of it - quite simply, manual grinders provide vastly superior performance to electric ones.

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