If you aren’t grinding your own Coffee beans at home, it’s time you start. The benefits are threefold:

1. Fuller flavor
2. More robust aroma
3. Grind can be tailored to your brew of choice

Are you a whole bean Grinder or thinking about getting started?

You’re in the right place.

In this post we’ll look at the best manual coffee grinder models available and answer 3 key questions as you choose your next (or first!) coffee grinder:

1. Manual vs electric: Which is right for you?
2. 3 factors to consider when choosing a grinder
3. Stainless steel burr vs ceramic burr: What’s the difference?

We want to know what you think: Do you have a favorite manual coffee grinder? Let us know in the comments!

Best Manual Coffee Grinder: The Top 5

If you’re serious about your coffee, there’s one thing almost every seasoned barista will agree on:

A good grinder is probably the most important coffee tool you can have, and you shouldn’t pass ‘Go’ until you’ve upgraded. – SeriousEats

Here are The Coffee Maven’s top-rated manual coffee grinders.

Why Choose a Manual Coffee Grinder?

Manual vs electric: It’s the first decision you’ll have to make when shopping for a new coffee grinder.

Which one is right for you?

Benefits of a Manual Coffee Grinder

Yes, romantic. I love waking up in the morning, adding my coffee beans and taking 2-3 minutes to grind them to a medium grind for my Aeropress.

Looking for something more practical?

Price and compact design. I swear by manual coffee grinders, but the connection I feel to my morning (or afternoon or evening) cup of coffee is a major reason, too.

Benefits of an Electric Coffee Grinder

Electric grinders are a great example of you get what you pay for.

You may find you can improve your grind by “upgrading” from a $60-$100 electric grinder to a $20 manual grinder.

If you go electric, please make sure it’s a burr coffee grinder.

How to Choose the Right Hand Coffee Grinder

So, you want a manual coffee grinder.

Good choice! (In my completely biased opinion.)

How do you choose between the many different grinder models available? Focus on these 3 factors:

1. Material
2. Size
3. Burr quality

Material: Stainless Steel, ceramic and wood. Stainless steel is lightweight, easy to clean, compact and durable. Ceramic has the most neutral taste and never imparts flavors, which stainless steel sometimes does. Wood is generally a design element and not part of the grinder’s functional components. It has great aesthetics but is usually clunkier.

Size: How big is it? How much does it weight? There’s no better or worse here, just what suits your needs.

Burr quality: Stainless steel or ceramic. I’ll cover this is detail below.

Stainless Steel Burr Grinder vs Ceramic Burr Grinder: What’s the Difference?

Most of the manual grinders you come across will have ceramic burrs, but steel burr grinders do exist.

We’ve even ranked 2 stainless steel burr grinders in our top 5.

What’s the difference between stainless steel and ceramic?

*Stainless steel burrs have higher thermal conductivity than ceramic grinders, so how is this an advantage? During grinding heat is produced in the bean as it breaks apart. Stainless steel grinders do a better job of absorbing this heat and transferring it into the grinder and away from the bean.

Manual Coffee Grinder Reviews

Let’s take a more detailed look at our top 5 manual coffee grinders.

1. Culinary Prestige Manual Coffee Grinder | $19.99 

• Material: Stainless steel exterior, plastic handle and sizing knob
• Size: 9.3″H x 2.5″W x 2.5″D
• Burr: Conical, ceramic

Performance

This sleek-looking grinder holds 4-5 tablespoons of coffee beans, which can be ground to a medium grind — possibly medium-fine — in 2-5 minutes. The total time depends on your quantity of beans and grind setting.

The slim design is fantastic for 2 reasons:

1. Makes this coffee grinder exceptionally portable
2. Fits perfectly in an Aeropress brewer

I’ve had issues setting a consistent grind size after disassembling the grinder to clean, though generally I can eyeball the proper grind setting by twisting the black knob attached to the ceramic burr.

Overall it performs extremely well for the price and receives top marks among all manual coffee grinders.

Ease of Cleaning

Can easily be disassembled for cleaning into handle, lid, top chamber, bottom chamber. You can also unscrew the ceramic burr to clean with the included bristle brush.

I included pictures of the Culinary Prestige grinder in use on another post, which you can find here.

The stainless steel exterior is super easy to keep shiny and has a modern look and feel.

Durability

In six months of use I haven’t had any issues with this grinder.

• The exterior is still scratch-free
• The metal handle and plastic knob have retained their shape and still feel firm
• The ceramic grinder still gets the job done after a good cleaning

I bought this grinder on discount for $20 and couldn’t be happier with my purchase.

2. Peugeot Nostalgie Hand Coffee Mill | $134.88 

• Material: Beechwood exterior; chrome-plated heavy gauge steel accents
• Size: 8.25″H x 5.1″W x 5.1″D
• Burr: Conical, stainles steel

Performance

Maybe it’s just me, but this grinder isn’t as large as the photo makes it look — it’s basically a 5″ cube with a hand crank on the top.

But while its size may be deceiving, its artistry isn’t. This is a beautifully classic European hand coffee mill — not merely a grinder! — with a walnut-colored beechwood exterior and chrome-plated heavy gauge steel accents.

B00004SPD9The premium materials do mean an inflated price, but this grinder performs as you’d expect.

What are the benefits of a premium coffee mill?

• Smooth, effortless (and satisfying) handcrank
• Incredibly sturdy
• Consistent, reliable grind size

Unlike the Culinary Prestige grinder above, the Peugeot Nostalgie coffee mill has a stainless steel burr.

You can grind up to 4 tablespoons of coffee in one sitting with a grind ranging from medium-fine to coarse.

Ease of Cleaning

This grinder does not disassemble for easy cleaning. That’s definitely a small but notable negative. To keep this thing humming you should dust off the stainless steel grinder with a small brush after each use.

Durability

This is an extremely high quality item. The grinder mechanism is made in Italy with everything else made in France.

The stainless steel burr will hold up to repeated use.

There’s no doubt this grinder will have a longer useful life than anything else on this list. Whether that’s worth the price is up to you.

3. Khaw-Fee HG1B Manual Coffee Grinder | $27.26 

• Material: Glass jar, plastic top, stainless steel crank and shaft, silicon base
• Size: 9.1″H x 4.7″W x 4.7″D
• Burr: Conical, ceramic

Performance

Shorter and stouter than the top-ranked Culinary Prestige grinder, the Khaw-Fee (love the name!) HG1B manual grinder operates in almost exactly the same way.

It has a larger capacity for ground beans than the Culinary Prestige, so it’s suitable for those looking to grind more volume, but it feels a little bit wobblier when using.

Grind size is controlled by a knob connected to the burr and there isn’t a specific size setting to use. It’s more of a trial-and-error situation.

I do love being able to see through the glass collecting chamber to make sure everything is going as planned.

A downside of this glass chamber is that you can’t easily pour grounds into a narrow coffee maker, such as an Aeropress or Keurig My K-Cup. If you use a standard drip, French press or pour-over coffee maker, this may not be a problem for you.

Ease of Cleaning

The glass portion is dishwasher safe and none of the components are going to pick up unwanted, rancid coffee aromas after repeated use.

Durability

Khaw-Fee offers a one-year warranty and a 100% money back guarantee, but chances are you won’t need either.

This is a sturdy grinder and performs just as well as the Culinary Prestige grinder that took down our top spot.

4. KONA Manual Coffee Grinder | $19.98 

• Material: Glass jar, plastic top, stainless steel crank and shaft
• Size: 7.5″H x 3.4″W x 3.4″D
• Burr: Conical, ceramic

Performance

Like the Khaw-Fee grinder above, the KONA grinder has a plastic top, glass bottom and stainless steel shaft; it performs almost exactly the same with the same strengths and weaknesses.

But it comes in a spot below for 2 reasons:

1. No silicon base to prevent the glass from sliding
2. The KONA Manual Coffee Grinder has the least capacity of any of the handheld coffee grinders reviewed here

This mechanical grinder’s smaller capacity could be a plus, though — it’s incredibly compact and is perfect for travelers, campers or infrequent coffee drinkers.

Ease of Cleaning

Easy to disassemble with the same suite of moving parts as the other grinders above, the hardest thing about cleaning this style of hand cranked grinder is finding your ideal setting when putting it back together.

Durability

As long as you drop it, you won’t have any issues with this grinder holding up.

5. 3E Home Manual Stainless Steel Mill Grinder | $21.95 

• Material: Copper exterior, wood base
• Size: 8.7″H x 3.6″W x 3.6″D
• Burr: Conical, stainless steel

Performance

This is the second stainless steel burr grinder on our Best Of list — the Peugeot Nostalgie Hand Mill is the other.

The grind size is adjusted by twisting the knob on the top, allowing you to switch from a medium-fine to coarse grind.

Its 4 tablespoon capacity is comparable to most other manual coffee grinders.

My major bone to pick: You need to pour the beans into the grinder through a small sliding door in the lid, visible in the picture above. This door is way too small. I frequently spilled beans everywhere.

I was tempted to rank another hand cranked coffee grinder in my top 5, but I felt the 3E Home Manual Grinder performed sufficiently well at a low enough price point to justify its inclusion.

While it won’t perform as well as the premium Peugeot, this coffee grinder has declared its niche and sites there proudly: Antique look for an affordable price.

Ease of Cleaning

The 3E Home Manual Grinder is easy to disassemble by separating the lid from the base. From there you have access to the underside of the stainless steel burr.

The only access to the top is through the aforementioned narrow sliding door; that is, unless you want to unscrew the whole grinding shaft, which is a bit of a production.

A simple brush, a cloth and some soapy water are all you need to get this grinder in tip-top shape.

On a positive note, you can clean said burr without losing your grind setting. As someone who uses the top-ranked Culinary Prestige manual grinder, this advantage is not lost on me.

Durability

This is the least durable grinder on this list. Overall it feels a little cheaply made, and my supplemental research turned up customers who complained about issues with the stainless steel burr; some noted it had a strong metallic odor while others even found rust that had to be cleaned.

Best Portable Coffee Grinder

This category begins and ends with our top-ranked mechanical, hand crank grinder: the Culinary Prestige.

Why is it so great on the go?

• Compact design
• Extremely light
• Durable, fully stainless steel exterior with no glass components
• Tube shape tucks away easily
• Inexpensive, in case you lose it

Actually, there are dozens of coffee grinders which are nearly identical to the Culinary Prestige. They’re so identical it’s almost like they were made in some cheap Chinese factory before each company slapped their proprietary logo on the canister.

But if you don’t like the cylindrical Culinary Prestige grinder, I do have another option for you: the Kohi All-in-One Ultra Portable Grinder/Brewer/Tumbler.

It’s a pretty ingenious design, right?

The Kohi All-in-One is brilliantly layered, fitting everything you need into a compact, durable product:

• Top layer: drip kettle
• 2nd layer: hand mill grinder
• 3rd layer: stainless steel filter
• Bottom layer: tumbler

Add your grounds, mill by hand, add hot water, enjoy.

I love this product and it’s great in a pinch, especially if you’re camping.

The Culinary Prestige and the other portable models that made our top 5 best coffee grinders will do a better job actually grinding coffee, but small, portable — and most of all, cool — products like this definitely deserve to be featured.

Best Manual Turkish Coffee Grinder

As great as all of the aforementioned manual coffee grinders are, they have a fatal flaw:

They can’t make a fine grind.

If you’re an Aeropress, French press, drip or pour-over coffee drinker, that isn’t a problem. For espresso drinkers, and especially Turkish coffee drinkers, you need something better specialized.

That’s where the Bazaaranatolia Turkish Grinder comes in handy.

That’s some antique craftsmanship — and look at that price!

The grinder’s brass exterior also comes in a variety of awesome silver, gold and copper colors.

This truly is a the best manual Turkish coffee grinder given its price point.

Best Antique Coffee Grinder

There’s no shortage of antique-looking coffee grinders; in fact, antique and rustic kitchen appliance are a weakness of mine.

If you truly want something antique — as in something old enough for Grandma to have used — your best bet is to check out your local antique shop or eBay.

For something that looks the part but is brand new, these are your top options.

Universal Housewares Gourmet Cast Iron Coffee Grinder | $44.08 

• Material: Cast iron, wood
• Size: 9.1″H x 7.2″W x 7.2″D
• Weight: 6.7 lbs
• Burr: Conical, stainless steel

With a striking contrast of dark cast iron and light-colored wood, this coffee grinder looks as good as it performs.

And it performs exceptionally well.

Grind size is adjusted by turning the silver knob on the side of the grinder, and the easy-turn grinding wheel is as fun as it is functional.

And whereas a lot of manual coffee grinders struggle to produce anything finer than medium, you’ll be able to get a good medium-fine grind with this machine.

Clever Chef Manual Cast Iron Coffee Grinder | $39.99 

• Material: Cast iron, wood
• Size: 6.9″H x 4.33″W x 4.33″D
• Weight: 2.4 lbs
• Burr: Conical, stainless steel

Constructed with less metal than either of the other antique coffee grinders, the Clever Chef Cast Iron Manual Coffee Grinder is smaller and lighter.

In fact, it rivals many of the small, portable manual grinders discussed above.

I love its easy-access grind size adjuster located at the top, where the rotating handle attaches, and it ditches the Old School grinding wheel.

Whether that’s a plus is up to you.

The drawer easily slides in and out, and the opening to add your whole coffee beans is large enough to either shovel in via scoop or pour in directly from the bag.

Foruchoice Vintage Style Hand Cranked Coffee Grinder | $29.99 

• Material: Cast iron, wood, plastic
• Size: 10.5″H x 5.0″W x 4.8″D
• Weight: 2.6 lbs
• Burr: Conical, stainless steel

The tallest and most ornate of the 3 manual antique coffee grinders shown here, the Foruchoice Vintage Style Hand Cranked Grinder has a stoic, all-dark design — except for when you pull out the collecting tray as shown in the image.

Like the Clever Chef grinder above it features the grind size adjuster at the top of the grinder instead of on the size.

You’ll also notice how some of the components are labeled as plastic or plastic steel. Don’t worry about that plastic steel case. It’s an extremely hard and durable material.

Have you used any of these grinders? Do you have a favorite which isn’t listed? Comment below!

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