I have mixed emotions about this grinder. As conical burr grinders go, it's affordable, unlike so many others. The grinder itself works great. I'd call it semi-automatic since you have to monitor the grinding, at least until you figure out where to set the timer for the amount of beans you want to grind. It's quiet, actually very quiet for a grinder. It doesn't move from vibration like some appliances. It's easy to change the grind type. It's easy to take apart and clean. It grinds evenly. It comes with a nice stiff brush for cleaning. All great things for a coffee grinder. We use it for French Press, grinding on the first "Course" setting (the one closest to the Medium settings).
The problem for us is a design flaw in the chute that is supposed to drop the grounds into the pull-out container below. We find that coffee grounds get stuck in this chute and can back up the other grounds. So it's critical to follow the manufacturer's instructions to clean it after every use. Also tipping the unit forward and rapping it on both sides before removing the pull-out grounds container helps empty the chute. But even doing that I still find a tablespoon or so of grounds stuck in the chute and around the hopper when I clean it. Overall we like this product, especially for the price, and it does a great job of grinding. I'd love to see the unit redesigned so the grounds fall out of the hopper better.
Update: 9 months later the grinder is awesome. The issues we had with it getting clogged up if we didn't clean it everyday eventually disappeared. And it no longer clogs. Love that you can set the beans grinding using the timer then go do other things. When you come back it's done. Is holding up superbly with daily use. Changing my review from 4 stars to 5.
Update 2: My how time flies - here we are 6 years later and this grinder is still grinding coffee beans like a champ. We use it every day, sometimes multiple times a day. We change beans frequently, but they're are all very similar in size and consistency, so we rarely change the grind settings. When we change the settings it's easy to change them back. Still easy to clean, but we don't need to clean it very often. Nothing like the first month we put it into service.
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
