Porlex Mini Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder

This Porlex grinder was recommended by a friend of ours who owns a coffee shop. My wife and I use ours every morning and have had it for the past four years. It has ceramic grinder bits so that it will last longer than metal blade grinders will. I recently got one for my brother, which has a new crank-handle bit on it (ours is a hex bit, but our crank-handle comes off all the time, so I think this new bit probably grips better). The grinder body fits pretty snugly inside an Aeropress for traveling (though you’ll need to put the handle and your beans somewhere else alongside the aeropress/grinder – we got a reusable metal filter for our Aeropress so we don’t have to fuss with paper filters).

There is some confusion in the reviews because there are two versions of this product. The earlier version has a hex shaped shaft top, and the newer one which has a blade shaped shaft top. Both products were sold on this same listing. To add further confusion, this listing mentions “there is a newer version…” linked to another listing.

There is no need to click to the “newer version”. This listing is for the newer version. So as you read reviews, filter out those that are for the older version. Don’t worry, you’ll get the new one.

Now on to the review. I’ve been using a Keurig for brewing my individual cups on a daily basis. I started with, but have gotten away from the pre-packaged k-cups due to the lack of quality / freshness and the environmental waste. I have since been using ground coffee in reusable k-cups, which is a much tastier brew. Then finally, I wanted to move to fresh ground whole bean coffee, to enjoy real coffee as it was meant to be.

At first I looked for an electric grinder – a burr grinder, not those imprecise blades. The problem is that they were all too big; designed for brewing pots of coffee, not a single cup. That’s just overkill and ineffective.

Most of the manual grinders had sketchy performance and reviews. That is, until I found this PORLEX. This is one well-crafted machine. The parts quality is excellent. The operation is smooth, effortless, and precise. It’s a pleasure to use.

To grind a single k-cup:
– Add beans to about 2/3 – 3/4 full. It takes slightly over half, but you shouldn’t operate the grinder with no beans, so add in a little extra.
– Turn handle for about 30 – 40 seconds. Easy to do while the Keurig is warming up.
– Pour grounds into your reusable k-cup, brew, and enjoy!

Yea, it’s a little pricey, but well worth not having to deal with problems of the low-quality manual grinders. Definitely recommended for the serious, one cup at a time, k-cup, coffee addict.

I got this to try with a new Aeropress and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be into hand grinding coffee every morning so the price made it a good entry point to try. About 14 months later, the wife is onboard and we’re still hand grinding coffee every day. This grinder is smaller and lightweight, which is nice. I also like that the handle comes off and is separate from the lid and that the canister just slides on and off. The adjustment is on the inside and is a little harder to know exactly where you’re at with it, but it works.

While it did a good job of grinding the beans, the bur set is like stone, and wore out in that time span. It’s $25 for a replacement set. Instead I upgraded to a 1Zpress X-Pro which is significantly heavy, but turns smoother and grinds faster, but most importantly, it’s burr set is metal, so it’ll last many years.

I would recommend this one if you’re looking for a cheaper option, just know that over time it’ll likely cost you more, and it does take a bit more work to grind. I was able to grind a scoop in about 90s, it took the wife a bit longer.