D**W
Decent coffee grinder, but disappointingly short-lived.
I bought this 10 months ago and use it maybe 4-5 times a week. I figured that with the stainless steel case and ceramic grinder, it ought to last a long time.Unfortunately, it turns out that down in the guts, the connection between the crank and the grinder involves a cheap plastic fitting. It broke, and there's no obvious way to fix it.The site claims "Lifetime Warrantee," but I haven't figured out how to contact the company to make good on that promise. I'll update this if anything positive results.Update: I contacted the seller and they issued a refund. One star for the product (At least until this problem is fixed.) 5 for the seller.
C**L
What a difference!
I have brewed a few cups using this grinder, and I must say, I'm amazed at the difference it makes.I have been on a quest for the finest daily coffee for a few years now, and only recently started looking at improving my grinder situation. How large a difference could the grinder, of all things, make in the quality of the final product? Answer: a LOT.I had been using a DeLonghi electric grinder with a ceramic burr disc. It's loud, but it has an adjustable fineness and it chews through beans very quickly. I think it was overheating the beans as well as producing a lot of "fines" — coffee dust — that made the coffee bitter. Not so with this grinder.This grinder has a conical mill face, which produces much more consistent output. Since it is ground by hand, the mill face rotates slowly, so fines are limited, even though I use the finest setting that will still pass grounds. I couldn't believe how much smoother and deeper the flavor of my coffee became putting my beans through this! It does take a bit of elbow grease to get through a cup's worth at my favored fineness setting (five clicks from fully closed), but it's not bad at all. I haven't timed it, but it takes the same amount of time to grind one cup's worth (21 g) of beans as my electric kettle takes to heat one cup's worth of water (400 mL) to 98°C.This mill is advertised as being compatible with the Aeropress. I can verify that the outside diameter of the mill is less than the inside diameter of the Aeropress cylinder — by quite a bit, actually. However, there is no protrusion below the upper part of the mill to keep the adjuster knob/bolt from contacting the rubber seal on the Aeropress, so it would be inadvisable to put the mill directly in the cylinder, as the rubber seal can be damaged. Also, since there is no protrusion, only a very small amount of coffee can be ground before the grounds rise to the level of the mill face. Kind of disappointing, but it would have been unwieldy anyway, so I'm not too concerned.Construction is of formed, lightweight stainless steel sheet (no rivets or welds to break), heavy stainless steel for the crank and axle, plastic, and ceramic for the mill face. Contrary to what other reviewers have stated, this product does contain a fair amount of plastic. The bin that catches the grounds has clear windows on the sides - this is effected by leaving holes in the stainless steel cup and nesting a clear plastic cup inside. It is not glass! Also, the fineness adjustor knob, crank knob, axle bearing, and mill face housing are made of a slick, black plastic. Everything feels pretty solid and well-fitting.What may not be obvious from the product description and pictures is that the crank comes off. There is a pentagonal cap on the end of the axle, onto which the crank, with its pentagonal hole, fits. I was concerned that this would result in the cap or hole becoming stripped over time, but so far, so good. That the crank can be stored alongside the mill body makes it very compact, and the lack of a mounting knob or some such makes it convenient to use.All in all, a simple, elegant, effective design that helps produce coffee to die for! All this for vastly less than the $150-400 pricetag of the nicer electric grinders - rather a nice bonus!
A**N
I like it at first - it has good design and ...
I like it at first - it has good design and did well what it suppose to do, but after 7 month of moderate use (once a day for one cup of coffee) the only plastic part in in it cracked during grinding regular coffee. It also cannot be repaired as this part touches coffee. I would expect this thing to last at least a year.
G**E
Nifty burr grinder for travel or for anyone who needs to save kitchen space
I ordered this manual grinder because I only drink two cups of coffee a day and I don't have the space for a larger, electric burr grinder. I've had it about a month now and use it nearly every day.WELL-MADEThe grinder is well made, with excellent craftsmanship. Several people asked whether the window is plastic or glass. Some responders said theirs was glass, others that it was plastic. My unit has a removable clear plastic cup for catching the ground coffee. This cup fills the slot in the see-through window.USING THE GRINDERIt takes about five minutes to grind the two scoops of coffee I use each day. Someone younger and stronger could probably do it in one or two. I don't mind the effort when I have a leisurely morning. It gives me a little additional upper body exercise, which I need at my age. When I had the flu, however, I had no strength to manage the grinder.Some folks said they had trouble keeping the grinder handle on the unit while grinding. I don't have that problem. I do have difficulty holding the narrow unit stable throughout the grinding process. My hands are small and old and don't grip as well as they used to. A stabilizing foot would be most helpful.ISSUES AND CUSTOMER SERVICEAccording to the description, one should be able to adjust the grind from fine to coarse, but there is no mention in the instructions that came with the unit how to do this, and no markings on the unit to help one intuit it. Also missing: Instructions on how properly to disassemble for cleaning, then reassemble.The company sent a very nice email after the product shipped, asking me to let them know of any concerns I had about the unit. I mentioned the gripping issue, the plastic cup, and I asked them how to adjust the grind and to disassemble for cleaning. They kindly responded fairly quickly. They have no plans to solve the gripping issue because the unit is designed to fit inside a certain kind of coffee maker. They are working on an all-stainless steel (no plastic) version of the grinder. They are also working on improving their cleaning instruction sheet as well as preparing a how-to video.To adjust the grind, turn the black knob at the bottom of the grinding mechanism one way or another. You have to guess until you get the right grind for you.If you pull the grinding mechanism apart to clean the burrs, watch out for the spring, as it can pop out rather quickly. Getting the mechanism back together after cleaning is difficult for me, especially trying to get that spring back in just right. The cleaning brush that came with the grinder already shows significant signs of wear, and I've only disassembled the grinder twice.I'm giving this grinder four stars because it is so well made and because of the good customer service so far. I can't give it five stars because of the lack of instructions and the difficulty keeping it stable while grinding, but I do recommend it, especially for those with strong arms and hands.
D**C
Broke after 5 months
Broke after 5 months. Unable to contact Onyx customer service via their website using Contact Form [...] as advised in one of FAQ on product page to claim lifetime warranty as it's missing Subject. Whats funny is that Subject field doesn't even exist on their contact form.
D**D
Travels well with Aeropress.
Very nice hand grinder. I like how it fits inside my Aeropress. Great for traveling. As with almost all hand grinders, you will get a workout. Just makes you appreciate the coffee more.Edit: A small washer/spacer made of plastic inside of the grinder fell apart. It still seems to work, at least for very fine grind. It does make a rubbing noise though. Note: This is not a Porlex which sells for much more. This one has plastic parts internally. You get what you pay for.
Trustpilot
5 days ago
2 months ago