These 15 Grinders Helped Home Users Gain New Ground in 2022

A slew of new grinders were introduced to consumers this year as the home coffee renaissance of the pandemic era continues unabated. 

Big names in commercial equipment, established names in home gear and several promising startups rolled out innovative and intriguing grinder designs, with particular emphasis on single-dose grinding.

The line between professional and prosumer gear grew blurrier with multiple compact, sleek-looking yet robustly constructed machines entering the market. At the same time, a variety of fascinating mechanical innovations also emerged in the more squarely consumer-oriented field of manual grinders.

As we continue our 2022 Year in Review, here’s a thorough rundown of the home and prosumer grinders that rose up over the past 12 months:

Electric Grinders

New Rectangular Grinders From Italy are Circling the Home Market

Four separate Italian commercial grinder companies are hitting all the right angles this season with new flat-burr grinders for the home market.

Venice-based Macap has released the Leo 55; Milanese company Rancilio has launched the Stile; Florence-based Eureka is rolling out the Mignon Libra; and Nuova Simonelli, headquartered in central Italy, is preparing orders for the Duo… Read More

Taiwan Startup Femobook Launches the A68 Single-Dose Grinder

Taiwan-based coffee equipment startup Femobook has introduced itself with the A68, a single-dose, high-end home coffee grinder with some commercial-level mechanical muscle.

With a pre-order price just over US$500, the A68 grinder features innovative mechanisms for grind adjustment, burr alignment and disassembly for cleaning, while also boasting low grind retention, according to its maker… Read More

Chicago Startup Grinder Maker Zerno Readies the High-End Z1

The lower burr speed of the Z1 is enabled by the specific geometry of an innovative anodized aluminum pre-breaker auger that is similar to the pre-breaker found on the much larger commercial Mahlkönig EK43 grinder, and is central to the Z1’s design.

While burr speed can affect the grind in a number of ways, the auger’s pre-breaking action, combined with its snug fit on the drive shaft, contribute to the finished coffee’s particle uniformity, according to the company… Read More

Varia Brewing Launches the VS3 Electric Grinder

The compact and stylish VS3 grinder is built around a set of custom 38-millimeter conical burrs spun at a deliberate 160 RPM inside a die-cast, machined aluminum case.

Varia Brewing Founder and CEO Ramsey Gyde told Daily Coffee News the slow speed of the burrs in the VS3 improves particle size consistency as well as distribution for both espresso and drip grinds… Read More

The Acaia Orbit Coffee Grinder is Coming Around Soon

While not incorporating a built-in scale like Acaia’s single-dosing machine the Orion,  the Orbit will be designed to interact with an Acaia Lunar scale for grind-by-weight functionality.

The 64-millimeter flat-burr Orbit will be built to accommodate users who prefer to weigh their coffee either before or after grinding. Its angled, upright burr orientation, straight-through grind path and burr reversal feature are all designed to minimize retention… Read More

With ESP Model, the Baratza Encore Adds Performance

Unveiled at last month’s Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, the ESP version of the Encore includes a number of tweaks under the hood designed to improve espresso preparation, including a different burr set and a new system for finer resolution in the grind size mechanism. (Find DCN’s complete 2022 SCA Expo coverage here.)

While the overall range of particle sizes from coarsest to finest remains the same, the Encore ESP includes a redesign to the adjustment collar that maintains the original Encore’s performance in coarser grinds for filter preparations while also providing adjustments in smaller increments at the finer end for espresso… Read More

The Airmill Grinder by Coffee Chaps Blows Into Production

Coffee Chaps, the South Korean brand of commercial coffee equipment behind the Brewvie mounted automatic pourover system, is working on production of a new coffee grinder called the Airmill.

The Airmill electric coffee grinder features a built-in “air-sifting” system that blows fresh air through the grounds as they travel from the grind chamber towards the receptacle. The purpose of this is to separate fines and flakes of chaff away from the more desirable particles, resulting in a more consistent output for brewing, according to Coffee Chaps. The airflow system, which users can choose to turn off if they want, also keeps both the coffee and the machine cooler in operation… Read More

The Wug2 83A Grinder Offers Interchangeable Conical and Flat Burrs

If there can only be one high-end grinder at a specialty coffee aficionado’s home coffee station, the eternal question is: conical burrs or flat burrs?

The most diplomatic response so far is coming from Hong Kong-based startup equipment maker Wug2, whose 83A grinder suggests, “Why not both?” … Read More

Manual Grinders

The Pietro Manual Grinder is Taking Vertically Oriented Flat Burrs for a Spin

Northern Italian commercial coffee grinder manufacturer Fiorenzato has established Pietro Grinders, a sibling company named after the company’s founder Pietro Fiorenzato. Launching this month, the new brand’s first product is an eponymous manual coffee grinder that centers on a set of vertically oriented 58-millimeter flat burrs.

The flat-burr Pietro design boldly strides astray from the conventional manual grinder format, in which conical burrs are turned by a top-mounted horizontal crank. A side-mounted crank on the Pietro turns the vertical rotating burr, then folds neatly into the aluminum body of the grinder when not in use… Read More

From Brazil, the Bravo IT Seeks a Grinding Ovation

Three points of support are spread down the inside of the all-metal Bravo IT, keeping the 12-millimeter-diameter axle in alignment as it drives the inner of a set of 47-millimeter conical burrs made by Italian burr manufacturer Italmill.

An exterior adjustment collar that includes a “lap marker” to track full rotations of adjustment tops the grinder that represents the latest design from Bravo engineer and founder Gilberto dos Santos Neto… Read More

Manual Grinder Maker Knock Unveils a More Refined Aergrind

Scottish manual coffee grinder company Knock is marking the fifth anniversary of its Aergrind grinder with the release of an entirely plastic-free version featuring new burrs and other component upgrades.

The compact, stepless manual grinder, which is designed specifically to nest inside an Aeropress brewer, features a new set of titanium nitride 38mm conical burrs made by Italy’s Italmill… Read More

I’m Not A Barista is Building Momentem, a Two-Phase Manual Coffee Grinder

The principle feature of the Momentem is a dual set of conical burrs whose inner burrs are both driven at once along the same central shaft. A built-in sieve at the bottom of the grinder also separates fines from the finished ground coffee.

Beans loaded into the top of the multi-step grinder are crunched first by a set of 38-mm conical burrs. The output from there is further reduced to the target particle size by a lower set of 48-mm burrs. All burrs will be made from hardened steel… Read More