Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After reading what seems like hundreds of reviews for various mills and grinders, I settled on the Hario Ceramic Mill. I love this product! As others have pointed out, it's very well made, as well as easy to use and clean. The thing is, if you're planning on brewing more than a cup at a time, it does take time and frankly can wear you out. I've been using the mill to grind coffee for use in a French Press, which highlights another shortcoming that has been mentioned by many reviewers. That is, when using it to grind coarser coffee (as for a press), the grinds can be inconsistent in size. That seems to be a result of two things: when you loosen the burr enough to produce the larger grinds and then turn the crank, the play in the axle moves the shaft back and forth allowing grinds of different sizes to get through. Here's what I did. Removed the crank handle and replaced it with a "connecting nut", which is basically a nut about one inch long that fits the shaft. The size you need is metric 6 (or M6). It cost me $1 at a local hardware store. When I'm ready to grind the coffee, I put in the beans, put the cover on and attach my cordless drill to the connecting nut. It used to take more than 6 minutes to grind enough coffee for three cups by hand and now it takes no more than 90 seconds. Another benefit of this method is that the constant downward pressure of the drill on the shaft while grinding (as opposed the side to side pull of the crank) results in grinds that are very consistent in size - even when producing a course grind for a French Press! Obviously, don't go full-speed on the drill. A slow and steady speed will do the job and not damage the beans or the grinder. Another tip is to hold the jar in one hand and the drill in the other while grinding rather than putting the jar on a counter. It can "wiggle" a little bit while grinding and your hands act as shock absorbers during the process, making it much easier. Enjoy!