I just want to add another vote for the JX Pro. It’s been my daily driver for 3 years and still going strong. I use it for Moka Pot, Aeropress, espresso, pourover, and French press with great results. Changing the grind size for different brew methods isn’t painful. Grinding for espresso does give you a forearm pump tho. It’s a great budget option, and as someone who enjoys the process of making coffee, a manual grinder adds to the process. If you need to grind more than 30 grams at once for guests, etc. then it is time consuming and takes multiple refills. That’s my only criticism of a great grinder.

This is less gay than I thought it would be at first

😢

Honestly, I’d skip the manual grinders and get the Baratza Encore. The manual grinders on your list are $50 to $100, and you can find a used Encore on eBay for that much. It’s more than capable of giving you the grind you need for a moka pot, drip, or French press, and if you open it up and adjust the grind settings, you can just push it to a fine enough grind for real espresso, should you ever get a proper machine.

Hand grinders are great, but they can be finicky and tedious, and they’re the last thing you want to deal with when you just want a cup of coffee. They have a lot of range for relatively little cost, but it’s not like you’re regularly making Turkish coffee and cold brew. You’re mostly grinding in the medium to medium-fine grind range, and a good entry-level electric burr grinder will do that for you.

Check out the Baratza Encore ESP. It’s one of the few grinders around that can handle espresso and French press pretty well. It also has internal shims (and includes extra/spare) for adjusting how close or far the burrs are to make minute adjustments to the grind, separately from the grind dial.

It’s got a 40 click adjustment dial where the first 20 are for fine adjustment for espresso grinds, and then from 21 to 40 is for regular coffee grinds. I do 25 for my pour over, and around 33-34 for French press.

My previous grinder was a Capresso Infinity, and though I liked it, the Baratza is better quality and much easier to clean and maintenance.

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Edit - both the Capresso and the Baratza have some grinds retention (anything will on fine grinds) but the Baratza also has the benefit of having compatible bellows, and even aftermarket single serve hoppers with bellows. Capresso does not.

My Capresso Infinity was bad, sometimes up to 2+ grams retention and I’d have to shake it kind of whack the side of it to get them out.

With the bellows added, the Baratza’s grounds retention is almost zero, just press it down and the grounds come right out with no fuss. It’s also part of why it’s cleaner, and easier to clean in general.

My understanding is that you can’t really get an espresso grinder that’s good for French press and vice versa. It may be a cost thing though - why pay $800 for a grinder and use a $20 coffeemaker. Manual grinders do narrow the gap though if you’re willing to put in the work. Usually, I’m not.

Heard good things about Commandante.

Kinggrinder k6 if you’re okay with hand grinding and want something cheaper. It’s basically a clone of the 1zpresso

Manual grinders are a great budget option, they punch well above their weight, comparable to electric grinders that are 2-3x the price. I’ve been happy with my 1Zpresso X-Ultra for pour overs. While it can do espresso, it’s quite a bit more work when you get that fine in grind size.

For espresso, I was able to get a Timemore 078s at a discount that I’ve been happy with it though there are a lot of options these days for electric grinders in the $300-$800 price range.

As a quick hack, you can also pair a manual grinder with a cordless screwdriver/drill. Just go easy on the power as it shouldn’t take all that much to match or exceed hand power.

a good manual grinder will beat any fancy electric one

It will beat any electric grinder in the same price range. There are many fine electric grinders, but even the most affordable “good ones” are several times the price of a great manual grinder.

Now, I have at home an 1Zpresso J-Max. It’s excellent for espresso and super fast. It’s part of my travel kit with a Flair Pro 2. The J series are more espresso focused, from memory I think the K series are more drip/moka focused. The differences seem marginal at best. Good stuff, and pretty affordable. Kingrinder makes 1Zpresso clones, half the price but factory calibration is a joke.

My main grinder is a heavily modded DF-64. It’s very good for the price too if you’re ok with tinkering, being one of the cheapest good grinders and probably equivalent to any grinder at least twice the price, especially with SSP burrs. They need some calibration out of the box but afterwards, they’re great.

Avoid the Hario grinders like the plague. They’re absolute shit. Grinding takes literally FOREVER and is super uneven. It’s mind blowing how a company with such a name recognition can sell such a shameful and worthless product.

a good manual grinder will beat any fancy electric one

You mean the price/quality ratio? Sure. I used to use Hario Skerton at work, and it’s been doing its job fine, although adjusting the grind was quite annoying. Also i think it has a very narrow adjustment range, which might be a problem if you use different brewing techniques.

I would steer clear of the Hario Mini Mill. The ceramic burrs are horrible for consistency and, as others have said, it’s terribly arduous to grind beans with. I think the low price point leads a lot of people to purchasing it and then giving up on manual grinders entirely because the experience is so frustrating.

The Capresso is a step up from a blade grinder, but it’s not going to be capable of making a good shot of espresso consistently. That isn’t to say you won’t get a good result occasionally, but it gives you far less ability to make minute adjustments to grind size.

1Zpresso does make fantastic grinders at multiple price points, so I’d second any recommendations that you get for them. The J series grinders are certainly capable of making a nice drip coffee, but are definitely the more espresso-focused grinders of their lineup. If your priority in a coffee is body over clarity, it’s right up your alley. If it’s the opposite, then you’re going to want one of the K Ultra. The only real difference between the JX and the JX Pro is the grind adjustment mechanism, and I’m not too inclined to say that it matters, especially if you don’t have a great espresso set up. The additional steps only really matter in the espresso range, and usually there are many, many more tweaks available to you when dialing in a shot. If cost isn’t an issue, I’d still suggest the JX Pro, but the difference between the two is usually not going to be the thing that makes or breaks a shot.

If you get the higher tier 1Zpresso models or a Commandante, just know that you’re well past the point of diminishing returns when it comes to grinders. Secondhand manual grinders are perfectly fine. My first 1ZPresso (the JX) is going on near a decade now, and it’s still more than capable of brewing something delicious, though admittedly it’s become relegated to a travel grinder.

If you really like the idea of an electric grinder and have the countertop space, scour used markets for a Mazzer Super Jolly. It’s a pretty standard cafe grinder, and exists under a couple different white label names. I’ve seen them around me for about $250 USD or less, and they’re pretty sturdy. The burrs are easy enough to change if they’ve been worn down by the cafe, and they usually run around $50 USD. It’s not a more capable grinder than the 1Zpresso or Commandantes, but it’s still better than the other electric options in the price range if you’re not enthused about manual grinding.

As far as espresso machines go, I’d strongly suggest looking at the used market around you and looking for machines with a good following on home-barista. If you’re patient, you can usually find a crazy deal on a pretty good machine in need of some light care. For more popular home machines, you’ll usually find a number of guides for repairs or maintenance as well as links to specific parts that you’ll need. In some cases, like with the Gaggia Classic, you’ll also find various tweaks to drastically improve performance.

The Hario mini mill is very slow so I wouldn’t recommend it. Get something with metal burrs instead. I’m happy with my 1ZPresso.

I bought a 1Zpresso for my FIL and it works as well for espresso as my DF64.

The DF54 comes dangerously close to the price of some 1Zpresso grinders and it’s just as good as the DF64, just slower.

Check your local second hand market for people getting rid of good electric grinders in case there’s something for the price of a mabual.

I have a fellow opus that can do pour over and espresso pretty well, for a $200 grinder. Was using a hario hand grinder, switched to the fellow and noticed immediate improvement. Well worth the money.

I see recommendations for the Hario Mini Mill and a comment that it is slow. I haven’t used that specific one but I use the Skerton Pro because it’s got a higher capacity and is compatible with standard jars if I break the factory jar.

The mechanism looks to be identical, so I can’t imagine your 20 g requirement would be a problem in terms of time; I’m usually grinding 50 g in 2-3 min.

I haven’t seen anything about Timemore in here yet, but I’ll throw my recommendation for those in the mix. I’ve got a C3ESP Pro and it’s great for pourover, moka pot and espresso grinds. It’s not quite up to snuff for French Press, but I don’t know if any hand grinder is gonna be capable of doing both ends very well without breaking your budget.

My sister just got the C5S Pro and it’s also great, the burrs are slightly more precise than on mine but it takes a little while longer to grind 20 grams than on my C3ESP. Both of these are well within your budget, if you wait until January 1st they’ll be slightly more affordable on AliExpress. Good luck and happy grinding!