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I have been intrigued by manual coffee grinders for a while. I mentioned them in several articles as they are a very inexpensive way to get all the benefits from good burr grinders without the high costs associated with them. You may be surprised by the number of available options. I wanted to find a well-designed product that can grind fine enough for espresso at an attractive price.
My research of an affordable manual coffee grinder that can do everything led me to the KINGrinder K1. Let us see if it delivers.

A surprising large choice of manual burr coffee grinders

When you look for a manual burr coffee grinder, you realize that there is an overwhelming choice. Manual coffee grinders came back in force over the last few years. Most coffee enthusiasts look for the satisfying experience of using a well-crafted manual grinder rather than the low cost compared to their electric counterparts. There are a lot of high-end products that allow grinding fine for espresso. Some products, such as the 1Zpresso JX and the Comandante products, are all the rage in the coffee community. Hario makes a great option below $40 that deliver excellent results on the lower end of the spectrum. I mentioned the awesome Hario Mini in my first article about grinders since it is the cheapest way to grind your coffee with good consistency. Obviously, at $40, do not expect that it grinds fine enough for espresso.

I stumbled on the KINGrinder lineup on Amazon. They have several K0, K1, K2, and K6 products featuring great reviews. They range from $65 to $149. Given the low number of reviews, it does not seem that they are well known yet on the North American market. The difference from one product to the other is the size and the type of burrs. The K1 attracted me since KINGrinder claims it can grind thin enough for espresso. A $69 grinder that can even do espresso? I wanted to try and report since it would provide an affordable option for anyone wishing to access espresso on a budget.

KINGrinder was founded in 2020. They strive to offer high-quality grinders at an affordable price.

Full disclosure, once I settled on the K1, I reached out to KINGrinder to ask them if they would send me one to review. To my delight, they accepted and shipped me one from Taiwan. The review you are about to read is 100% my opinion after testing the product for several weeks, and I cannot think of anything I would change if I had purchased it.

The little coffee grinder (KINGrinder) that could

The grinder is well packaged. The first thing that impressed me is that it feels substantial and well built. The wood handle looks beautiful and contrasts nicely with the dark steel. The adjustment clicks are satisfying.

I immediately ground coffee at different grind levels to check the consistency and the quality. Even at coarse settings, the particles are consistent in size, which is what you want for a good coffee. Even coffee grind means even extraction and a well-balanced coffee. If your grounds are uneven, the fine particles will be over-extracted, and the coarse particles will be under-extracted, yielding a mediocre result.
The effort needed to grind is low, and the mechanism is satisfying. It takes about 20 seconds to grind 20g of coarse coffee. The time increases for finer settings.

KINGrinder K1 setting for espresso

Without surprise, I was impatient to verify the claim whether it was capable of grinding fine enough for espresso. I put 16g of coffee in the grinder and adjusted the grind size (10 “clicks” finer than filter coffee). The effort for grinding at that level is not higher, but it takes significantly more time: about 2 minutes. The result was an excellent, smooth, and fluffy powder. So fine that even my beefy espresso machine choked on it at 9 bars of pressure. The fine coffee dust it produced would be perfect for Turkish coffee. I was not expecting this little beast to be able to go there!

I made a new test at a slightly coarser setting (3 clicks coarser). That took significantly less time to grind—a little over a minute. I made a delicious expresso with it. I compared the shot side by side with one I made as usual with my electric Mazzer workhorse and could not detect a difference!

That answered my main question about this K1: it works well for espresso, but you need to put some effort into it since it takes about a minute of manual labor per shot. For $69 vs. at least $600 for an electric grinder that can handle espresso, it is well worth it if you are on a budget.

I tried the K1 for all my favorite brewing methods: espresso, French press, pour-over, and Italian Moka pot. I could not detect any drop in quality for any technique compared to the coffee ground with my trusty Mazzer grinder. Unlike my electric grinder, which retains up to 2 grams of coffee, the hand grinder has no retention. There is no need to “purge” the grinder between a change of settings or get rid of stall coffee ground after a few days without using it.

You might be interested to read this fantastic article: How to Make Your First Espresso Shots?

How to make coffee with a manual coffee grinder: KINGrinder K1

The KINGrinder K1 is very simple to use. First, remove the receiver cup at the bottom to dial your desired grind setting. The range of adjustment is 40 clicks, with each “click” having a difference of 18 micrometers. Close the grinder, remove the handle and open the plastic cap at the top. 

Fill the grinder with the desired quantity of coffee beans. KINGrinder claims it can handle 20-25 grams of coffee, but it can only contain 20-21 grams when you fill it. The only limitation of this mightly little beast is that if you want to brew a large pot of coffee, you will need to grind 2 or 3 batches, pending your desired quantity. That makes the K1 better suited for preparing one or 2 cups at a time, which is perfect for how I consume coffee but not for everyone.

Now put the handle and crank. The rubber around the body of the grinder provides an excellent grip. The handle provides a positive feel, substantial without being hard to turn. Nothing wobbles; it is pretty satisfying. When the handle offers no resistance, you are ready. Remove the receiver cup, smell the freshly ground coffee, marvel at the even ground and drop all the content into your favorite coffee brewer. My coffee smells even better with the manual grinder than with my electric one.

So, does KINGrinder, an affordable manual coffee grinder deliver?

You might be interested to read this fantastic article: How to Make Your Coffee Look Sophisticated? Get a French Press! or How to Get the Best Out of High-Quality Coffee Beans? Use the Pour-Over Method