PSA: I spent $180 on a hand grinder everyone told me to buy, and my $40 one was just as good
So six months back I finally gave in and got the hand grinder that this sub pushes on every single new person, and I want to warn you before you do the same. I paid about $180 shipped, waited eleven days for it, and ran it side by side with my old $40 one on the same beans from a local spot here in Portland. Blind test with my wife pouring, five cups each, and I picked my cheap grinder three times out of five. The burrs are nice, sure, but for pour over at my level I honestly cannot taste $140 of difference. Cleaning it takes double the time too, which nobody mentions. Has anyone else done a real blind test with their gear, or am I the only one who feels dumb about this?
That "at my level" part is doing a lot of work here because it kind of proves the other side without meaning to. Five cups is just not enough to tell much of anything, your taste buds change day to day, and by cup three your palate is shot anyway. The real win with a better grinder shows up over months, not one sitting, like when you finally notice your cheap one has a wide range of sizes and your good cup tastes muddy on some days and great on others. You also said the burrs are nice, which tells me you felt the difference even if the blind test didn't show it clearly. The cleaning complaint is fair though, some of those grinders are a pain to take apart. But one blind test on one bean doesn't really settle it for me.