Akirakoki Manual Coffee Bean Grinder Wooden Mill with Cast Iron Burr, Large Capacity Hand Crank, Portable Travel Camping Adjustable (Brown wood)

Shockingly powerful grinder
I’ve been looking for a hand grinder recently to use with my moka pot since my wife stopped joining me for weekend coffee, causing the pre-ground bags I used to be happy with to go stale long before I could get through them. After doing some research on recommended models, I bought this grinder on a whim to try out instead of springing for a more expensive one. I figured if I wasn’t happy with its performance for coffee, it would certainly be up to the job of grinding spices, since I’m a fanatic for fresh spices and I can never get through most ground spices before they go stale. So this review will address both use cases.There are a couple of unusual features to this grinder that I’ll come back to later – one is the narrow wooden body, the other is the use of rough cast iron burrs and other mechanical parts. Those features gave me pause, especially since there is zero information out there about cast irons burrs, though the manufacturer touted them as a feature that prevents heating of the beans, so I was curious to see how it would perform.GRIND PERFORMANCE – 10/10Let me start by saying that I am not a big coffee geek – maybe above average in that I use a moka pot and have a basic understanding of brewing methods, roasts, grind size, extraction, arabica/robusta, and growing regions and tyles. This is my first hand grinder, so my basis for comparison is the basic Krups electric burr grinder I used to own, the professional grinders in stores, and the “factory” grind of the various Southern Italian pre-ground espressos I buy.I started by grinding some cinnamon on the finest setting. The end result was indistinguishable from finely ground cinnamon from a baking supply store (see attached picture).A few days later I finally had some beans and could try grinding coffee. To push the limits of the grinder and to help clear out the spices, I thought I would carefully try grinding the coffee (Kimbo Espresso Napoli – a dark roast with some very dark and some lighter beans mixed in) on the finest setting and making it Turkish/Arabic style. I know there are more expensive grinders where the manufacturer says not to do this, but this grinder had little trouble – I was able to grind the beans to a powder without much effort and without much caking in the final product (see picture). Granted it took a loooong time, but I was able to brew a strong cup of coffee just with water from the kettle, not even simmering over the stove – very impressive!Finally, but most importantly, I decided right after my Turkish test to make coffee in the Moka pot. I turned the grinder to the fourth finest setting, at which it took me about five minutes to grind a 3/4 full hopper or 20 grams of coffee – enough for about 5 “cups” in a moka pot, though many people would consider two cups a proper serving. The grinder puts up surprisingly little resistance and noise. The final grind was significantly finer than what is normal for a moka pot, but I was very pleased with the result – the coffee brewed up a little bitter from the finer grind and probably some leftover powdered coffee, but was otherwise fantastic – I almost wanted to jump up and grind another pot.Today I went up one grind setting and was treated to perfect results – the best coffee I’ve ever had in a moka pot. As before, it took about a minute per “cup” – 3 minutes to grind 14 grams. As you can see in the attached picture, there were just enough fines to enrich the brew without creating any significant sludge.EASE OF USE AND OTHER FEATURES – 8/10I’ll start with the good – this grinder looks neat, and it’s nicely built. The wooden base screws on smoothly, and the metal parts have a comforting heaviness to them that feels like good quality. The capacity of the grinder is fairly impressive too, and the crank is comfortable to hold and doesn’t feel loose or delicate.However, the design does seem to have a few disadvantages:First of all, the adjustment method, which involves loosening the top bolt and nudging a tooth out of a gap in a gear and over to the next gap, is as finicky as it sounds, and makes it difficult to keep track of grind level – I wouldn’t recommend this grinder to anyone who needs to frequently switch settings, though as long as the difference isn’t large it’s certainly doable.Second, there’s a semicircular metal flap that swings out from the body to allow the hopper to be loaded. Nothing is holding it shut, so that it can easily open on its own while the grinder is in use, and you have to hold it in place with a finger while grinding, or tilt the grinder to the side which affects performance.Third, the design could be improved. I think the painted-on logo looks a little cheap (especially since it seems to be stamped onto a generic product), and the wood body has the slick look and feel of machined wood reminiscent of those mass produced wooden sunglasses and phone cases that were all the rage a few years ago, which looks a tiny bit weird in person with the rough cast iron parts, and makes the slight mismatch in grain, color, and centering between the top and bottom more obvious to my perfectionist eyes – I reckon a more natural finish would look a lot nicer. It could be sexier, but it’s charmingly unique – I do still think it’s an attractive grinder, nice enough to display proudly on my counter, and I reckon all but the most vain coffee snobs would agree.Finally, the cast iron burrs give me pause. The cast iron parts all have a rough, stippled texture to them like a cast iron pan, and turning the grinder on empty generates an audible sound of rough metal rubbing on rough metal, especially since there’s enough play in the shaft to allow the inner and outer burrs to make contact. While all grinders wear down, I can’t help but wonder if this design isn’t creating extra wear. I also wonder about rust resistance of what appears to be uncoated cast iron – though the oils from coffee probably help, I would have appreciated being put at ease by the manufacturer regarding proper care. I also suspect the rough burrs retain more material – I can still taste cinnamon after grinding three loads of coffee. As I said, the grinder works fantastically, but giving how little info is out there about cast iron burrs, all other things being held equal, I would probably opt for stainless steel – rather the devil I know.All in all, I’m very pleased with my purchase – so much so that I’m not sure what to do about my planned upgrade. It doesn’t seem worth my money to get a slightly more expensive one – in fact, I worry that it might not be as good – but if I get another identical grinder, how will I tell my coffee grinder from my spice grinder? I may end up saving money and buying a cheaper spice grinder, as this one almost feels like overkill. It’s not perfect, but for $55, I’m more than willing to overlook what I currently think are minor drawbacks.

Good quality, good materials.
I liked the adjustable grinding, and the nice wood finish. The only things I think might be improved are the shaft that attaches to the crank, i feel it might bend over time. The other is the door to fill the grinding chamber can get loose and might open while grinding. So far these have not been a problem for me but they are there.

My favorite hand-grinder!
**3-YEAR UPDATE** – This works just as well as the first day I used it.I should note that I’m not a coffee connoisseur – but I (think) I know the difference between a solid cup of coffee and gas station swill. I have been using this grinder for a few months to make my morning French Press, and it gives me a great cup every time.It fits approximately 25 grams of beans in the grind chamber at one time (I use the Don Pablo Signature Blend – Medium-Dark Roast). So, for two cups of coffee, I need to load the chamber twice, which isn’t a big deal. The hand-crank is not too loud – substantially more quiet than my wife’s EXPENSIVE electric grinder that sounds like a chainsaw – and doesn’t even bother the dog in the morning. I’ve seen some hand-grinder reviews mention you need “muscle” to crank the handle. Yes, you need muscle, but c’mon, you don’t need to be Arnold. This one takes little effort.Although the grinder allows for adjusting coarseness, I’d say you can go from a “medium” grind to espresso. I haven’t been able to get a really course grind out of it – not that I really wanted to, though.The $60 cost may put some people off, but I didn’t mind spending that kind of money on a device I’ll be using several times a week for a couple years.

Using for almost a year, still going strong
I love this little grinder, perfect for the 1 or two cups of coffee for me a day, it grinds the beans beautifully and is beautiful sitting on my counter. I love that it is wood and metal, the cast iron hopefully will last a long time, and grinds the beans quickly. The only thing I had to do was add a metal washer to the top to get a coarser grind for my french press.

Confronto a quello elettrico che avevo prima la macinatura è mille volte meglio, lo preferisco così.Si può regolare come vuoi sia fine che a scaglie, anche se più e fine più tempo devi stare li, con una moka da 3 sono stato li 10/15 minuti per avere una macinatura fine ed è troppo…L’unico difetto è che dopo diversi mesi di utilizzo ho notato piccole scaglie quando macini, secondo me il legno non è dei migliori, perchè non dovrebbe fare così. Un conto se fossero passati anni lo potrei capire ma non dopo pochi mesi.Di sicuro se un giorno dovrò ricomprarlo prenderò qualcosa di più serio tipo sugli 80 o 100€, pagato quasi 50€ piuttosto se so che fa così vado a spendere di più ma almeno vado su cose più professionali…

This coffee grinder easily met my expectations. Very satisfied.