14 Manual Coffee Grinders Under €100 Tested – Which One Grinds Well for Filter Coffee AND Espresso?

Manual coffee grinders have several advantages over heavy electric coffee grinders. As a mobile, lightweight, and handy option, they are the perfect coffee grinder for on the go, whether camping, hiking, or traveling. But there's another important argument in favor of manual grinders: for under 100 euros, there are several models that produce relatively uniform ground coffee.

Suitable for filter coffee and espresso?

While many manual grinders do a good job with filter coffee, hardly any manual grinder grinds espresso fine. Many electric grinders also fail in this discipline. The grind size for espresso is so fine that it makes significant demands on the material. This pushes both inexpensive burrs and the driving force—either the motor or a person operating the manual grinder—to their limits.

The ground coffee should not only be espresso fine, but also free of larger particles and lumps. During espresso brewing, these tear holes under water pressure and allow faster flow-through, resulting in uneven extraction. That's not delicious!

To begin with: four coffee grinders under 100 euros passed our espresso test in our testing, some of them quite well.

Why manual grinders make sense

We're often asked how to improve coffee quality at home. The first answer is simple: grind the coffee fresh. Freshly ground coffee is the first requirement for brewing good coffee. It doesn't matter whether you're preparing filter coffee or espresso.

After grinding coffee, its surface area increases many times over. The result is that many of the most interesting aromas in coffee evaporate within just a few minutes of grinding. Additionally, the surface of the coffee bean is greatly enlarged, and oxygen and light easily reach the ground coffee. As a result, the oils in the coffee oxidize more quickly.

This is why pre-ground coffee often tastes rancid and lacks complexity. That's why purchasing a coffee grinder is so worthwhile. A manual grinder not only does a good job, it's also significantly cheaper than its electric counterpart. Whether a manual grinder or an electric grinder is right for you mainly depends on how much coffee you grind per day.

Remarkably enough: many inexpensive manual grinders perform better than some electric grinders costing over a hundred euros.

The basic specifications of manual grinders

Felix Hohlmann performed the technical testing and tests. Did he know what he was getting into with this test? In fact, there's quite a lot you can compare when testing coffee manual grinders. This starts with the maximum bean capacity in the upper chamber, continues with the retention capacity in the ground coffee chamber, and ends with material quality, the burr set, and adjustability. And of course, the grinders also had to perform their duty as filter and espresso grinders.

The following table summarizes the most important basic specifications.

You can find the complete table with further information here.

Here are some notable points. The Handground grinder is by far the largest grinder in the field. With 85 grams capacity in the upper chamber and 60 grams in the ground coffee compartment. At 790 grams and 21 cm, it's anything but a good travel companion, especially since the ground coffee container is made of glass.

The smallest grinder at 14 cm tall and 5 cm in diameter is the Nitrip mini black. With only 19 grams capacity for both beans and ground coffee, you can grind just enough coffee to brew a double espresso or 300 ml of filter coffee.

The three test winners of the manual grinder test

Four grinders are suitable for grinding both filter coffee and espresso, setting them apart from the rest of the field. However, if you're only looking for a filter coffee grinder, you'll find other good models among the remaining grinders.

Of the four grinders, we can recommend three without reservation. The Nitrip mini black, the manual grinder Nitrip Easy Clean Red, and the Timemore C2 performed exceptionally well in many respects.

The Grøneberg* grinder costs only 25 euros and is the best of the very affordable grinders under 30 euros. However, in terms of workmanship and operation, it leaves some wishes unfulfilled. If you're looking for a best value for money test winner, then for us it's the Nitrip mini black*. It costs around 50 euros, but scores in both material quality and user-friendliness.

Nitrip Easy Clean Red – excellent espresso, high-quality construction and visual eye-catcher

The red Nitrip Easy Clean Red stands out visually among the 14 test grinders. A closer look at the grinder reveals surprisingly high-quality workmanship. The entire grinder is made of metal and, with a weight of 500 grams, the manual grinder is among the heavier grinders in the field. With 25 grams capacity in both the bean hopper and ground coffee compartment, the grinder features an ideal size for a manual grinder. This allows you to easily fill either a double espresso (approx. 18 grams of coffee beans) or coffee for 400 ml of filter coffee (24 grams of coffee). The grinder's shaft is supported by multiple bearings, and the guidance is also made of metal. The wooden handle is finely grained and feels nicer than the other handles of the coffee grinders in the field.

The steel burr set can be precisely adjusted via clicks. In our test, we ground 19 grams of coffee each time and compared the grinding results of the grinders. At normal hand-grinding speed, the Nitrip Easy Clean Red processed the grounds second-fastest in 35 seconds.

We obtained good filter coffee and the most delicious espresso in the field with the Nitrip Easy Clean Red. However, the espresso rating shouldn't be overweighted. We had set the grinder to 10 clicks, which allows for further adjustments in both coarser and finer ranges. However, extraction times jump by several seconds, so perfect adjustment of the grinder through grind size alone is barely possible. But this is a general disadvantage of manual grinders that hardly matters, especially when extraction turns out as well as it did in our case.

Regarding the Nitrip Easy Clean Red, there's really only one point of criticism. The grinder's lid falls off a bit too easily. The principle of its smaller sister grinder, the Nitrip mini black, would have been better.

When we purchased the Nitrip Easy Clean, it cost 55 euros. Currently, we've seen it priced between 70 and 80 euros. We're keeping an eye out and will link it again when it appears. And we're trying to find the manufacturing factory and bring the grinder to the European market ourselves.

Timemore C2

We're frankly pleased that the Timemore C2 manual grinder is among the top 3 grinders in the field. Because Timemore is a genuine coffee equipment manufacturer, while Nitrip also offers pillows and fire extinguishers. From Timemore, for example, one of the cleverest scales on the market with dual weighing function.

The Timemore delivers very solidly, was responsible for one of the best filter coffees in the field, and also ground espresso-fine. The grinder is made of stainless steel and the shaft is supported by multiple bearings. At 465 grams and a height of 15.7 cm, the grinder is one of the more powerful and heavier manual grinders in the field.

The bean capacity is 21 grams and the ground coffee container holds 27.5 grams of coffee. Like the Nitrip Easy Clean Red, the Timemore C2 also has a "lid drop" problem. It lacks a magnet or other retention mechanism.

The steel burr set can be adjusted in levels and appears high-quality and sharp. For filter coffee, we set it to 25 clicks and for espresso to 13 clicks. The Timemore C2 was the fastest in the field of 14 grinders. 19 grams were ground in about 30 seconds. However, the burr set is apparently now different, as it takes much longer for espresso-fine grind sizes.

The Timemore C2 has an outer textured structure that facilitates a firm grip and prevents the grinder from slipping. The circumference of the grinder is also comfortable for smaller hands.

Online, we found the Timemore C2 for prices between 79 and 85 euros.

Disclaimer and note: we now have the Timemore Chestnut Slim 3 manual grinder in stock. This grinder is even better suited for espresso.

Nitrip mini black

The manual grinder Nitrip mini black* can only be criticized for one thing: it can't hold more than 18 grams of coffee in either the bean hopper or the ground coffee compartment. However, if you mainly use the grinder for yourself or as a companion for hikes or travels, you'll be very well served with the Nitrip mini black.

This grinder is also supported by multiple bearings in a metal casing. The grinder weighs 290 grams and is 14 cm tall with a diameter of 5 cm. This makes it the smallest and most portable grinder in the field. The fine grooves in the body make the grinder easy to grip and prevent it from slipping out of your hand.

Unlike the first two grinders, the Nitrip mini black doesn't constantly lose its lid. It clicks in nicely and stays in place even when you flip the grinder over. The wooden knob is held to the grinder handle by a magnet. This also looks and feels high-quality and well-made.

Like the other two grinders, the Nitrip mini black is also well-suited for brewing filter coffee and espresso. Since the small grinder is better suited than any other for mobile brewing, we prepared an espresso with the Flair. Very practical – the bean hopper fits perfectly in the brewing chamber. Filling the ground coffee powder was therefore very easy.

For filter coffee, we set the burr set to 23 clicks and for espresso to 11 clicks (for the Flair to 10 clicks). By the way, the grinder processed 19 grams in 35 seconds, making it one of the faster grinders as well.

The Nitrip mini black was the cheapest of the three best grinders at around 50 euros and is thus our best value for money test winner.

How to adjust manual grinders using "clicks"

Once you've found a suitable grind size for filter coffee, you only need to readjust the grinder if you're using completely different roasts or coffees. For example, when switching from a lighter roasted coffee to a dark one, this might be the case. In everyday use, only minimal adjustments are usually needed for filter coffee, as strength and extraction can also be controlled through agitation and dosing. For proper espresso adjustment, more precise settings are important.

If a grinder is adjustable in levels and has a click grid, this greatly simplifies adjustment. Most importantly, you can easily return to the original grind size. Moving the grinder by one level is audible as a click sound during adjustment. The zero point is the completely closed grinder (conical burr fully retracted). From there, you count up to the suitable grind size. For example, we set the Timemore C2 to 25 clicks to grind coffee for filter coffee. For espresso adjustment, our grinder was set to 13 clicks.

Grinders with "clicks" allow you to write down recipes, switch coffees, and return to the old grind size.

Advantages and disadvantages of stepped versus stepless adjustment on manual grinders

Very good professional grinders are either stepless or have fine level grids with small intervals. Stepless grinders can be adjusted most precisely because the adjustment is not bound to a grid. Examples include the EK43 or Niche Zero, both grinders suitable for both filter coffee and espresso. These grinders can be quickly changed from fine to coarse and down to the smallest increments by using a marked grid for orientation.

With leveled grinders, adjustment is always bound to a grid. If the level jumps are very small, this grinder can also be adjusted very precisely. In the espresso range, however, a stepless burr set is usually preferred.

For manual grinders, stepped grinders have advantages. This is mainly because the adjustment screw is fully turned multiple times when setting the manual grinder. With stepless grinders, you simply don't know "where you are" during adjustment if the grinder doesn't use clicks for counting. Theoretically, a stepless grinder would also be more accurate for manual grinders. However, orientation is so difficult that we clearly recommend manual grinders with levels and "clicks".