12 Grind Settings
Suitable from Turkish to French Press
Sturdy & Durable
Aluminium frame with built-in ceramic burrs
Great for Travel
Compact and easily transportable
If you are looking for a quality coffee grinder for the road, then the Porlex JP-30 Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder is perfect for you! This futuristic manual coffee grinder is ideal for ritual-loving and adventurous coffee enthusiasts. It’s convenient, easy to use and produces high quality uniform grinds for a fairly wide variety of coarseness, from extra fine for Turkish to coarser grinds for French Press. The grinder is Japanese made and quite durable. Built with a stainless steel frame, this grinder is sleek and futuristic in style.
For those looking for an economical but high quality grind, and don’t mind putting a bit of elbow grease into their coffee-making, the Porlex hand grinder is a perfect match for you. Check out what others are saying on Amazon.
Overview: Porlex JP-30 – The Traveller’s Manual Coffee Grinder
- Dimension: 1.85′ dia x 7.5′ tall
- Weight: 11.2oz
- Burr: Conical ceramic burrs
- Capacity: 30g
- Grind Settings: 12 options
What We Like:
- Even & Uniform Grinds
- Easy-To-Use & Adjust
- Great Value For Money
- Minimal Heat Generated (retains taste)
What We Don't Like:
- Low Capacity
- Longer Preparation Time
- Some Users Find Coaser Grinds To Be Uneven
- 12 Grind Settings Is Not Versatile Enough For Some
This Coffee Grinder Is Most Suitable For
The Porlex JP-30 Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder is best suited for home or travel use. For those who make a ritual out of making coffee, this grinder will fit the bill. The high quality grind is satisfactory for even the most experienced coffee-lover. The Porlex JP-30 is ideal for making small amounts of coffee only, and so will not meet your needs if you regularly make large quantities of coffee – unless you’re looking for a serious workout and aren’t concerned about the amount of time it takes to grind the coffee.
Overall, I think the portable coffee grinder is also a great option for those who want to take a grinder on the road, whether for business, vacation, camping or boating. Its durable stainless steel frame will put up with a few knocks and the small size makes it easy to pack.
The Porlex Tall Grinder in Detail
Design & Appearance
Style
This modern, but simple coffee grinder is small and easily transportable. It’s sleek and sturdy aluminium construction gives you the confidence to take it along even on the roughest of camping excursions.
Burrs
This manual coffee grinder uses ceramic burrs. Burr grinders are typically way better than blade grinders because they produce more consistent grinds. Grind consistency is critical in brewing good coffee, especially for espresso.
Ceramic burrs are considered better than steel burrs because heat generated is kept to a minimum when grinding beans. The operations are quite smooth, but ceramic are more fragile than steel. So, although this ceramic burr coffee grinder may seem durable, some care should be taken to protect the burrs.
Capacity
The Porlex JP-30 can hold up to 30 grams of coffee beans, which is only enough for about two strong cups of coffee. This means it’s quite time consuming to grind more beans – not only due to the time needed to crank, but also because more process such as emptying the ground beans and pouring in more whole beans are necessary. If you’re a “pot of coffee” sort of drinker, this could be a drawback.
Low Noise Level
As with all hand grinders, it’s very quiet, meaning early rising coffee drinkers won’t disturb others when getting their coffee on.
Ease Of Use
12 Adjustable Grind Settings
The Porlex JP 30 has 12 grind settings, which you can easily change by using the grind adjustment wheel just below the burrs in the grinder. It’s simple to use and adjust. Ground coffee can be tuned to your desire, from extra fine, appropriate for Turkish coffee, to a coarse grind for French Press. A spring system within the burrs is used to maintain consistency when making coarser grinds. The effectiveness of this spring is somewhat debated. Some users find the coarser grinds less consistent, while others find them perfectly acceptable. The grinder also features a locking system so the grind size can’t be changed midway through the process. The dial is adjusted, and a grind type can be determined by listening for clicks from the point at which it’s wound all the way tight:
Overall, this feature is fairly simple and intuitive, the user should have no problem adjusting the grind after a few practice.
Removable Base
Low Mess
Although the narrow mouth of the grinder may make it a bit difficult to pour the beans in, a funnel can help with this issue. Otherwise, the grinder is designed to produce minimal mess since all the beans are ground into a tightly fitted cup that can be easily removed without causing spillage. This unit is also static-free, so the ground beans won’t stick to the burr or grinder – again, this means little mess.
Working Out
The Porlex Tall Grinder is difficult to use for some, a few coffee-lovers even said it’s like working out. This is especially true if you are forced to brew a few more cups for your friends. However, we got a few tips that’ll make things easier.
Usually, you use a hand-crank coffee grinder by putting it still in one hand, and spin the handle around it with another. The motion here is quite big and so could be tiring. Things will be a lot easier if you spin your grinder with both hands though – where the centre of the motion will be in the middle of the handle instead of the grinder itself.
If you don’t want a workout first thing in the morning, then you might want to consider getting a cheap electric grinder instead.
I was looking around YouTube and found this guy showing us exactly what I said above:
Ease Of Cleaning & Maintenance
The grinder is very simple and easy to clean. Since the burrs are ceramic, there are no troubles with rusting. You can either clean it off with a cleaning brush and cloth or rinse it off completely.
Price
This Porlex hand grinder runs for around $40 the last time I checked (Feb 2016), which is a good deal considering the quality of the grinds. Hand coffee grinders made from quality materials also last a lot longer, so you can expect to get a lot of life out of this stainless steel coffee grinder.
Video Guide
This video is not the best, but it does it’s job in showing you how to use the grinder. I’ll find a better one shortly!
The Coffee Barrister’s Verdict [CONCLUSION]
Overall, the Porlex JP-30 Stainless Steel Coffee Grinder is one of the best hand grinders within its price range – it’s definitely the prettiest in my opinion. It provides great uniform grinds across the spectrum and features quality materials including the ceramic burrs. The design and style are particularly tailored to those who want a sturdy grinder for home use or travel including adventurous travel such as camping.
- Ceramic conical burrs with wide range can grind from powder to french press
- Made in osaka, japan
- 30 gram capacity
