This is my first go with a hand grinder. Like many other things in life, I approached my coffee hobby backwards to many. Rather than enjoy drip and then specialty, I started with espresso and am now working my way backwards.

I was looking for a good hand grinder for a couple of months as I started preparing for pour-overs. I own a DF54 electric grinder, and I know many people use them for pour-overs, but I simply did not want to have to make large adjustments daily to go from an espresso drink in the morning to a pour-over in the afternoon/evening. I looked at a lot of different hand grinders.

I knew I wanted a stainless steel burr. I personally prefer not to have things coated in teflon etc, so that eliminated a few. I wanted external adjustments (something I initially took for granted) and for whatever reason, I wanted one that catch cup was easy to remove, but wouldn’t fall off.

Enter the H40V2. To be honest, I know nothing about the first version of this grinder. If you own it, and would like to comment on any changes between it and the V2, I’d love to see that. For me, this hit the sweet spot of everything I wanted in a hand grinder.

The H40 not only has a 40mm stainless steel conical burr with no chemical coating. The body is machined aluminum (or, if you prefer, aluminium), the sleeve on the upper barrel is textured and truly does provide a nice grip. It is simple to disassemble the grinder to clean and to zero the burrs. The crank does not fold down, but that was a non-issue for me. The catch cup is held on by magnets! I LOVE this feature. It truly is a pleasure to simply pop off the bottom when I am finished grinding. One of my favorite features (and one I wasn’t looking for), is the built in blind shaker. Once you’ve finished grinding, give the whole thing a couple of shakes (I personally slide my hand down to hold the upper and lower portions of the grinder for this part, just to be safe) and pull the lower section off. Unthread the bottom cap, and dose directly into your pour-over filter or portafilter. If you’re not a fan of blind shaker (heathen), then simply leave it out of the lower portion to begin with. With the threaded base, it truly is simply an option.

Conclusion: As coffee and espresso gear is fun to collect (some might say an addiction), I can’t claim I’ll never own another hand grinder. However, I can state without reservation that as well built and fun as the Turin H40V2 is to use, I don’t believe I’d ever need another one, and that’s a huge asset. I can’t think of anything I’d change in the design or function of this grinder and give it an enthusiastic Two Raven rating. Huginn and Muninn agree, great grinder at any price, a steal as listed.