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Handground: the World’s First Crowdsourced Coffee Grinder

February 8, 2015 By Michael 5 Comments

Handground
A new hand grinder is poised to change the way you brew coffee. Handground is the world’s first crowdsourced coffee grinder. Company founders Daniel Vitielo, Brandon Warman, and Joaquin Herlein explain, “We were attempting to apply a Japanese principle called Kaizen to our coffee routine… Since Kaizen means continuous improvement we started to look for better options. Yet after searching the market and seeing the same ancient designs being repeated over and over we finally thought, we can do better.” Handground enlisted the input of over 1,000 coffee professionals and home enthusiasts worldwide during each step of the design process. Everything from the overall aesthetic, the ergonomic crank, and even the name of the company was voted on by the panel of contributors.  The collaborative effort has clearly touched on a perceived need in the coffee community. Their Kickstarter project was fully funded on its first day and show no signs of slowing down. 

When it comes to hand grinders, there’s a huge gap between entry level models, such as the Hario Mini-mill ($30) and Porlex JP-30 ($45)  and heavy duty models like the OE Lido 2 ($175) or HG-1 ($965). Handground is well positioned to fill the gap. If the particle size distribution is good enough, it might even challenge electric grinders like the Baratza Encore, which is our favorite entry level grinder.

Right now you can snag one for $70 on Kickstarter, which in our humble estimation is a pretty good bet. (Though admittedly our faith in coffee crowd funding was recently shaken.) We’ve yet to find the perfect grinder for our coffee travel kit, but we’ve got high hopes Handground might be it.

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Filed Under: Stories Tagged With: grinders, Handground, Kickstarter

About Michael

Michael Butterworth is an authorized instructor of the Specialty Coffee Association and the inventor of the Etkin Dripper.. He cofounded the Coffee Compass mostly as an excuse to visit more coffee shops. For consulting and training enquiries please visit butterworth.coffee.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. greg says

    February 8, 2015 at 10:20 pm

    Because crowdsourcing makes everything taste better??

    Reply
  2. ZF says

    February 9, 2015 at 6:43 pm

    I interested top see how this compares to:

    https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-revolutionary-rok-coffee-grinder

    Reply
    • Michael says

      February 9, 2015 at 7:54 pm

      Thanks for sharing the link ZF! Somehow I missed that Rok was making a hand grinder. Rok’s hand grinder has a larger Burr than Handground, and it’s made out of steel instead of a ceramic. But it’s also more than double the price.

      I own Orphan Espresso’s Lido 2, which offers similar specs.
      http://www.oehandgrinders.com/OE-LIDO-2-Manual-Coffee-Grinder_p_14.html

      Reply
  3. Got Coffee says

    February 10, 2015 at 8:13 am

    Coffee Recipe Of The Week

    Coffee Heaven

    1 large 12 oz cup of regular brewed coffee
    1 ½ teaspoons coconut cream concentrate
    1 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder
    sweetener of your choice

    Directions
    Mix all ingredients together in a large coffee cup

    Reply
  4. Paul Butterworth says

    February 10, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    If you don’t mind the black plastic look, you can get one for $49 (the early bird level)! Even better.

    Reply

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