REASONS TO BUY
Inexpensive
Quiet
Slightly faster than other hand grinders
REASONS TO AVOID
Glass body can crack and break
Hario Skerton Ceramic Coffee Mill Review
A dependable, quiet manual model that doesn't feel quite as durable as the competition
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Our Verdict
The Hario Skerton Ceramic Coffee Mill provides most of the benefits of a manual grinder: inexpensive, mess-free, lightweight. However, it falls a bit short in the portability category. The glass body of this tiny grinder made us less likely to toss it into a bag and take it traveling or on a camping trip. If you're looking for something more portable and durable, the JavaPresse Coffee Company Manual will serve you better. If you just want a hand grinder so you can quietly and discreetly grind beans at your desk or in the kitchen before everyone else wakes up, the Hario Skerton is a bit faster than the JavaPresse.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Hario Skerton Ceramic Coffee Mill is a well designed, high performing hand grinder. However, we feel that using a glass body makes it a bit more fragile, and thus less portable than we'd like.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Performance Comparison
The Hario Skerton received a mediocre overall score as you can see in the table above, mostly because of the extra effort required to use a manual grinder. In the sections that follow we discuss how it performed in all of our individual tests.
Quality of Taste
The Hario Skerton performed quite well in our taste quality testing, earning a score of 6 out of 10. For brewing styles that require a fine grind, namely pour over, the Hario Skerton was great. In that capacity produced a quality of taste that was nearly as good as the Editors' Choice Award winning OXO. When we opened up the burr to get a coarser grind, the grind size became much less consistent. That left our french press brew tasting overly bitter. We had almost the exact same experience with the other manual grinder we tested, the JavaPresses Coffee Company Maual.
The Hario Skerton is great for pour over brewing.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Ease of Use
The Hario Skerton earned a low score in this metric, simply because using a manual grinder takes a lot more time and effort than using a powered one. If took us about five minutes to grind enough for a cup of coffee if we spun the crank at a conversational pace. If we went all out and got red in the face we could cut that time down quite a bit, but that also necessitated changing out of sweaty clothes. All in all the Hario Skerton was about 20% faster than the JavaPresse.
Quietness
All manual grinders are quite quiet, and the Hario Skerton is no exception. It shared the top score of 9 out of 10 in this metric with the other manual model we tested, the JavaPresse. You can feel free to use this grinder in a crowded office or in an apartment full of late sleepers, it's not going to annoy anybody.
The Hario Skerton's bean chamber.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Mess-Free Operation
Here again we found that manual models really excelled. The Hario Skerton shared the top score of 9 out of 10 in this metric with the other manual model we tested, the JavaPresse. the completely self-contained nature of the Hario Skerton means that no grinds get spilled anywhere. The glass grind container easily disconnects and pours grinds out without any mess. You can feel free to use this grinder anywhere and not have to worry about making a mess.
The grind container, we just wish it was made of something more durable than glass.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Best Applications
The Hario Skerton is slightly faster than the other manual grinder we tested, the JavaPresse Coffee Company Manual, but is not as durable. This makes it ideal if you're looking for a super low profile grinder that won't disturb your coworkers or housemates. If you're looking for something portable, however, we think the small sacrifice in speed is worth the extra durability of the JavaPresse.
Value
The Hario Skerton is a bit more expensive than the JavaPresse. If you're just looking for something quiet to use at the office or in a crowded house, we still feel this is a good value, given that it is slightly faster than the JavaPresses. If you're worried about portability and durability, then the JavaPresses is a much better value.
Conclusion
The Hario Skerton is a great manual grinder that is slightly faster than its main competitor, the JavaPresse, but isn't quite as durable. If you want a manual grinder for the home or office, get the Hario Skerton, if you want one for camping and/or travel, get the JavaPresse.
—
Steven Tata, Max Mutter
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