Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill, Mini Slim, Plus, Black - Review

Review: Hario Mini Slim, Black, Ceramic Coffee Mill

In a world where coffee is just as on-demand as your favorite Netflix show, the brand Hario has continued to be a leader and innovator in the coffee space. With a big library of coffee-related products, today we center in on Hario’s Ceramic Coffee Mill. We’ll be focusing on the black, mini slim version of the coffee mill. It’s one of their newer models and has been gaining a lot of traction among coffee drinkers. So how does Hario’s mini slim ceramic coffee mill stack up against the rest? Here’s our review.

How it works

Today, no matter where you live, there’s most likely a coffee shop not too far away. But, if you do live in one of those rare dead zones, there’s no shortage of home appliances that instantly brew coffee. From the Keurig to the old fashion coffee maker, those are usually the most well-known. But when it comes to buying the coffee for these appliances, some still opt out of buying the pre-grinded beans and k-cups. That’s where coffee mills come in.

A coffee mill is a simple appliance where you pop off/unscrew the lid, place your beans in the top, put the lid back on, and use the lever to grind the beans. The reason that one would want to do this themselves is because you get a richer, higher quality coffee when you grind the beans yourself. With coffee that comes pre-ground and in k-cups, some would argue that the coffee quality gets somewhat deluded in the packaging process. With Hario’s coffee mill, you can grind at about fifty grams of coffee into about thirty-five to forty grams.

Cleaning

Whether you’re using a regular coffee machine, you dropped a k-cup, or you’re using a coffee mill, one of the most common complaints is clean up. Coffee grinds are small, and without even realizing it, they call fall and get all over the place. And then, when it comes to cleaning the appliance itself, the stains can be a pain to clear. When it comes to Hario’s coffee mill, we found that cleanup was actually fairly simple. With its stainless-steel body, all the coffee stains (which don’t develop much anyway) wash off pretty seamlessly. Also, because the grinds are all contained in the top half, you don’t get the grinds everywhere when using the mill.

How Easy is It to Use?

We were weary of the difficulty at first because most coffee mills sometimes skimp on directions and there can be somewhat of a learning curve. But when it came to Hario’s model, we found it to be relatively simple. You unscrew the lid, put in your beans, and grind away. It was a little tricky getting off the bottom piece, because you don’t want to spill the grinds. But after a few seconds, you get it off without a problem. To clean, all you do is disassemble the top and bottom parts and wash under lukewarm water with soap. The parts are dishwasher friendly as well.

Quality of Metal

As we mentioned before, the Hario Slim, Ceramic Coffee Mill does include a stainless-steel base. The name can be a bit confusing given that they mention ceramic in it, but the base of the product is really sturdy and durable. You can’t go wrong with stainless steel as it’s nearly a premium type of metal. When it comes to the other parts of the coffee mill, the size of the appliance makes the pieces compact enough to where it would take a lot of force to damage. The black coloring also holds up well, but it isn’t safe from your average wear and tear over time.

Travel

When Hario uses the term slim in reference to their model, they don’t exaggerate. Their coffee mill is small in size yet produces a good amount of coffee grounds. You can easily fit it into a backpack because it equates to the size of an average coffee travel container. It’s not a heavy model either. The metal part does add some weight to it, but it’s a comfortable weight, and the rest of the model parts make up for it in being lightweight. It doesn’t feel bulky, and the cylinder style of the model makes it easy to throw into a bag compartment in an easy way. We also found that unlike some other brands, this Hario coffee mill doesn’t come apart in your bag while traveling. Some other brand coffee mills can unscrew in your bag, and if the beans weren’t secured, you can often open up your back to coffee. With Hario’s this problem is avoided.

Overall

When it comes to the Hario Mini Slim, Black, Ceramic Coffee Mill, we found this to be a great model on the market. We also found it to be affordable for the quality. The biggest takeaways were the compact size, the durability, and the ease of use. Mixing these elements all together and you get a solid model to grind your coffee with. One thing we would have liked to test out was the longevity of the coffee mill, for one important factor is how long a grinder lasts and what the wear and tear looks like overtime. But from the looks of the metal quality, along with the grinder itself, compared to other brands, it looks like it would last a good while.

When it comes to coffee mills on the market today, Hario’s latest slim model is a must by in our book!