Lume Grinder: Finally a good portable electric grinder?

Battery powered, portable, it lights up - but is it any good?

(Yes - I am aware of Betteridge's Law of Headlines...)

Is there anything better out there? Let me know!

[no-trick-pony]

Whatsup with all the downvotes on this video? It's a fair review and the manufacturer claimed that the device is working as intended. And James was being super-nice about the grind result. I have seen better results from friggin blade grinders.

[jafizzle]

Assuming the company did buy dislikes, do they not realize that the wildly unusual amount of dislikes on a video makes it stand out more? I specifically clicked this video because I could not imagine a scenario where a James Hoffman video could get so many dislikes and I wanted to find out what he could have possibly done. Now I've seen the video, and I know that the product is bad and the company is bad because this is how they handle bad reviews and won't consider buying their products.

[The_T-Man]

I own one of these as well and I am absolutely unhappy with it. 4 -5 minutes to grind 18g of coffee and the grind is completely uneven. I only used it a couple of times fully charged. Now mine, like yours, is a shelf decoration. If only I had seen your review before making my purchase.

[chimpaflimp]

'The burrs move by design' is a needlessly roundabout of saying 'we built this thing to a woefully low tolerance and don't want to shell out more for manufacturing.'

[franksj]

Might be easier to adapt the hand grinder to a cordless battery powered drill!

[kaitlynf]

I know this is an old video but I've just had this come up, and I can't recall ever cracking up watching comments about grinding insects in the dark. Perfect start to my day

[AndyGait]

I shall be sticking with my Hario hand grinder then. Plus, as a fat bloke, it's the closest thing I get to exercise.

[charlotteserg]

You're actually paying for an USB torch. The grinder that doesn't work properly is for killing the insects you may attract while using the torch. 🤣

[tanatanatana]

Hey, good to hear your thoughts. I got this as a present. I had the same thoughts about the burr moving and was initially disappointed, my grind was uneven. But after using they seemed to get more consistent.
On the topic of faults, after 1 week the burr chipped and broke while grinding. I emailed lume and they said this was a known fault in some batches and sent out a replacement.
I'm using it while traveling atm and it's ok, but if I had remembered to bring my hario hand grinder I would be using that.

[ruthnolasco]

i hope you can make another video for portable electric burr grinders. thanks

[eeeeeeeuh]

Hi James. Thanks for your excellent review of 3 years ago. A friend of mine pointed out there's a battery powered grinder named Kopi Deva. It seems compatible with SSP burrs, which could be interesting.
Have you tried it?
Cheers!

[banon]

Very insightful video, and the comments below seem to back up a lot of what you're saying. Not sure why you've got so many dislikes--you've definitely helped with my purchase decision.

[eliehrenkranz]

Hello James. In the future could you please include more “3:20” faces in your videos?
Much appreciated. Thanks:)
Good luck with the grinder hunt.

[salahalhakimi]

There is the Hario Smart G bundle. Its electrical pack can be used with other Hario hand grinders as well as the Smart G. It would be the ultimate portable grinder; if James finds it so

[scottholmes]

I bought one of these in June 2018 and I'm so relieved to see that I'm not the only person who is disappointed in it. I don't very often deeply regret buying something, but this is one such item.

It can't grind coffee fine enough for my lever coffee machine. It is very noisy and takes ages to do the job. I took to shutting it in the cupboard on a pad of foam to keep the racket down while I waited (and waited... and waited...) for it to grind some coffee. If you look at the burr while it's grinding, you can plainly see that it's off center. I took a video clip of this and sent it to the company that I bought it from. Their reply was:

"In regards to the burrs, this is a very common question. The outer burr ring and centre cone burr are actually intentionally designed to have some play and free movement and this means that the burr will sit off centre without any load. This means the cone burr has flexibility on the axle and the outer burr ring can be moved slightly. Without load (when the grinder is empty) you are able to move the cone on the axle, and it may sit ever so slightly off-centre due to the spring. This is normal and as soon as you grind coffee, the cone follows the centricity of the axle and the burr ring. Fixing all parts tightly to eliminate this completely would put unnecessary strain on the motor and battery and by allowing the outer burr to move off centre along with the cone burr maintains consistency and avoids any damage to the unit. Fixing these in place could cause the burrs (as they are ceramic and not alloy) to shear from the force of the motor when under heavy load."

Strangely, neither my Porlex or Hario grinders do this, yet it's not at all hard to turn the handle on either one. Looking at the ground coffee through a jeweler's eye piece, it's plain that the grind is not even. Again, my Porlex and Hario grinders don't suffer from this problem.

I'm amazed at all the gushing reviews of this product. Did any of these people actually try to use the thing? Nearly two years down the track, the Lume has spent 1 year and 11.5 months in the cupboard. I guess I'll bring it out to use as a lamp next time there is a power outage.
"

[JayLoden]

“If you need to attract insects while your grind your coffee in the dark…” 😂😂😂 just stumbled onto this older review and had a good laugh, thank you to James for that!

[lenetheunissen]

Can you please review this portable grinder?

TIMEMORE Grinder Go Portable Electric Coffee Grinder

[SalieghAziz]

I came across this review only after having placed an order for one, so from the outset, I had a negative outlook towards this product that I was so much looking forward to owning, especially that I previously only used a blade grinder. The day it arrived, I tested it out by going 1 half rotation away from completely fine. It took about 3.5min to grind about 25g. This grind was too fine for me, as I was only using it for an Aeropress. On my next attempt, I went 3/4 rotation further towards the coarse setting. This seemed more what I needed for my brewing method. 4min for 50g this time around. I was satisfied with the consistency of the grind. Coffee wasn't too bad either :-). I'll be putting this grinder through the works over the next 3 or so weeks, and if it proves to be anything like OP's experience, it's going back. So far, I am happy with it. Maybe I just have low standards compared to the OP :-)

[PanamaBlacky]

Hi James, this review is 3 years old.
Have you looked at the new ones on the market.
I purchased a nice portable rechargeable grinder for less than $20.

[gerard]

Almost bought this product
Thankfully this review was her.
Awesome stuff as always Mr Hoffmann