I use an antique Zassenhaus coffee grinder that’s at least 30 years old. A refined, classic piece of tabletop machinery if ever there was one. The grinder resembles the 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 8″ “San José dunkel gebeizt,” though the finish is more of a lacquered maple. After seven years, it still works great, with no sign of slowing.
More recently, Z-haus has gotten quite liberal with their design and branding.
Eh, I just don’t know.
Drink three pots of coffee and you will totally get it.
30 years old is antique now? Man I’m old!!!
Ha, well, it is prob much older than 30 if that makes u feel better.
If I had to guess, 1950s, but based on what I paid (and the fact there are no obvious age-identifying marks on the grinder) I hedged it.
If there are any Z-haus collectors reading, lemme know!
i have two handcranked grinders dating to the 1890s that I use with some regularity and a smaller more modern zass that travels well. it is a shame that the zass grinders remain so pricey (and hard to find). Japan’s Hario has a hand mill called Skeleton that is starting to appear in the US that coffeegeeks are pretty happy with.
Wow – they have DIGITAL coffee grinders now?
Want.
My dad got me a manual bean grinder a couple years ago, classy looking device. His note:
“In case the power runs out.”
Ah, the true caffeine addict preparing for the next fix in case of emergency. It’s slow, but people love to spin it around. Actually, you can adjust how fine your grounds will be and it has a clever drawer for them … maybe it’s time for a cuppa right now …
I don’t get the “analog” reference either. It’s not like I know of any grinders that need a DtoA converter to turn burrs.
But I’m fine with my burr grinder, thank you very much.
We use a current zassenhaus grinder, bought maybe 5 years ago. Very basic, wooden box with a chrome hopper and crank, not sure what the burrs are made out of. We also have an automatic burr grinder, which I prefer on fuzzy mornings when I just want coffee as fast as possible. The zassenhaus is a little annoying with the coarseness adjustment, since there’s no good way to mark out different spots (espresso vs. drip vs. french press), so it can be kind of a crapshoot. My automatic grinder is far superior in that respect.
Getting the zassenhaus was kind of an asspain, though. At the time there was only one retailer that had them in the US, some tiny coffee shop in New Hampshire or something, we had to mail-order it.