Hamilton Beach Custom Grind™ Deluxe 15 Cup Hands-Free Coffee Grinder

A cup of coffee is best enjoyed when it has been created using fresh ground coffee beans.  A French Press is used in my home when coffee is to be made and until recently the beans were ground by my local barista.  The coarse ground coffee then rested in its packaging for up to two weeks until its contents were slowly consumed.  This method had proved to produce a fine cup of joe... but I wanted more.

 It was now time to finally make the cross over and invest in a coffee grinder.  Being the elitist that I am, I wanted something more than your average run-of-the-mill Krups machine.  The research began in all the usual places: Crate & Barrel, Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy's, etc.  The brands varied from Krups, and Bodum, to Cuisenart and Kitchen Aide.  Each retail behemoth fell short of the perfect coffee grinder.  Most grinders require the user to hold down a button until the desired texture of the coffee is attained.  Well, I thought, I am no barista... how am I supposed to know when the coffee is correctly ground for a French Press?  The stainless steel blades create a vortex of brown within the grinding chamber and the bean granules cannot be distinguished.  To top it off, most of the grinders did not even have a see through lid.  Each attempt to procure a coffee grinder was met with dissatisfaction and failure.

The temptation to succumb to an ordinary Krups was rapidly increasing and my resistance was waning when the clouds parted and the perfect coffee grinder appeared.  It was being sold in the last place I would have looked for it, Kmart.  It was also made by the least likely of candidates, Hamilton Beach.  They are not generally known for producing high quality merchandise, hence the Kmart distribution, but their coffee grinder is truly top drawer.

This machine is capable of grinding enough coffee for 15 cups of joe.  It can also grind spices (which came in handy when my pepper mill broke).  Some of its useful and impressive features are: a see through lid, a removable stainless steel grinding chamber, and a retractable cord.  Of course, the best feature to me is that it has a preset grinding process.  You select the quantity of beans and the texture, ranging from coarse to fine, and the grinder takes care of the rest; no more guess work is required.  Since the grinding chamber is removable, clean up is a snap.  The retractable cord is manually drawn in by twisting the bottom of the canister (I prefer this simpler process to a more complicated one that can break down easily). 

The Hamilton Beach Custom Grind has been in my possession for over six months and has exceeded my expectations.  If I can get over my elitist ways, once in a while, you can to... go out and feel confident purchasing this grinder.  My morning cup never tasted so good!