Page 1 of 1

grinding on the go for the aero

PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:10 pm
by icke
just got me an aeropress after finding it increasingly difficult to put up with whatever coffee one finds whilst on the move...

now, going away for a few days soon, i'm wondering what the experts around here use to grind their (obviously) freshly roasted beans on the go for the aeropress. i thought of getting a zass, but can't get hold of any. looking around a bit i found a peugeot grinder here that looks promising.

anybody seen one of those before or even used one???

cheers,
o

RE: grinding on the go for the aero

PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 7:46 am
by Jaanus
you could always use a mortar...

RE: grinding on the go for the aero

PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:14 pm
by oddlight
Assuming your trips are less than a few days, grind enough to take with you. Put it in an airtight container, and pack it well.

Its not as good as grinding fresh, but in my experience its significant less agro than carrying a grinder around. Even fresh coffee ground a few days old will be better than most coffee you'll have at hotels and the like.

You also get brownie points sharing decent coffee with colleagues ;)

~A

RE: grinding on the go for the aero

PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:03 am
by zix
If you have patience, hand grinders do the job nicely. Just home from a 10-day trip with the aeropress and a turkish grinder. I stick the turkish grinder inside the aeropress cylinder (mine fits, anyway, the zass turkish almost fits) and I keep the beans in a small bean bag.
The traditional european "square" grinders are great, but I find the turkish grinders lots better for packing. Also convenient to use in the field.
If I only go for a day trip, I often do as oddlight suggests, grind as I go out and bring it in a small airtight glass jar. Or bring only the turkish grinder and fill it up with coffee beans.
The only annoying thing about this setup is the plastic stir thingy that goes with the aeropress. This does not fit inside the aeropress, so I always tend to forget this or mislay it just before packing, or even forget where I packed it when we stop for a coffee break out in the open. Not the best accessory for an absent-minded person... but any stick or fork will do as long as you stir carefully.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:34 pm
by zapty
My little Tramp "on the go" handgrinder: (Tramp is it's real brand name)
The housing is made from Bakelite the metal grinding parts have not a spot of rust on them (unusual for it's age as most old handgrinders will show some rust on the metal parts) There are still a few grounds in it as it was recently used.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:20 pm
by zix
nice one, zapty! What is the hole in the middle of the crank for?

Re: grinding on the go for the aero

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:24 am
by BRHutchins
icke wrote:. . . i found a peugeot grinder here that looks promising.

anybody seen one of those before or even used one???


I used a Peugeot Costa Rica grinder a few months ago, albeit briefly (it was present for my father). I assume the Nostalgie model would be mechanically identical to it. The grinder was very well finished; it felt good and solid -- more so than my Zassenhaus -- but the grounds it produced were very inconsistent. They were also rather coarse: with the burrs touching, it would produce grounds that were, for the most part, not quite as fine as I would like for using in a cafetière, and certainly not fine enough for drip or, presumably, for an Aeropress. As I recall, it produced relatively little dust, but a good deal of large chunks of coffee. It had trouble feeding beans into the burrs, too, presumably because they had to be so close for a usable grind that the beans simply would not fit through until they had been bashed around a little.

Peugeot has a good reputation, and I certainly don't mean to sully it, but I would be somewhat cautious about buying a new Peugeot grinder for the time being. Like Zassenhaus a couple of years ago, they seem to be having problems controlling the quality of at least some parts. The shop from which I bought it had so many returned Peugeots, I'm told, that they returned all their stock and no longer sell the grinders. That said, I bought a pepper mill last year that was made by Peugeot, and it works perfectly.

If anyone has any information to the contrary about recent Peugeot grinders, I would be happy to hear it. It was a lovely grinder, apart from the grinding.

PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:04 am
by zapty
zix wrote:nice one, zapty! What is the hole in the middle of the crank for?


It is just for decoration I guess. It is a great little grinder for travelling with as it weighs next to near nothing, is small and grinds well.
I've got two of them if anyone is interested in one. They are not real cheap though (the other one has never been used so really is brand new and still has the original box) but worth the cost imo.

PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:19 pm
by icke
zapty, that tramp is a real beauty!!!

the only thing i could get hold of down here was a peugeot grinder. it did rather well though. at first i had set it a bit too fine. choked the aerobie a bit. but opening it up one notch made it work. people thought i'm crazy, but well, i guess we're all a bit coffee-nerdy round here 8)

i'm thinking of buying that zassenhausen turkish grinder now. it looks great and from a trip to turkey, i just brought some green beans that i bought on the bazar in izmir.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:09 am
by Steve
I once went away with the Aeropress and forgot to take any ground or grinder and had whole bean. I managed to grind it in the bag with my shoe on the outside of the bag. The extraction shall I say extended further than normal but it worked (I'm now worried a little too much information given) :)

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:22 am
by icke
creativity of the addicted... :lol:

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:24 am
by Steve
ooohhhh my yes very true I was getting desperate :)