MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review

If you want a perfect cup of coffee to start your day, you need to make sure that the grind is perfect first by using the best coffee grinder. The MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder offers a compact way to get your coffee fix anywhere. Whether you want to get the best result from your cold brew or make sure your machine's drip coffee has the perfect recipe, the MiiR grinder is a great option.

The grinder is an affordable choice and is perfect for beginners, since it only has six grind size options. However, more particular coffee lovers will find that this limited amount of adjustment causes the grind to be less uniform, and it can’t be fine-tuned to suit your needs.

You can find out more about the grinder by reading this full MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review.

MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review: Specs

MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review: Price & availability

The MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder is available for $129 at Amazon U.S. and £118 at Amazon U.K., making it a pretty affordable option. At this price, it competes with the likes of the Wacaco Exagrind, which costs $119, another great option for espresso enthusiasts.

The MiiR grinder is significantly less expensive than premium grinders on the market. The Commandante C40 MK4, which costs $268, is one of the best-performing grinders out there, and there’s minimal retention and clumping — but that price tag could easily put you off, making the MiiR a better choice.

The MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder only comes in a black colorway, but this looks very understated and will fit in with any coffee setup.

MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review: Design

The MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder is a very sleek-looking gadget that perfectly fits in with my coffee setup. The matte black, stainless steel design makes it feel very sturdy and premium.

The grinder measures in at 6.48 x 3.65 x 2.83 inches and weighs just one pound. This makes it an ideal compact grinder that you can take with you whenever and wherever you need it. It may be small, but thanks to the premium build, it feels super durable, so it is able to withstand a lot of coffee grinding.

The handle to crank the grinder folds on top of the grinder to close it. This also means that you don’t have to deal with the handle sticking out when it’s not in use. It folds over the removable plastic lid, which makes sure all of the coffee beans stay inside the grinder before they get made into beautiful ground coffee.

The burr adjustment collar at the center of the grinder can be twisted to select the grind size. There are six options of grind size, which are depicted by circles in decreasing size from coarsest to finest.

The grinder base has a capacity of 46 grams and unscrews easily to get out all the ground coffee. Depending on how you like your coffee ratio, this is going to give you three shots of espresso.

MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review: Grind adjustment

The MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder is straightforward to use. The grind size can be adjusted by simply twisting the centre ring and aligning the arrow with the circles printed on the body of the grinder.

There are six grind adjustment settings, which are depicted by circles that decrease in size. The biggest circle gives the coarsest grind, and the smallest circles are for a finer grind. Since there are no indicators or clicks to listen out for to tell the difference between the micron sizes, you don’t get the option to fine-tune your grind. This means the grinder is better suited to beginners, or anyone who isn’t hell-bent on getting the perfect fine grind for espresso.

The grinder is capable of producing an extra coarse grind, like rock salt, for cold brew, all the way to an extra fine grind, like powdered sugar, for making Turkish coffee. It can also create a medium grind, which is perfect for making machine-drip coffee with the Moccamaster Cup-One.

MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review: Performance

To evaluate the performance of the MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder, I tested how easy it is to use, whether there was any static, uniformity, and retention. Here’s what happened.

Ease of use

This is the easiest hand grinder I have used. It is totally beginner-friendly. From adding the beans to pouring out your desired grind, there is absolutely no room for confusion with this device.

I moved the handle of the grinder to the open position and took off the plastic lid on top. I then filled the top chamber of the grinder with coffee beans and replaced the lid. As I mentioned in the grind adjustment section, selecting how coarse you want your grind to be is simple.

Turning the handle of the grinder clockwise didn’t hurt my arm, unlike when I tested the 1Zpresso Q Air. There is very little resistance when grinding the coffee, even when achieving finer grinds.

The ground coffee collects in the detachable base of the grinder, which unscrews with ease. This can catch 49 grams of ground coffee.

Static and clumping

I didn’t notice a huge issue with static in the hand grinder beyond a light coating on the burrs. Anything that did get stuck came away with a light tap to the side of the grinder.

The results of static testing are mostly dependent on environmental factors like humidity and what beans are used. I achieved these results with a dark roast bean, which is typically oily. This would usually cause more clumping, so I was impressed that the static was minimal.

Uniformity

When testing coffee grinders, I look for how uniform the grind is. This is essential for getting a consistent brew every time, so each time you make a cup of Joe, you know what to expect.

When testing the uniformity of the MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder, I looked for big jumps from fine to coarse settings using the Kruve coffee sifters to check the grind size. Bigger jumps from one size to the next mean that the coffee grind is more uniform.

The grind produced by the MiiR grinder isn’t the most uniform. Since there are only six grind settings, I wasn’t expecting to be able to get an entirely uniform grind, as I couldn’t tailor the burrs by the clicks like I could with the 1Zpresso Q Air grinder.

Although MiiR claims the grinder is capable of grinding for Turkish coffee, which is finer than espresso, I wouldn’t recommend it for espresso lovers, as the grind wasn’t particularly uniform, as shown in the results above.

The ideal microm size for espresso is around 200-400μm, and the grinder wasn’t able to get decent uniformity for anything smaller than 800μm. For a grinder that produces a refined espresso grind, consider the Eureka Mignon Specialita.

But the MiiR grinder works well for coarser grinds, and it is perfect for making cold brew, French press, or pour-over coffee.

Retention

Testing the retention shows how much coffee typically gets left behind in the grinder. Lots of coffee remains in the grinder means dosing for your brew is far less accurate, resulting in less consistency between drinks.

To test out the retention of the MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder, I weighed out 20g of coffee beans on an Acacia Lunar Scale. I ground the beans on a fine setting and then weighed the grounds. I repeated the process three times to obtain an average retention, and gave the burs a puff of air after each grind to make sure they were as clean as possible.

Given the issues with uniformity on fine settings, I was expecting to experience more retention. But in actuality, the retention was minimal and gave similar results to the Comandante C40 MK4, which has an average retention of 2.75% which is a lot more expensive at $268. The MiiR gives premium retention results.

MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review: Storage and maintenance

The MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder is pretty compact at just 6.48 inches in height. And thanks to the foldable grind handle, it becomes even more compact to be stored away.

Cleaning any grinder with water can cause the burrs to rust, so this should be avoided to reduce the effects on the performance of the grinder. You can clean out the burrs by giving them a puff of air, and clean the rest of the grinder with a dry cloth.

MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder review: Verdict

The MiiR New Standard Hand Grinder is a great option for beginners. It’s super affordable and is incredibly easy to use. The good retention means you’re not leaving much gold dust behind, and the compact size of the grinder means you are able to produce that gold dust absolutely anywhere.

The six levels of adjustment make the grinder simple to use for beginners, but more experienced espresso aficionados won’t appreciate the few grind size options. Since there is so little grind adjustment, the uniformity isn't the best. So while it is great for beginners, those who are more picky with their coffee may want to spend a little extra cash on the likes of the Comandante C40 MK4.