Excellent, especially for the price. Robust, fast grinding, low effort, accurate adjustment. Ex-cafe owner and this is the grinder I keep in the van for trips. Holds ~25g, would be nice if they offered a larger capacity version.
TRSteven
Alpaca Coffee Grinders
A hand-cranked burr grinder from Alpaca Ventures. Count the clicks for espresso on a weekday and cold brew on Sunday, then come back to the exact same setting next time.
- 45 click settings
- Hardened steel conical burr
- Holds 28 g (1 oz)
- No cord, no battery
One Alpaca grinder, five finishes
The color is the only difference. Every finish has the same burr, the same 45-click dial and the same 28 g chamber, and each one ships with a cleaning brush.
Silver
Bare brushed metal. Goes with any kitchen and shows the build as it is.
Shop this colorShop
Black
Matte and low-key. The one that disappears next to an espresso machine.
Shop this colorShop
Goji Berry Metallic
A deep metallic red for a counter that could use some color.
Shop this colorShop
Medieval Blue Metallic
A rich metallic blue that still reads as a serious tool.
Shop this colorShop
Raven’s Grove
A dark forest green. Another quiet option if black feels too plain.
Shop this colorShopSpecs
- Burr
- 420 stainless steel conical burr, hardened to 57 HRC
- Grind settings
- 45 clicks, from Turkish-fine to cold brew coarse
- Bean capacity
- 1 oz (28 g) per fill
- Bearings
- Two, 430 stainless steel
- Size
- 6.8 in tall, 1.9 in wide (17.3 × 5 cm)
- Crank
- 6.3 in (16 cm), 201 stainless steel
- Weight
- 1 lb (460 g)
- Body and catch cup
- Aluminum alloy, no glass; ABS lid
Alpaca Ventures coffee grinder settings by brew method
Hold the crank still and turn the dial toward FINE until it stops. That’s zero. Now turn back toward COARSE and count the clicks.
| Brew method | Clicks from zero | Grind |
|---|---|---|
| Cezve / TurkishExtra fine, almost powder | 5–10 | Extra fine, almost powder |
| EspressoFine, for a short, pressurized shot | 11–15 | Fine, for a short, pressurized shot |
| SiphonMedium, for vacuum brewers | 16–20 | Medium, for vacuum brewers |
| Pour overMedium to medium-fine; adjust by drawdown | Mid-range | Medium to medium-fine; adjust by drawdown |
| French pressMedium-coarse to coarse | 21–30 | Medium-coarse to coarse |
| Cold brewThe coarsest end of the dial | 31–45 | The coarsest end of the dial |
These are starting points, not fixed recipes. Roast level, bean age, dose and your brewer all move the sweet spot a click or two.
Stay between 5 and 45 clicks. Below 5 the burrs sit too close together and can be damaged. Past 45 the main screw can loosen and the burr can slip out of position. Everything from Turkish coffee to cold brew already fits inside that window.
A steel burr cuts, a blade just smashes
A blade grinder spins until you stop it, so you end up with powder and chunks in the same cup. The fine bits over-extract and turn bitter while the big ones stay sour.
In the Alpaca, the inner cone turns against a fixed outer ring. Beans get pulled down and broken in stages, and they only drop out once they fit through the gap you set. Change the setting and you change the gap. That’s why the grind comes out even and why a click number actually means something.
Hardened 420 steel burr
Heat-treated to 57 HRC so it holds an edge. No brittle ceramic like many cheap hand grinders use.
Two bearings on the shaft
They keep the burr centered under load, so the gap stays steady and the crank turns smoothly.
Aluminum, not glass
The body and catch cup are aluminum alloy. A drop on tile or a tumble in your bag won’t crack them.
Grip and leverage
A knurled band gives your hand something to hold, and the 6.3-inch steel crank does the rest at fine settings.
How to use the Alpaca grinder
- 01
Find zero
Unscrew the catch cup, fit the crank and hold it still. Turn the dial toward FINE until it stops.
- 02
Count your clicks
Turn back toward COARSE to the number for your brew method. Each click is a step you can repeat.
- 03
Add your beans
Screw the cup back on and add up to 28 g of whole roasted beans. Weigh only what this brew needs.
- 04
Crank and pour
Hold the body firmly and turn clockwise until the resistance is gone. Unscrew the cup and brew right away.
Dial it in by taste
Sour, thin or too fast
The coffee is under-extracted. Go one or two clicks finer. With pour over, water racing through the bed points the same way.
Bitter, dry or too slow
It’s over-extracting. Go a click or two coarser. A shot that drags or a drawdown that stalls usually needs the same fix.
Write down the number
Once a cup tastes right, note it: “18 g, setting 18.” Change one thing at a time when you open a new bag.
Good to know before you buy
- It’s sized for one or two cups. 28 g covers an 18–20 g espresso dose or a 20–25 g pour over. A big French press may take a second fill.
- Fine settings take some arm. Espresso and Turkish grinds need more effort than filter grinds. An electric grinder is quicker if you grind large batches for a household.
- Clean it dry, never with water. Use the included brush or an air blower. Water, soap and the dishwasher can leave moisture in the burr and bearings.
Alpaca grinder reviews
4.6 out of 5 · 900+ reviews
I bought this grinder as I was pretty disappointed with my electric one. There's no separate chamber to hold the grounds, this one has a separate chamber to hold the newly ground coffee, simply unscrewing it from the base removes it, so you can dump your grinds into your pot, pour over, french press, etc. I've used it to grindan entire pot of coffee and I love it! I feel connected to the coffee grinding process, this amazing little grinder produces a consistent grind every time. I've used it for more than a year now. I wouldn't trade it for anything, I truly love this little beauty.
Dolores
I'm new to making espresso at home, but getting pretty addicted to it. I have a Solis Grind and Infuse Perfetta with a built-in grinder. It works great. However, I occasionally want a different bean (in particular a decaf) and don't want to have to clear out the beans in the built-in hopper. I didn't want to spend a lot of money or take up a lot of space for another electric grinder. I thought I'd try a manual one instead. After a little research I decided on this one. It's perfect for my needs. I probably use it 3-4 times a week. It's very easy to use. I can grind enough for a double-espresso in about 1 minute. It's not problem at all. It has a very high quality feel. My daughter really like it so I got her one too. Definitely recommend this on.
Mike P
I have been using this grinder for about 2 weeks now and I am very happy with it. It feels solid and durable and the crank mechanism works smoothly and efficiently. I was able to adjust the grind easily and also find the unit easy to brush out with the supplied brush.
David G Cook
This grinder is pretty much perfect in all aspects. It's surprisingly easy to grind which I assume is owed to the burr grinders being sufficiently sharp. The grinder handle feels sturdy and smooth to operate with exactly zero play, the bearings seem to be quality. It's also extremely easy to adjust the coarseness of the grind. The only quibble is that I have to grind ~1.5x the capacity of the grinder to get a sufficient amount of coffee grounds for my pour-over coffee. Not a huge problem.
Some Guy
I bought it only for whole cloves! I wanted to find an other way to fine grind whole cloves other than the stone stuff. Here is the best way:1 Turn the grinding adjustment CLOCKWISE all the way to stop(as you hold on the handle) 2 BACK IT UP 15 CLICKS(as you hold on the handle) 3 Fill the grinder with whole cloves. 4 Make sure you screw back the bottom part(the stuff that will hold the grinded stuff) 5 Place the handle in its hexagon plug. 6 Get a strong grip of the grinder (with one hand) and start turning CLOCKWISE the handle with the other hand. In about 50 turns you will have a lot of cloves powder in the bottom part. Make sure you knock the bottom part of the grinder over a solid wood cutting board several times before unscrew the bottom part and getting out the powder. DO NOT TURN THE GRINDER UP SIDE DOWN(you might loose the handle and the rest of the cloves not grinded yet) VERY WELL BUILT ,ALL METAL ,STAILESS STEEL BURRS, ALUMINUM BODY.
Benoni
A coffee grinder that started as a side project
Alpaca Ventures didn’t come out of the coffee equipment business. Its founder, Paul, was a software engineer who wanted to build something you could hold instead of another app. He paid for it out of his own savings.
The early years went the way first product businesses often go: too much inventory, a few wrong products and a lot of learning about manufacturing the hard way. Coffee became the focus because it was already part of every morning, often by the pot rather than the cup. A grinder was a product where each engineering choice shows up directly in what you drink.
The goal was simple. Make one compact hand grinder that is easy to understand, built from durable metal, with enough range that you don’t need a different grinder for every brew method. Getting there took several manufacturers, a few product revisions and a lot of customer feedback.
And the name? Paul just likes alpacas. It’s not an acronym or a coffee region.
Alpaca grinder questions, answered
The Alpaca Manual Coffee Grinder is a hand-cranked burr grinder designed for brewing coffee from whole beans. It uses a hardened 420 stainless steel conical burr, a dual-bearing shaft and 45 click-based grind settings.
Its adjustment range covers fine coffee for Cezve and espresso through medium settings for filter brewing and coarse settings for French press or cold brew. The bean chamber holds up to 1 oz (28 g) per fill.
The grinder has 45 selectable click settings.
To set it, hold the crank handle in place and turn the adjustment dial clockwise toward FINE until it reaches the stop. That is the reference point. Turn back toward COARSE and count the clicks until reaching the desired setting.
Because each position clicks into place, a successful grind setting can be recorded and used again instead of estimating the dial position visually.
Start between 11 and 15 clicks.
The exact setting depends on the beans, dose, espresso basket and machine. If the shot runs too quickly, move the grinder finer. If water struggles to pass through the coffee or the shot takes much longer than intended, move coarser.
Small adjustments usually work better than jumping several settings at once.
Yes. The adjustment range includes the medium and medium-fine settings normally used for pour over brewing.
There is no single correct click number for every dripper. Coffee dose, filter type, brewer geometry and the beans themselves affect the ideal setting.
Start around the middle of the grind range, then adjust according to taste and drawdown time. A fast, thin brew often benefits from a finer grind. A slow, harsh or astringent brew may need a coarser setting.
For French press, the recommended starting range is 21-30 clicks.
For cold brew, start between 31 and 45 clicks.
Both methods typically use a coarser grind than espresso or pour over because the coffee remains in contact with water for substantially longer.
The recommended ranges are starting points rather than fixed recipes. Steep time, coffee-to-water ratio and bean characteristics can justify moving finer or coarser.
Yes. The recommended Cezve range is 5-10 clicks from the zero position.
Do not grind coffee below 5 clicks. At the extreme fine end, the burrs sit too close together for normal grinding and may be damaged.
For very fine coffee, begin within the recommended range and adjust gradually rather than forcing the mechanism beyond its intended limit.
The bean chamber holds approximately 1 oz (28 g) of roasted coffee beans.
That is enough for many single-cup recipes, including a typical espresso dose or pour over. It also corresponds to roughly two traditional single espresso doses.
Larger French press or batch-brew recipes may require grinding more than one chamber.
The conical burr is made from 420 stainless steel and hardened to approximately 57 HRC.
The hardened steel cutting surface is designed to retain its edge under repeated use. A conical burr also controls grind size by passing beans through a defined gap instead of chopping them randomly with spinning blades.
The grinder's shaft is supported by two bearings to help keep the burr centered while grinding.
No. The grinder is completely manual and does not use a battery, motor or power cable.
The stainless steel crank directly rotates the burr. That makes the grinder suitable for kitchens, offices, travel and camping without changing how it operates.
Manual grinding does take more physical effort than pressing a button on an electric grinder, particularly at fine espresso settings.
No. The grounds chamber is made from aluminum alloy.
Aluminum avoids one common weak point of travel-oriented grinders: a glass catch cup that can crack after being dropped or knocked inside a bag.
The grinder body is also made primarily from aluminum alloy, keeping the construction compact without relying on fragile glass components.
Use the included brush or an air blower to remove coffee particles.
Do not rinse the grinder with water, immerse it in liquid or place it in a dishwasher. Moisture can remain inside the burr and bearing mechanism.
For routine cleaning, remove the grounds container, brush loose coffee from accessible surfaces and clear retained grounds around the burr area.
It should not.
The intended working range ends at 45 clicks. Loosening the adjustment beyond that point can affect the main screw and burr assembly.
At the opposite end, settings below 5 clicks should not be used for grinding coffee.
Staying within the 5-45 click working range covers the intended spectrum from very fine coffee through coarse cold brew.
The grinder is available in five finishes:
Silver, Black, Goji Berry Metallic, Medieval Blue Metallic and Raven's Grove.
The finish does not change the grinding mechanism. Every color uses the same core design, 45-setting adjustment system, 28 g capacity and stainless steel conical burr.
Alpaca Ventures was founded by Paul, a software engineer who started the business as a self-funded side project.
The company did not begin as a large established coffee manufacturer. Early product development involved testing products, working through manufacturing mistakes and searching for a reliable grinder design that could become the focus of the brand.
Coffee was a natural direction because it was already part of Paul's daily routine. The manual grinder developed into the central Alpaca product after several years of refining the business and evaluating manufacturers.
The name comes from founder Paul's fondness for alpacas.
It is not an acronym or a reference to a particular coffee-growing region. The animal inspired the brand name before the business became focused on coffee grinders.
The result is a deliberately simple coffee brand built around practical equipment rather than a technical-sounding corporate identity.
Pick your color. The grinder inside is the same.
Silver, Black, Goji Berry Metallic, Medieval Blue Metallic or Raven’s Grove.
Shop all five finishes