I love this grinder.Compared to other manual grinders:
1. Stable wide base means it stays still while you turn the grind handle;
2. Sharp blades, which means that it grinds easily;
3. Competent feed mechanism, which means it also grinds quickly;
4. Quiet, smooth operation;
5. Longer grind handle offers greater grind leverage, which makes grinding easier;
6. Exact setting for size of coffee grounds;
7. Classic good looks.
Disadvantages:
1. Compared to many electric grinders, it can seem relatively slow;
2. Friggin' expensive!;
3. Low capacity;
4. Can be messy to use (but can't they all?);
5. Can't adjust quickly for different sizes of grind.
Unlike the other two reviewers, one who rated it fairly well and one who hated it, I've had my Peugeot Nostalgie coffee mill for many years.I was actually lucky enough to find it at Marshall's for $25.If I knew they cost $125 retail, I'd have bought the twenty or so that Marshall's had and put them on ebay.
As for the reviewer who liked it but admitted that it isn't for brewing big pots of coffee, yep, that is a weakness, I suppose.As for the reviewer who complained about the finish, the quality of the grinder, etc., I can't understand that.Maybe they got a cheap gray market knock off or something.
My grinder's finish is still solid and beautiful after three or for years of daily use.Whether you'll like this grinder or not may have to do with what you're used to.
How well this grinder will work for you depends upon your needs and also, probably what you're used to.If you're used to an electric grinder that offers a lot of features at the turn of a dial and the flip of the switch, this grinder is probably not for you, just like someone who has a big yard to cut and who is used to a power lawn mower probably will not be happy with a brand new reel type lawn mower, even if the reel type cuts better and doesn't burn fossil fuels, a big yard with a reel lawn mower stinks.I have a tiny yard and I love my reel lawn mower--a power mower would be way too much for me.
If you need a few different sized grounds for different types of coffee pots, this grinder is probably not for you, but you may be able to get away with buying two or three, but at $129 a pop, I'm sure you can do better.
For me, I drink about a cup of super strong coffee a day from an espresso pot.I neet about 1/3 cup of ground coffee a day, which is enough to make about a half pot of classic weak drip coffee a la Mr. Coffee, Proctor-Silex, Black & Decker, Braun, Gevalia freebie maker, etc.If you use a Mr. Coffee or some other brand of classic common drip coffee maker and only need between one to four cups (6 to 24 oz. of coffee--one cup of coffee being measured at 6 oz. rather than 8 oz.) then you can probably really enjoy this grinder as you will also use about 1/3 cup of ground coffee.
The grinder itself works flawlessly and nearly effortlessly compared to other manual grinders I've had.I have an Italian-made coffee mill that is just miserable to use.Compared to other manual grinders, this is a well-balanced grinder that doesn't require you to have the forearms of Popeye to operate.Also, being of French origin, supposedly the French prefer very dark beans, (hence French roast being very dark).I use French roast usually, or espresso roast and find that the darker the bean, the softer the grind.Medium roast beans require a bit more effort to grind, but are still really easy compared to other manual grinders I've had.Also, this grinder not only grinds easily, but quickly.I can grind my 1/3 cup, which fills the catch drawer, in about one minute.
Why do I like this grinder so much?Well, like everything, it's relative.I've had a few electric grinders, and while they ground coffee pretty quickly, they were very LOUD!!!!I don't like loud.This is why I use a motorless reel lawn mower.I hate the sound of the ol' Briggs & Stratton.I've also had a few manual grinders and they truly were junk.One, in particular, had a short handle so you had little leverage.It literally required the arms of Popeye or Brutus to operate and it would often get stuck and jammed on you.It had a narrow base, so while you operated it, it would slide everywhere and, worst of all, it ground slowly, so it took forever just to grind a little coffee.Compared to that the classic electric grinder that I had was a Godsend.
But the electric that I had also had no size setting.This is a grinder that I've seen in just about everyone's kitchen.It sells for about $15 at the grocery store, has a clear dome-shaped lid, comes under a variety of brand names, and grinds according to how long you hold the button down.So, for finer grinds you grind longer, and for coarser grinds you grind for a shorter amount of time.Problem: there's no uniformity and you end up sitting there holding the button, shaking the thing up and down to try to get everything the same size, it's whirring away waking up the whole house in the morning and it just sucks.BTW, grinding for a whole pot of coffee is just about as slow and boring.
Between these two extremes is the Peugeot.It's quiet, efficient, easy to use, did I mention quiet?I believe it's also faster than my electric was and produces perfectly uniform grinds.It's not a huge bother to grind an entire cup of grounds if I need to, which, by the way, would have overheated my electric grinder anyway.It's beautiful to look at, is light weight, stores easily because it has no stupid cord to get stuck on everything, and it's just so easy to use.The long grind handle and wide base gives you plenty of leverage and stability to grind with, even medium and light roast coffees are easy to grind.It will grind a third of a cup of grounds in about a minute and it's just vastly superior to other grinders I've had and grinders that my friends have had.
I feel bad for the reviewer who got the bad one.Can't really explain that.I mean, mine is totally opposite: beautiful finish and even if the finish sucked, the grinder is AWESOME!
For the reviewer who got a good one but worried that it was a pain to grind in volume, yep, that's true.But it's no more of a pain than the pain I had with my electric, and, actually, is much less of a pain than my electric one was.Of course, I only paid $25 for mine.I assume a $130 electric grinder ought to get you just about everything you'd ever want in a grinder.I don't think I'd pay $130 for this grinder, that's for sure, not that it isn't worth it, I suppose, since it's been doing it's job at my house for three or four years now, every day, without a problem.And now that I have it, I don't know that I'd sell it for $130, either, if you know what I mean.I love it.I don't want to get rid of it.I use it every day.But if I had to pay $130 for it, I'd probably not have it and would be working with something else.
Maybe it is worth $130.It's certainly been reliable and useful to me with no problems at all.It's everything I need in a grinder and then some.
You decide.I still wish I bought ten of them at Marshall's for $25 and put them on ebay.
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Peugeot Nostalgie Hand Coffee Mill, WalnutProduct Description: Made by the company whose name stands for high quality in the automobile industry, this wooden Nostalgie coffee grinder stands 8 inches high and features a durable grinding mechanism crafted for longevity.
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Since I have only had the Virtuoso for three months I will not discuss the long-term quality.Because I use it primarily for press pot, drip and small espresso batches I was not looking to get a solid consumer grinder, like the more expensive Rancilio Rocky or Mazzer Mini.
