7 Best Turkish Coffee Grinders

How to Choose the Best Turkish Coffee Grinder For Your Needs

Turkish coffee stands apart from any other coffee brewing method for a couple of reasons. The first is that it’s completely unfiltered, even for serving. You add ground coffee directly to the pot with the water, and after the brewing process, you pour the whole thing into your cup. An extra-fine grind is essential to ensure that the grounds sink rather than float on the surface and get in your mouth.

The second is that it’s so deeply connected with Turkish culture. The history of coffee in Turkey goes back to the 16th century, and Unesco has even added it to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list (1). From the traditional cezve coffee maker to the accompanying sweets and fortune-telling with the coffee grounds (2), there’s a sense of ritual to making Turkish coffee.

Extra fine grind

We cannot overstate how vital the grind size is for a cup of good Turkish coffee, and it needs to be very fine and consistent, with confectioners sugar or talcum powder texture.

Don’t mistake using an espresso grinder, hoping that it will be good enough, and Turkish coffee needs to be ground much finer. If you intend to prepare coffee in the authentic Turkish way, your best bet is a coffee grinder made explicitly for that.

The number of grind settings doesn’t matter for Turkish coffee as it does for grinders for pour over brewing or other methods. However, an adjustable grinding mechanism is still essential for getting the right fineness.

Manual or electric

Here’s where you see a real difference between grinding Turkish coffee and grinding for other brewing methods. In most cases, manual grinders are the best option, as consumer electric burr grinders just aren’t calibrated to get the extremely fine grind needed for Turkish coffee. The exception is commercial electric Turkish coffee grinders (which we’ve included on our list for reference), but it’s far beyond what anyone would need for home use.

Size and capacity

This is going to depend on your needs. On the whole, because you’re most likely buying a manual grinder, these are going to be smaller than an electric coffee grinder (and also more portable). The downside is that manual Turkish coffee grinders tend to have a smaller grounds bin and beans hopper, so you need to consider how much coffee you’ll be making at once.

Turkish coffee is traditionally measured using tablespoons, unlike other brewing methods, rather than by weight. For reference, for each demitasse cup of Turkish coffee, you’ll need around a tablespoon, or about 5g (3).

Design

How your grinder looks is obviously nowhere near as important as how it functions, but it can add a sense of ceremony to your Turkish brew. A traditional Turkish coffee mill is metal, and the surface is usually carved with filigree ornaments. 

Traditional grinders won’t have modern features like non-slip bases, and you certainly can’t place them in the dishwasher. You’ll also find that the metal is relatively thin and can dent easily. They’re beautiful but require a little extra care.

The Best Turkish Coffee Grinders in 2023

Now that you’re armed with a bit of knowledge about grinding for Turkish coffee, it’s time to go shopping. Here are some of the best models that give you the extra-fine Turkish coffee grind you need.

For the finest and most consistent grind on your Turkish coffee beans, you’re going to have to move your search out of Turkey and into Germany. Zassenhaus is known for its exceptional quality manual coffee grinders and backs each one with a 25-year guarantee.

The Zassenhaus Santiago coffee mill has carbon steel burrs that blast through coffee beans quicker than you’d expect. It outperforms even traditional Turkish grinders when set to the finest grind size. 

This is a “knee-style” or “lap” manual coffee grinder that was, at a time, very popular in some areas of Europe. It’s called that because the frame is designed to fit comfortably between the knees while you operate it. Of course, you can also hold down this burr grinder on any surface while grinding, and the crank handle has a comfortable knob that fits nicely in the average hand.

This conical burr coffee mill is available in several finishes, including mahogany, beech, and black stained wood. You don’t have to hide it away in a cupboard, as this manual coffee grinder even makes a lovely centerpiece.

The Sozen Turkish coffee grinder might not have the ornate look of some other grinders on this list, but trust us, this one is authentic. The Sozen family has been making grinders in Turkey for over 120 years.

The authenticity extends to the extra effort you need to put in here, which is considerable. In the old days, people used to sit and socialize as they ground their beans together. It will take you a while to get used to grinding with this little guy, but the results will undoubtedly be worth it for the soft, floury grinds.

The essential operation is effortless; just attach the handle to the axis, fill the grinder with coffee, and grind. You can use the same handle to adjust the grind setting by unscrewing the grinder. It’s a little time-consuming to take apart and clean, but you won’t have to do it often if you use this as a dedicated grinder for Turkish coffee.

If you want the quality grinder, you associate with Zassenhaus, and the Zassenhaus Havanna could be a more authentic look for you. It faithfully emulates a traditional Turkish coffee grinder and does so with elegance.

The grinding mechanism has the quality expected from Zassenhaus and comes with their standard 25-year warranty. While it will set you back a little more than an average hand coffee grinder, it is worth every penny for fantastic coffee.

This Zassenhaus Turkish mill has a polished brass body with an elegant engraving. It’s not quite as slim as the Sozen, but it’s much shorter, making it a good pick for travel. It’s a little easier to grind your coffee beans than with an authentic Turkish coffee grinder, which you can chalk up to sound old German engineering.

The Havanna manual coffee grinder is easy enough to take apart and clean, but you’re well-advised to avoid dishwashers and water in general. Hard water tends to tarnish brass, and it would be a shame to ruin the gorgeous exterior of this burr grinder. Use a cloth to wipe the outside of this coffee mill; then, you can get any stray coffee grounds out with a brush.

This electric Turkish coffee grinder is not messing around and it has the price tag to prove it. The BUNN grinder is really made for commercial use–even if the cost doesn’t put you off, it’s made for grinding coffee beans in larger amounts than even serious coffee lovers would need at home.

The hopper on this model holds three pounds of coffee, and it can power through a whole pound in just under 30 seconds. You’d think that kind of speed would heat your coffee beans, but this electric has a turbo system that pulls coffee beans through the grinding chamber faster than they can heat up. The burrs come with a three-year warranty, a nice feature for commercial applications.

It quickly delivers a consistent Turkish grind, but it’s also just as good at making any other grind size, including espresso and drip coffee. The best thing about electric grinders is that the operation is relatively simple. Once you set it up, all you have to do is push in a container, and it will start grinding.

Turkish coffee grinders might be something of a specialty product, but that doesn’t have to mean exclusive. The Bazaar Anatolia Turkish grinder comes at a price that allows anyone to become a Turkish coffee aficionado.

It’s based on a traditional design, with the bulbed base and decorative filigree design. However the materials have been given something of a modern upgrade. Rather than brass, the body here is made from zamak, which makes it lighter, stronger, and more resistant to corrosion (4).

This is actually sold as a heavy duty spice grinder. While it’ll do just as good a job on your cumin as it does on your beans, we don’t recommend doing both with the same grinder unless you want a strange tasting coffee.

Most grinders for Turkish coffee have been designed specifically for the purpose, but occasionally you’ll come across a regular conical burr grinder that grinds as fine as you need. The Khaw-Fee manual grinder gives you a great Turkish grind as well as being a good grinder for French press, so you don’t need to have multiple grinders to get through the day.

It doesn’t have the traditional Turkish look, but it has a few advantages. The rubber top to the bean hopper makes for easy refilling and prevents spills while grinding. Thanks to the glass bowl grounds chamber, you can see exactly how much you’re grinding, which features a silicon base for non-slip grinding. The bottom chamber is dishwasher safe too.

Khaw-Fee doesn’t specify the capacity of the grinder, but it’s a little under one cup. Depending on your beans, this works out to around 80 grams, which gives it the biggest bean hopper on our list. This larger capacity makes it especially useful if you want to brew other styles such as French press in large batches.

To complete your authentic Turkish coffee set, you can’t do much better than this beautiful grinder from Crystalia. With an elegant silhouette and intricate inlay, this is a grinder you can be proud to display in your kitchen. It’s available in dark silver, antique copper, or antique gold finishes so you can match it to your cezve. 

The Crystalia offers a great balance between portability and convenience. It’s not the slimmest grinder on our list, but we like that the handle folds up neatly for storage in the bean hopper. It’s got a generous capacity that makes it suitable for brewing Turkish coffee for a few friends – the perfect opportunity to show off just how good this grinder looks.

Like most of these grinders, the burr settings are adjusted by a screw underneath the grounds chamber. As a stepless grinder, it does have a good range of adjustments, but you’ll find it’s mainly an extra-fine coffee grinder and isn’t suitable for brewing coffee like a French press or cold brew.

The Verdict

Shopping for the best Turkish coffee grinder means looking for particular features, but you’ll find options at pretty much every price point. Our pick goes to the Zassenhaus Santiago, despite the fact it doesn’t have the traditional Turkish grinder design. The ease of use, grind consistency, and 25-year guarantee make it hard to pass up.