The Daily Grind — A Turn Back in Time

$79.95

Also available as part of our complete 19th-century coffee experience. Explore The Lost Art of Coffee — The Quest for the Perfect Brew...

A Dentist. A President. And the Lost Pleasure of Slowing Down.

The kitchen is quiet when I set the coffee beans on the counter. I take hold of the wooden handle and look at that beautiful old-fashioned wheel. Before I turn it, though, I find myself thinking about one of the strangest little stories in coffee history. In 1798, a dentist named Thomas Bruff patented a coffee mill. A dentist, helping people enjoy a drink notorious for staining teeth. I still can't decide whether that's irony or genius. Probably a little of both.

Three years later, Bruff wrote to President Thomas Jefferson about a mill that could grind a pound of coffee in four and a half minutes. And here's what makes the story even better: Bruff would also serve as Jefferson's dentist. Thomas writing to Thomas, about coffee of all things. I wonder whether Jefferson smiled at the contradiction. Nobody recorded his reaction, but I know what mine would have been.

Jefferson genuinely loved coffee. At Monticello, beans were roasted and ground in the kitchen, and years later he called coffee “the favorite beverage of the civilised world.” When I imagine that kitchen, I hear the scrape of a grinding mechanism and picture somebody giving their full attention to an ordinary task. I can almost smell the fresh grounds. Maybe I'm romanticizing it a little, but there's something about making coffee by hand that I don't want to lose.

I pour my own beans into the hopper of The Daily Grind — A Turn Back in Time and begin turning. The wheel moves beneath my hand with a steady, reassuring rhythm. I hear the beans being ground, feel the resistance of the mechanism, and notice the aroma beginning to fill the room. Nothing flashes, beeps, or tells me to hurry. For those few minutes, my kitchen stops feeling like a place I rush through on my way to something else. I actually want to stay.

Soon there'll be a flame beneath glass, water rising, and a fresh cup at the end of it all. But I don't reach for the next step yet. Thomas Bruff was proud that his mill could grind a pound of coffee in four and a half minutes; more than two centuries later, I'm deliberately taking my time. Maybe that's the part Jefferson would have appreciated, too. The first sip hasn't even arrived, and already this morning feels worth remembering.

Coffee Grinder Details

Grinding Method: Traditional manual coffee grinding with a hand-operated crank and large mechanical flywheel. No electricity required.
Flywheel Mechanism: Oversized rotating wheel designed to operate the grinding mechanism through steady hand-powered motion.
Construction: Die-cast aluminum construction with vintage-inspired metalwork and a classic antique coffee mill appearance.
Design: Old-world tabletop coffee grinder inspired by the mechanical coffee mills found in 19th-century general stores.
Finish & Collection Options: Light Grey finish. Supplier describes a square wooden collection container and a round brown ceramic container.
The Flying Belgian Coffee Maker: Sold separately or available with The Flying Belgian as part of The Lost Art of Coffee — The Quest for the Perfect Brew collection.

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Please allow up to 3-5 weeks for delivery due to high demand! Items are shipped from our International warehouse & may ship separately in order to shorten delivery time.