Many of you know what it is for those that don’t, it is a Turkish coffee grinder.
It has been a while since I saw one of these but luckily I found two. We balkanos really enjoy Turkish coffee anytime in a day. When I was a kid my family and I made lots of trips to Mostar, which in Bosnia and Hercegovina. My aunt lived there, and every time we arrived there the coffee grinder was in some one’s hands. I was always near to smell those dark brown beans or fresh ground coffee and I love that smell. Many people like it too. One more thing I remember about it is that it was really hard to spin for a kid. Even grown-ups have difficulty’s to do it right. It's because this tip of grinder achieves an extremely fine grind necessary for Turkish coffee. That's why it is so hard. It gets even worse when you have 20 people coming over and you just prepare coffee forever. You can just buy pre ground coffee, like a modern citizen.
Like I mentioned, I found two of those and they're pretty old. Sadly there are not branded, and I can't give a precise manufacturing date when they were made. They are replicas of Turkish coffee and spice grinders. One of them is made in Albania, the other one is custom made. The one made in Albany has a brass finish and my mom got it when she got married to my dad. It’s never been used and the manufacturing quality is low, you can feel it by holding it in your hand. It is not because it is from Albania. It is just poor quality manufacturing. It is much lighter than the custom grinder. Plus the mechanism inside wobbles a lot and glow can be seen inside. In my opinion, this item can't handle a lot of abuse. Honestly, I think it will fall apart if I use it. So I just put it on a shelf for decoration. The other one is a completely different story. It was a present from my grandfather, 30 years ago, for my oldest brother. It has a silvery look and it is a little bigger than the first one. It is custom made from stainless steel. It was easy to determine the material, a magnet will not stick to it and no corrosion occurred during the years of use. It has some weight to it, which is good because it is easier to rotate and It has less wobble. The finish could’ve been better. What I mean is it could have been polished, which would be much nicer to the eye. But it's fine as it is. What stands out is the three areas where the diamond grip is. It helps a lot to take it apart, because of a tight build.
The Albanian replica has a brass coating, so it looks more appealing. But it is basically made of some cheap metal. The internalsis made of steel. It is 24 centimeters tall and has a diameter of 4.3 centimeters. The cylindrically shaped container has a volume of 100 milliliters. What means 6.6 Metric Tablespoons of ground coffee or in other words six cups of strong coffee. Just what you need when you got some friends over. The stainless steel replica was turned a weary skillful Turner made it. It is a little bigger than the first, 27 centimeters tall and has a diameter of 4.6 centimeters. The container has a volume of 150 milliliters. What means 10 Metric Tablespoons of ground coffee or in other words ten cups of strong coffee.
What shocked me the most was the Albania Grinder is on eBay. I found the exact item I got. Someone is selling it for 55 dollars. I would say it is worth much less, maybe 5 or 10 dollars. Here is the link so you can check it out.
As for the stainless steel grinder, you can find some fancy ones on E-bay. They cost maybe 20 bucks or so. Which doesn't mean they are worth 20 bucks. You have to consider it was made by a turner and they don't work cheap. Plus, thirty years back it must have cost a fortune. I would say thirty years back in Bosnia and Hercegovina it could cost 100 Euros or 200 Deutsche Mark .
I tried the stainless steel one out and I have to admit it was not easy at all. It took me forever to grind coffee for 5 people and I even had to switch hands. The results are perfect and the grinder still works fine.
My first morning coffee is Turkish coffee :)
Yes nothing open the eye quicker than strong turkish coffee.
Cheers! :)
Thanks