MHW 3Bomber Coffee Grinder Review
Discover the MHW 3Bomber coffee grinder, an innovative tool from a renowned Chinese brand in the coffee industry. In this article, we examine in depth its performance and careful design. Learn more about its unique features, the quality of its packaging, and its potential to enhance your tasting experience. Stay with us for an objective and comprehensive evaluation of this promising grinder.
Recently, I acquired a new coffee grinder: the MHW 3Bomber. It was designed by a Chinese company that is not unknown to me. Indeed, MHW 3Bomber has created in recent years a whole range of coffee accessories that I really like. Wanting to test their grinder, I contacted them and we agreed that they would sell it to me at cost price in exchange for visibility on my website. Despite this “sponsorship” I will remain no less objective in the test. What is it worth? We will discover this throughout this article.
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Items included in the box
Click here to find MHW 3Bomber coffee grinders on Aliexpress
The MHW 3Bomber coffee grinder is very well packaged in a box with very dense foam. In this box are provided two cleaning accessories, a user manual and of course, the grinder and its crank handle. The latter weighs 721 g.
Features and Overall Design of the MHW 3Bomber Coffee Grinder
The first thing I find really positive about this grinder is that it was made entirely of aluminum (with the exception, as we’ll see, of the crank handle which is plastic). So we’re dealing with a durable object because there are no plastic parts that support, for example, the central axis like on the El Commandante C40 or the Kinu M47 Phoenix.
The other thing I appreciate is its overall design. It’s understated, smooth, modern. It’s subjective but I find it beautiful.
As for colors, this coffee grinder is available in black and gray.
Click here to find MHW 3Bomber coffee grinders on Aliexpress
The crank handle is for me the weak point of this grinder. It’s small and made of plastic giving it a somewhat less premium feel when held. Its size is also problematic for me because I find it small making it less comfortable to grip than a larger handle. This is something I find unfortunate about this grinder.
That being said, there is still something positive about this crank. Indeed, it can be removed and is attached to a metal cap. A good point when you consider that the competition (1Zpresso, El Commandante C40) makes plastic lids.
As for the top of the grinder, it has a funnel shape that allows:
to help guide the coffee beans into the grinder when pouring them in
to prevent the grinder from slipping (prevent the aluminum tube from sliding in the palm of the hand).
The MHW 3Bomber adjustment system
Click here to find MHW 3Bomber coffee grinders on Aliexpress
The grind fineness adjustment system works through a dial located just above the container. This is the system that interested me a lot about this grinder (and made me want to try it). It’s not something new, several grinders already available on the market adjust in the same way but I had never tried it. And yes, among the long list of manual grinders I’ve been able to test, until today I had only tested grinders that adjust from the top or from the bottom. But never in the middle.
This adjustment system allows for 30 adjustment levels. Thus, the MHW 3Bomber coffee grinder has an adjustment level comparable to the El Commandante C40 (which adjusts from below) but will be less precise than other grinders such as 1Zpresso, Apollo, Kinu, or certain Timemore).
That said, the MHW 3Bomber coffee grinder is (in my opinion) a grinder rather dedicated to extractions requiring a coarse grind (V60, french press…) but less so for espresso. With the number of settings available, just as with the C40, it won’t be uncommon for espresso to end up with an ideal setting that falls between two clicks. It’s to try to address this problem that C40 released the Red Clics system as an option. Let’s still specify that I tested it for espresso and that it gives good results in the cup.
Before purchasing this grinder I had a concern about moving the adjustment ring setting when screwing and unscrewing the container. This is not the case, the adjustment is not thrown off when removing and replacing the reservoir placed under the grinder.
The MHW 3Bomber reservoir
Made of a single piece of aluminum, the MHW 3Bomber reservoir screws onto the body of the grinder. I really liked several details concerning said reservoir:
To begin with, inside the reservoir there is a small ramp that allows the coffee to pour more easily into the portafilter when transferring the ground coffee (there are no edges that block the flow of coffee). It’s a detail that seems logical but that not all coffee grinder manufacturers have integrated into the design of their products.
Next, the reservoir screws onto the body of the grinder. And the design is intelligent because it’s not necessary to make 50 turns to screw or unscrew the reservoir. Moreover, the threading is thick, thus avoiding the risk of breaking it (by screwing the container incorrectly for example).
Unlike what I had observed with other grinders, the MHW 3bomber is stable when placed on a piece of furniture. It is well balanced and will not tip over accidentally.
The burr
Click here to find MHW 3Bomber coffee grinders on Aliexpress
The MHW 3Bomber uses a 38mm burr. This is a small burr that makes using this grinder rather lengthy when you want to grind for espresso. In truth, as I said earlier in the article, for me, the MHW 3Bomber is rather dedicated to slow infusions (V60, french press…) but espresso is possible.
Using the grinder
Time required to grind coffee
Regarding the usage time (the time required to grind a given amount of coffee), the Chestnut X is not the fastest.
So to grind:
16 g of coffee for an espresso, with a setting at position 1.9, it will take you about 1 minute 10 seconds to grind the coffee.
16 g of coffee for a V60, with a setting at position 6.5, it will take you about 35 seconds
This small burr has an advantage over faster grinders: there is much less torque with the MHW 3Bomber. There is no need to grip the grinder body too tightly to prevent it from rotating on itself during use. As a result, although it is slow, it is comfortable to hold.
Disassembly and cleaning of the grinder
It is (according to the user manual) not recommended to disassemble the grinder. You can’t even remove the burr to clean it. Bad point in the design of this grinder even though MHW 3Bomber has provided accessories in its box to help with cleaning.
In conclusion
In conclusion, I find that the MHW 3Bomber is a good coffee grinder that will meet the requirements particularly well for enthusiasts of slow extractions: the V60, french press… even though of course, espresso is possible.
Apart from the aesthetic aspect that bothered me a bit (the handle a bit small and made of plastic), the impossibility of disassembling the grinder is a flaw making its cleaning tedious, even with the accessories provided by the manufacturer.
