Grinders are one of the most essential parts of any herb fan’s kit. No matter what your favourite form of herb consumption is, grinding helps you get the most out of it.

Why do we break down herb into smaller pieces? Paradoxically, we do this to increase the surface area and get the most out of the herb. Increasing the surface area means that your herb can be more efficiently burned or heated, allowing you to enjoy more of its active ingredients with less wastage.

Generally, herb grinders are fairly simple to use. They’re a bisected cylinder with two sets of interlocking teeth. When you want to grind your herb you simply pull the two halves apart, drop your herb in, replace the top, and then twist until your herb has been finely broken down. 

As with anything, there is a massive spectrum of grinders. Big ones, small ones, colourful ones, black ones, steel ones, plastic ones, and, of course, celebrity-endorsed ones. But grinders are very simple devices, are there any real differences between all these products in terms of the price point?

The affordable grinder

Storz & Bickel is known as a premium brand of vaporizers. They make the Volcano, which is the Ferrari of the vaporizer world. However, no matter how expensive your vaporizer is, you;ll only get the best use of it with a good grinder.

The Volcano Acrylic Herb Mill has a simple, two-part construction. To use it, all you need to do is pull apart the two sides and drop your herb in. Then you twist it around until your herb is ground down into fine particles.

It is made of plastic and the two halves are held together with friction. When you want to use your herb, you simply open the grinder and tip it into your bowl or vape chamber. This is an affordable option for occasional users and beginners. 

The premium grinder

The Space Case Large Aluminium Grinder is a totally different piece of equipment from the Storz & Bickel model. It is built out of aircraft-grade aluminium and features a four-part construction. The first two segments make up your standard grinder; two sets of interlocking teeth held together with a magnet to prevent spillage. The remaining two segments include a chamber that catches your herb as it’s ground, allowing you to access it quickly and easily, as well as a chamber separated from the other storage compartment by a mesh. This mesh allows the smaller particles to fall through and collect for easy access. This is usually where the powder-like leftovers are collected, which usually ahs the most amount of flavour!

One of the most striking features about this grinder is its sheer size: 88mm. This means that it can grind huge amounts of herb almost effortlessly.

The Round-Up

So we've highlighted the features of affordable and premium grinders, but it's time to answer the key question - what is the difference? Is there a difference?

Cheaper plastic grinders are going to have less chambers -- usually only one. Sometimes there isn't even a separate tier for the grounded herb 'dust.' More expensive grinders will be made of metal or aluminium materials, and they are made to stand the test of time. A good premium grinder will last years whereas a cheaper grinder may not, depending on how frequently you use it and how careful you are with it. 

Luckily for you we stock a wide range of medium range grinders that meet perfectly in the middle in terms of an attractive price and high quality material.

We're not ruling out cheaper grinders, they are still credible and work very well. If you are a daily grinder, it may be worth investing in a good sturdy premium grinder as it poses better benefits with the multiple chambers and non-stick material, meaning that you get the very most out of your herb,