I’m after a coffee grinder, since I left the last one I had in England. I really hate ones with vertical axis handles; they have no stability and have an incredibly uncomfortable action, usually with a tiny range of motion.

When I was growing up, we had one of these: A Spong No. 1. I never knew it as the design classic it is, instead its beautiful, dull cast-iron body spent nearly twenty years screwed into our kitchen wall. It was wonderful. Always worked, produced a good grind. It made you smile as the smell of the grind wafted out. And, oh, the sound it makes was so strong, and satisfying.

Saturday and Sunday mornings in the Ward household are that sound. Around 10am, Dad is making breakfast and that sound is there. You hear it from wherever you are in the house. I didn’t even drink coffee until I left home! Yet, in retrospect, it’s one of the objects of my childhood that I really appreciate the beauty of. One of those immensely sentimental things. It’s this constant, ageless artefact of my growing up and having rediscovered it, I want to own one of my own.

(Image from Sorrentina Coffee - Spong No.1 Cast Iron Coffee Grinder, who are selling one for $130 Australian dollars. Tempting.)

Via: sorrentinacoffee.myshopify.com.