A Thorinder grinder is as beautiful as it is bad ass. I was drawn to test this grinder due to its striking design. Function wise it offers everything I need in a grinder so I was keen to find out if it performed as well as it looks. Spoiler alert: it does.

Thorinder: the god of grinding

Thorinder Mini Grinder Performance

The sharp anodised aluminium teeth of the Thorinder Mini don’t just look cool in their funky colours (blue, green, silver, orange and grey) they also chop up your herbs efficiently. The lightning shaped holes may look gimmicky but they actually do a great job in ensuring that the ground herb that passes into the second chamber is finely ground enough to use in your favourite vaporizer.

Thorinder: nice bud vs anodised aluminium teeth

The top is held in place with a magnet. I prefer this to an o ring that some other brands use. It’s a cleaner solution. Open it up and place the bud you are about to sacrifice inside. At the time I was testing the Thorinder I was also testing the Boundless CFX which has a larger than average heating chamber holding about a half gram of ground herb. A half gram is no sweat for the Thorinder. Whithin a few twists the job was done.

I was genuinely impressed with the results. It was perfectly fine (as in not course).

I did find that there were a few crumbs left in the top even though they had been ground to a size which would be fine for vaping. They can be tapped out and added to the mix.

Thorinder: ground herb falls into the lightening holes

To access the ground herb you need to unscrew the second layer. It seemed to take more turns to unscrew than I expected. Compared to my Dutch Passion four piece grinder I would say it takes twice as many turns. This means that once ground your herb is nice and secure – it’s very unlikely that it would open up accidentally.

Thorinder: resulting herb is perfect for vaping

The same can be said for the base that holds the keif which accumulates over time giving you a nice treat every once in a while.

I could not find out anywhere how many microns the gauze is in the base. Not that it matters especially but sharing that in the instructions or information online would maybe be of interest to weed nerds such as myself.

Thorinder: I wish they shared the microns of that gauze

Thorinder Mini Grinder Value For Money

A Thorinder grinder is something rather special. It is far from a throw away travel grinder (the kind that you take to a festival or party). The presentation and price reflects this. Looking at the top it reminds me of a fancy watch. If you want something that looks amazing, would be a great talking point and performs well then you’ll need to pay. It’s not extortionately priced but it’s more than an average grinder can cost.

As a gift it’s perfect, as a special treat to yourself – well, you have to ask yourself do you deserve it? If you’ve been a good stoner, then why not?

Thorinder: the perfect gift

For the price, it is a pity that it does not come with its own little drawstring carry bag. The packing is wonderful but not exactly practical to protect it when chucked in your rucksack.

Thorinder Mini Grinder Build Quality

The Thorinder Mini I tested looked stunning and seems to be perfectly crafted. Everything fitted together snugly and there are no rough edges. On a very close inspection I did find a few blemishes on the interior of the base but this was because I was really searching – it is nothing that would be noticed let alone detract from the beauty of this grinder.

Thorinder: in case you forget which model you bought

Thorinder Mini Grinder User Friendliness

A grinder is pretty straightforward. Thorinder sticks to the tried and tested functionality we are all most probably used to.

Thorinder: the mini is a compact 5cm

The transparent plastic (it looks glass) top helps you to see if what you are grinding is ready or not. Being plastic it seems to be a bit static so can attract those pesky herb crumbs over time. After first use it won’t be as beautiful as it was when you opened the presentation box. Maybe glass would be less static?

Once ground, your herb is safe in the screwed in section which, as mentioned above, maybe takes a few more turns to open than is necessary. But I found this reassuring rather than annoying.

Thorinder Mini Grinder Maintenance and Cleaning

As with any grinder you’re going to find that it will get gummed up with hash that you inadvertently create thanks to pressure and heat produced from the action of grinding. The typical places where this accumulates are a clean design so cleaning should not be hard. A plastic scraper is provided in the base to remove any hash buildup without damaging the unit itself.

Thorinder: four pieces and a cleaning tool

The hardest part to clean will be the top and here lies my only gripe with the Thorinder Mini. The transparent window is plastic. I have no problem with it being plastic, as it appears to be glass. However, it does mean that you can’t just drop the top into ISO alcohol as you normally would with something that is fiddly to clean. Which means that brushing it out and scraping with the plastic triangle scraper is about the best you can do.

Getting to the point this will be an issue will take a lot of grinding so maybe I can come back and amend this in a year or so to see if it was an actual problem – I suspect it’ll be no big deal. Had the top been glass then it would be ISO proof and scored full marks for cleaning and maintenance.

Thorinder: pesky herb crumbs upto their tricks

It is possible to buy spare parts for your grinder should you lose or break anything – so that’s reassuring.

Who Is It Good For?

People who vaporize at home or in an environment with other trust worthy people (grinders are easy to pocket and this one is especially desirable). The finely ground herb is perfect for people who use a vaporizer (make sure you don’t pack it in the heating chamber too tightly though). It’s ideal for people who enjoy the ritual of vaporizing their herb and are looking for the best tools to enhance this experience.

Pros

• perfectly fine ground results for vaping
• stunningly good looks
• secure chambers for herb and keif
• compact size

Cons

• plastic window gets static and attracts herb crumbs
• plastic window cannot be cleaned with ISO
• no carry case provided