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James Martin ZX595 by Wahl Mini Grinder UK Review 

 April 8, 2017

By  Enda McLarnon

This is my review of the James Martin grinder This is a blade grinder and right now, the best selling grinder bought by UK buyers. Overall it is rated at 4.0 out of 5 stars, which is a steady and consistent rating.

This grinder can be used to grind coffee beans, nuts, seeds and spices of various types. Thanks to the popularity of the UK chef, this grinder has literally sold in its thousands.

James Martin ZX595 by Wahl Mini Grinder Review

As you can see from the image above, this one looks really good, and it is of good quality. Although branded by the chef, the actual grinder is made by the German company Wahl. They are of course known for making high quality electronic goods.

This is officially classed as a "mini grinder." The main purpose of this model is to allow you to grind a whole range of food items. Its secondary purpose is that it can also be used to grind coffee beans. Please be aware that this one uses blades that chop the beans, so not as good as a burr grinder would be.

What Buyers Say About the ZX595 Coffee Grinder

Below we have summarised what real life buyers make of this grinder. Overall they rate this Wahl model as a 4.4 out of 5 star machine. This is based on a 5 star rating system, with 1 being the lowest rating, and 5 stars being the highest.

I have shown the buyer ratings by a percentage split, which I think you may find useful, to see the ratings at a glance. There are well over 2,000 buyer reviews to go on.

It is pretty easy to see from these ratings, that half of the buyers gave this one the full 5 star rating. 75% rated it a 4 star product or higher. Around 10% were clearly not happy with their purchase. Generally speaking though, the majority of buyers were pleased with their purchase.

What Buyers Didn't Like Abut the James Martin Grinder

If the percentage of 1 star reviews is small, I tend to ignore that, as the complaints are normally pretty small. However at 10% that is significant enough to have a more detailed look. So I did and here is what those buyers had to say.

Like many reviews there were a couple of "strange" ones so I have ignored those. That still left about 90 out of 1,000 one star reviews. Those complaints varied quite a bit as you can imagine. Now personally I would not consider this one for grinding coffee beans, as I have used and thought it did a really poor job.

Many buyers agreed that this model was poor at grinding coffee beans, and preferred something like the Delonghi KG79. Some other buyers thought that this grinder also struggled on some of the harder nuts and spices, such as almond nuts.

Please bear in mind the percentage of complaints is low. As a general purpose kitchen grinder, 75% of buyers thought it did a good job. Buyers who gave this a lower rating did so because it doesn't hold a lot, is poorly designed and also hard to clean. This grinder appears to do the basics, but that is as far as this goes.

Video of the James Martin Electric Coffee Grinder

Before diving off into a detailed review, it is worthwhile finding out what this small powerful grinder can actually do. 

Underneath, you will find a video review of what the capability of this model can in fact do.

So now you know what it does, let's take a closer look at some of the details.

ZX595 Coffee Grinder Specification & Key Features

James Martin ZX595 coffee grinder
  • It uses a stainless steel blade to do the chopping (grinding)
  • Has a 70 gram grinding capacity (2.5 ounces) - enough for about 10 cups of coffee
  • The main grinder is a black and brushed steel colour as you can see in the image
  • The lid has a built-in safety lock that prevents the blades from turning, unless the lid is on and locked - good for the fingers
  • The lid does have a window that you can see through
  • Measures 11 x 11 x 20 cm and weighs around 750 grams
  • Works off the main's supply and has a 150 watt motor
  • The cable does tidy away underneath the bottom of the grinder

James Martin Coffee Grinder Main Review

Overall this is your typical blade grinder that can be used for many common grinding jobs around the kitchen. If you are buying a grinder just for coffee, then I would of course recommend purchasing a burr grinder. If you want a general purpose small and compact grinder, for general kitchen and cooking use, then this does that job.

Ease of Use - like many of this style of grinder, this one is about as easy to use, as you will ever find. Put the food to be ground in the top, lock the lid, and hit one button. Have a look through the lid until you get the grind fineness that way you want it. That is all you have to do.

Cleaning - These blade grinders will grind coffee beans, but this one does not do that particularly well, in my opinion. It is however small and compact, and pretty easy to use. Like many of these blade style grinders, this Wahl grinder is a real pain in the ass to clean. I have used this one many times in the past, and I would not use it for grinding my coffee. It is OK for grinding other things, but not that good on coffee.

In terms of appearance, this one actually looks pretty good. It does have the James Martin brand on it, and that does add a nice touch. Priced at just under £15, this one is also I believe good enough value for money. If you do manage to find it cheaper than that, then you will know you have found yourself a bargain.

James Martin ZX595 features

Who Would Buy this Coffee Grinder?

Thousands of people have bought this small grinder. It is typically used as a general purpose kitchen grinder. A few people have bought this for coffee beans, but the huge majority have bought this one for just general grinding purposes.

Burr grinders for coffee are better than these cheaper blade styles. If you plan on regularly grinding coffee on a fairly regular basis, then it is, in my opinion, worth investing a little more in a burr style grinder.

The people who will buy this one will inevitably use it for a variety of purposes. A lot of people seem to use it for grinding seeds like linseed, pumpkin, sunflower etc. Others use it to grind nuts like almonds and also food additives like cinnamon and nutmeg.

My Summary & Verdict on the James Martin ZX595

inside the james martin coffee grinder

If you don't plan on grinding a lot of coffee, then a blade style grinder like this one will do the job, and the James Martin ZX595, will get the job done.  It seems to be a better buy for anyone who wants a grinder for multi-purposes, such as seeds, grains and beans. It does not appear to do that well with really hard seeds or nuts

These blade grinders are noisy so just be aware of that, especially if you plan on making a quiet cup of coffee in the morning.

This product has an RRP of around £15. 75% of buyers are very happy with their purchase. So bearing those two things in mind, it is well reviewed and affordable. If you are someone who wants to grind some coffee beans from time to time, then this will do that. If this is not the one for you, then check our top 10 list of blade grinders here.

The results will not be perfect, but they will be good enough. As a general purpose grinder for using in the kitchen, this one does a much better job.

Enda McLarnon


Enda McLarnon has a Business Management Honour's Degree and applies his professional insight, to analyse and write helpful product reviews with tips and useful advice. I am also a coffee lover and enjoy tasting all of the coffee types the world has to offer.

Enda McLarnon

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