I am a Timemore fan. Quietly, they have joined the coffee ancillary market, filling a niche (no other grinder pun intended). I have taken Timemore scales and handgrinders around the world with me, and they are well-built, reliable and affordable. If you aren’t aware, the coffee equipment market has different levels of quality. For example, I have trialled hand grinders at a fraction of the cost of the Timemore CS3 that have failed, and $30 here and $20 all add up.
What is “relatively” new with the CS3? You still get the solid feel and good looks that were so good with the CS2. The CS3 openly suggests this is a hand grinder for espresso and filter. This is bold in some respects, if you are not grinding charcoal. Cheap grinders don’t last long when grinding lighter roast coffees like ours, apparently! The CS3 has that lovely folding arm and takes little room. This fits into my bag really easily, along with my foldable V60. If I am going away, I don’t always have a 3-pin plug to bring the XBloom!
Selfishly, I have experienced a few hand grinder failures this year, when travelling, and these weren’t Timemore! The manufacturers won’t be named here. In the current market, I want something dependable that doesn’t have to cost the earth. This goes for grinders, too. The only tiny niggle I have is that to bring equipment like this to market, it often goes through various hands, and this inevitably increases the cost. It is still more affordable than other brands on a like-for-like basis.
Am I taking this on my next trip? Being me, I will have this as the one I know that works, and take another prototype of something else, because I am always exploring.
I love dependable coffee-making equipment, don’t you?
