- TIMEMORE Sculptor 078S Flat Burr Coffee Bean Grinder, Electric Espresso Grinder with Stepless Coarseness Adjustment, Suitable for Espresso, Pour over, French Press, Cold Brew - Black

This has got to be one of the most often reviewed coffee grinders on YouTube, so I’m not going to recap any of the features that have already been covered ad nauseam in that space. I’ve been using a Breville smart grinder and later smart grinder Pro for the past few years and that’s been a fine entry level grinder for the time being. The 078S represents a significant step up in terms of both price and quality. There’s been a lot of talk around this grinder about needing to “season” the burrs with as much as seven kilos of cheap coffee (if there is such a thing these days), before the grinder reveals its true performance. I’ve gotta say right out of the box, this grinder makes markedly better coffee than I was able to make with my Breville smart grinder. Also given the state and trajectory of the coffee industry, the idea of wasting 7 kg of coffee just to get the full benefit out of it seems pretty absurd. I put a light geisha roast through it recently and it made an absolutely exquisite cup. Maybe my plebeian pallet just isn’t worthy, but I’m also not afraid to tell the emperor that he’s not wearing any clothes. Or maybe once I get into that 7 kg mark I’ll notice that my coffee is at a whole new level, which I never even imagined and then I’ll have to eat my words. But until then I’m still enjoying the coffee that comes out. I’ve not had any issues with beans sticking in the hopper. I’ve also not had any issues with retention, but then I’m also not searching to the hundredth of a gram level (because it doesn’t actually matter!). I’ve also found none of the complaints about the power button to be merited. It’s solid. I also don’t care about the speed knob being in the back. I’d actually rather prefer it there, out of sight and out of the way. It’s a beautiful grinder and the knob would just detract from that. You’re not going to be messing with it every day anyways. I like taking things apart to see how they work. I also wanted to see if the burrs needed any re-aligning out of the box, which they didn’t. It’s worth mentioning that there is a tamper seal over one of the screws needed to take out the outer burr carrier, so if you are thinking of buying this grinder with the possibility of changing or upgrading the burr later, you should know that it’s very likely that you will be voiding the warranty once you break this seal. To further confuse the issue, Timemore has released a video on YouTube about how to reassemble the burr carrier group. While appreciated, it certainly sends a mixed message about whether you should or shouldn’t open your grinder up. Upon opening mine, I observed that two of the Delrin keys shown in the video, which are used for indexing the outer burr carrier were not present on my own model. I contacted Timemore because I was concerned that these parts were forgotten during the build of my grinder. Timemore responded within 24 hours and informed me that those parts are no longer included or necessary for proper function of the grinder. Props to them for their quick and useful response and for not asking my serial number so they can blacklist my grinder for future warranty claims. I’m not thrilled about buying anything designed and manufactured in China for a number of reasons, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the construction and thoughtfulness of design. Overall, I’m happy with my purchase which at the time was $600. I expect to get many years of service out of this grinder. Updated to add one important caveat: There’s a lot of videos out there, encouraging you to check burr alignment on your flat burr grinders whatever model it might be. I would not advise undertaking on that process on this grinder because in order to find where those contact points are, you’re essentially pushing the burrs together until, the flat spots around the outer diameter of the burrs begin to make contact. That ever happened with my grinder. I found that the initial point of contact between the burrs was at the sharper points of the teeth. Although it was circumferentially equal and not requiring re-alignment, just the action of touching the teeth at their sharpest points is inherently going to dull the cutting edge of those teeth a little bit. Especially when it isn’t possible to manually turn the shaft.

Considering the price of this grinder, I’m assuming you’ve already done your homework and are looking for honest feedback from real users rather than social media influencers. Here are some practical notes in no particular order: - If you try "seasoning" the grinder by grinding a few bags of inexpensive coffee beans, it's likely going to create a giant mess with grounds everywhere since you'll likely be catching the grounds in something other than the small included dosing cup. So place the grinder in a location where making a bit of a mess will be okay and keep your vacuum nearby to clean up as you go. While I did season mine, I'd recommend skipping this if you don't have the highly exquisite palate all of the social media influencers claim to have. - As for cleaning the grinder, it's pretty mess-free. A lot of fines collect in the hopper over time (due to static perhaps) and will collect where the ground coffee is extracted. To include the fines in your ground coffee, turn the knocker several times (I turn it five times) and nearly all of the fines/debris fall out. And this could be used to your benefit if you're trying to keep more fines out of your ground coffee. You can go back later and knock the fines out when you're cleaning up. - To keep the grinder clean, I take a wet paper towel and run it around the base of the knocker and along the bottom if any grounds have fallen there. This is simply to keep it clean and ready to use for my next grind. - I tried several types of beans so far and have no trouble getting the beans to slide down the hopper and into the grinder. If you're using beans that are wet/oily (like some very dark espresso beans), then I could see how this might be an issue. Then again, I don't recommend anyone place any kind of wet/oily beans into this grinder (or any electric grinder) as it will likely create a lot of retention and lead to the stories other low-star reviewers left here about the grinder being too hard to clean. - The workflow is simple and easy. Tap the power button to start the grinder, slide the hopper cover half-way back, pour in the beans, slide the hopper cover closed, and let the grinder run until it auto shuts off after 60 seconds. Running the full 60 seconds will ensure all of the beans are ground, as you'll sometimes hear a bean or two grind up several seconds after the bulk of the beans have been ground. Once the grinder stops, turn the knocker several times and you're done. - Depending on where you live, you might find static inside of the dosing cup causes some grounds to stick to the sides of the dosing cup. After grinding, I take my WDT tool and swirl it around the inside of the dosing cup a few times and that frees up most all of the stuck grounds. And then you can do that once more, or tap the bottom of the dosing cup if you still find some grounds are sticking after dumping out the ground coffee. - I doubt a zero-retention coffee grinder exists. With that said, this grinder produces a consistent output and I don't see much of any retention in the locations I can see with my eyes, assuming you're using the knocker to clear out the fines after grinding. - While the 064 probably has enough power to do the job, I decided to buy the 078 instead since I was already spending a large amount of money on a grinder. I figured there's no harm in going with the more powerful model, just in case. I cannot comment on whether one or the other makes tastier espresso (or whatever you drink), and I doubt the average person would be able to tell even if they had both models side-by-side. - Everything on this grinder seems really well-built. A lot of people complain about the sub-par quality of the power button on the side and the hopper on the top. Neither seem low quality to me. - The RPM dial is impossible to see on the back of the grinder, but it's another non-issue unless you find yourself needing to constantly adjust it, which seems like a highly unlikely workflow. I set the RPM to 1,000 and never touched it again. - It is indeed tough to line up the red marker with the tick marks on the front of the grinder. With that said, I doubt you'll be using the exact same dial position even when purchasing the same bag of coffee beans again. Every bag of coffee beans is a bit different, so you will likely have to make fine adjustments to the dial after opening each new bag of beans. Assuming this is what you're going to be doing too, you will quickly find this ease of lining up the red marker isn't really important in the grand scheme of things. You just need to be close and then start making fine adjustments to the dial, at which point I'm not even looking at the red marker. - I think it's kind of comical that one reviewer here was emailing China and waiting a week for each reply. This grinder is so well known that there's a wealth of tutorials and reviews online that explain everything clearly. If you've watched any YouTube reviews about it, you should know how everything works before it even gets to your doorstep. Overall, the grinder is well-built, easy to use, and produces consistent results with a straightforward workflow. I feel the price is worth the investment and expect it to last for many years.

AMAZING I have to grind coffee at 5am and I’m basically sleepwalking. It’s SO SO quiet compared to other grinders I’ve had. The magnent that pulls the cup in place helps me not make a mess that early in the morning too. The grind is so easy to dile in and get a great tasting espresso when changing between beans as well. I’ve had it for a few months now. Easy to clean. No matinence has been required.

Edit update: I was eventually contacted by Timemore support and given a complete refund. I want to think of Timemore as providing a premium product and it is good to see them stand behind their product completely. I wish the support experience had been quicker. I will wait and see when the version 2 comes out. Original: [I have had my grinder for 8 months and it no longer functions. I have received no response from Timemore support and have heard from several others on Reddit with similar experience. Please do not let this happen to you.]

I waited about six months to make sure I had used the product enough to provide an informed opinion. I used it every day to prepare 5-8 shots of espresso each day. First the looks and build quality. Solid in every aspect; the grinder looks feels and sounds beautiful. It is sturdy so I expect many years of good use. Performance is very consistent and variations arise from the coffee beans rather than the grinder itself. Settings are accurate and slight changes are quickly reflected in the extraction time, flow, and the flavor in the cup. The grinding speed is consistent, smooth and fast; it takes about 15-20 seconds to grind 16-21 grams of coffee. The grinding profile highlights the sweetness and body of your coffee; this was an important feature for me so here the grinder has shinning 5 stars. Retention is close to zero and requires minimal maintenance. Static is there (all electric grinders produce static as a byproduct of friction and speed). a little tap on the dosing cup against the counter may be needed every now and then to empty up the fines. Cons. The grinding does produce some popcorning when you have a hot start or when you do not fully close the lid. This was not a biggie for me as it is low and occasional. The pitch of the feeder is on the flat side (I would say 25-30 degrees), this causes that some oily blends, (or when I spray the beans) not to slide down the grinder chute, requiring a little push.

Had some good results initially, ran into some issues with the grinder, but customer support was helpful in sorting them out

I'm surprised this grinder receives so much praise. The workflow is not good. Popcorning is terrible, and a significant amount of partially ground beans will remain in the hopper on each grind, requiring you to brush them into the grinder with the included brush and rerun. Its not recommended to cold start, as it takes quite a while for the grinder to get up to the set rpm. Beyond that though the grinder is just impossible to dial in. My last straw was a shot that was relatively choked up. I increased the grind size only to have the shot choke MORE. I did a lot of research before pulling the trigger on the 078s. And yes, I've run several pounds of beans through the grinder for "seasoning". I'll be returning this item. For 800$ the experience is unacceptable. I'll continue with my breville smart grinder until I find something that suits me

Chose this after watching lots of YouTube videos, getting away from my cheap Oxo. I like it! Grind adjustment is smooth, the magnetic cup holder for the grind cup is super nice to have, the click-to-clear wheel is cool and I use it every time. Retention is definitely happening for me, but I'm not doing WDT and maybe the air where I live is worse for it? Nothing crazy.