Timemore Chestnut x Coffee Grinder: Black

Not for travel (though it may find its way into camping gear), but to make it easy to brew pourover without the gazillion turns it may take to adjust your commercial grinder that is set for espresso.The Chestnut X is finely crafted and the precision comes through in its heft and operation. Lightly-roasted beans may take a bit more elbow grease to grind through, but 25 grams of medium roast Equator ‘Jaguar blend’ coffee took about 45 seconds.I did notice that it is important to give the grinder a tap or a shake to ensure that every bean feeds through the burrs. I believe this is an artifact of my using RDT (a small spray of water) to control static, a practice worth it since it totally eliminates chaff/grinds sticking to the bottom of the grinder feed.Timemore ... MoreNot for travel (though it may find its way into camping gear), but to make it easy to brew pourover without the gazillion turns it may take to adjust your commercial grinder that is set for espresso.The Chestnut X is finely crafted and the precision comes through in its heft and operation. Lightly-roasted beans may take a bit more elbow grease to grind through, but 25 grams of medium roast Equator ‘Jaguar blend’ coffee took about 45 seconds.I did notice that it is important to give the grinder a tap or a shake to ensure that every bean feeds through the burrs. I believe this is an artifact of my using RDT (a small spray of water) to control static, a practice worth it since it totally eliminates chaff/grinds sticking to the bottom of the grinder feed.Timemore extols that the Chextnux X S2C burr set tends to separate chaff out at a larger size so that, in theory, it could be filtered out using a Kruve or fine-mesh sieve. But who wants to do that? No one. No one wants to do that. Thus, I conclude that using the Chestnut X for pourover, wherein the large-ish chaff remains, is probably far preferable than using this grinder for espresso — which it can certainly achieve, but with large bits of chaff in the grind, which is no bueno.It’s such an interesting artifact I wonder whether Timemore has considered making burr replacement for a more time-tested set possible.Nonetheless, this grinder in this household is for pourovers. And in that duty it is a pleasure to use, finely crafted, and produces coffee grounds (ex the chaff) that are decently consistent, with only a few “boulders” showing up. The cups produced with the recipe I prefer turned out great, and can be reliably repeated even in the groggy morning hours.

I'm so impressed with this grinder. I did a ton of research before purchasing and was worried because it seemed that every high-end hand-grinder would require compromise in some area. The Chestnut X seems to be the exception here. Everything about it is perfect. The build quality is so good. The grind is so even. The adjustable grind gives so much control. The grind is relatively quick. The foldable handle is almost perfect (would love a smoother feel when collapsing). The only thing I think could be improved is the thread design on the ground coffee reservoir. It's a bit tight and feels a little too finicky. I worry about cross-threading with the current design. The little tactile click to signal a complete twist is so satisfying! While this is pricey, I'm thrilled ... MoreI'm so impressed with this grinder. I did a ton of research before purchasing and was worried because it seemed that every high-end hand-grinder would require compromise in some area. The Chestnut X seems to be the exception here. Everything about it is perfect. The build quality is so good. The grind is so even. The adjustable grind gives so much control. The grind is relatively quick. The foldable handle is almost perfect (would love a smoother feel when collapsing). The only thing I think could be improved is the thread design on the ground coffee reservoir. It's a bit tight and feels a little too finicky. I worry about cross-threading with the current design. The little tactile click to signal a complete twist is so satisfying! While this is pricey, I'm thrilled with my purchase.

I have used Chestnut X for a month now and man it is amazing. The Grind distribution quality is somewhere between Comandante C40 and other Timemore grinders. I love the foldable handle, Micro adjustment wheel and the build quality. there are some downsides though, the grinder is unstable with the handle open, Also the grind catch jar is a little bit jiggly and produces an awkward noise while grinding.