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Timemore Grinder Go Review

timemore grinder go

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Until the Timemore cordless Grinder Go joined the ranks of my portable coffee equipment, I only ever used a manual coffee grinder. As someone who is frequently traveling and moving countries quite often, investing in a bulky, heavy electric grinder to save a few minutes in the morning just didn’t make a lot of sense. But now that I do get to enjoy the advantages of a motor powered grinder at the push of a button without adding a lot of extra weight to my luggage, I don’t want to miss it anymore. Especially when conducting brewing or tasting workshops for hobby brewers, or when brewing coffee in a social setting, the Grinder Go has proven its worth. In this review of the Timemore Grinder Go I will dive deep and thoroughly investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the battery-operated and cordless grinder. In this article we’ll determine whether Grinder Go is as effective as Timemore’s hand grinders and help you decide whether it is the right fit for you.

The Best Portable Cordless Grinder

The cordless Timemore Grinder Go was launched in June 2021 and packs the same 38mm stainless steel E&B burrs found in some of the Timemore hand grinders. Timemore has actually released two portable battery-powered coffee grinders  the Grinder Go and the 123 Go. The latter is a 3-in-1 portable coffee brewer that features a filter in addition to the grinder.

Timemore Grinder Go – Design

timemore grinder go

The Grinder Go stays true to Timemore’s simple brand aesthetics. The upper part of the device is made of ABS plastic and has a matte black appearance. A simple golden button in the front will turn the device on and off when gently pressed. Just underneath a type-c USB connector is located for charging. The grinder includes a sizable bean hopper on top with a capacity of 60 to 80 grams, depending on the size of your beans. The hopper’s opening is also rather large, measuring 86 mm, so adding the coffee beans goes smoothly. One drawback is that the Grinder Go is not your ideal hiking companion, due to the rather bulky body, which is needed to house the electric parts. While I love to take the Grinder Go on trips and easily store it in my hand luggage, for outdoor activities I stick to my Comandante grinder.

The lower body of the Grinder Go serves as the grind catcher and is made of glass. Upon unscrewing it, you will find the dial knob for grind adjustments attached to the upper body. Marks for setting recommendations are located here, making it easy to adjust your grind size depending on your brewing method. As the grinder is supposed to be fit for travel, plastic was an obvious choice for the producers to ensure it is a lightweight. While that means the feel is not high end, we appreciate the focus on portability and sturdiness. Nevertheless, its weight of 660 g still exceeds that of many manual grinders, something to keep in mind if you have limited space in your luggage.

It goes without saying that this electric grinder does not require a wire nor a nearby plug to function as it is battery-powered. It comes with a well-made case that is very practical for travel, a brush and USB charging cable. Everything you may need related to grinding on the go fits perfectly into the travel case.

Timemore Grinder Go – Burrs

Timemore’s unique titanium coated E&B conical burrs, the same found in manual grinders such as Slim Plus, Nano Plus, and G1, were also utilized in the Grinder Go. The 38mm Spike to Cut burrs are razor-sharp and designed to spike large size beans and then cut the large particles. Crushing is minimized while cutting is maximized. As a result, the Grinder Go offers consistent grind efficiency for an affordable price. The motor is designed in a way that it rotates back and forth several times to release any coffee beans trapped in the burrs. After then, it comes to a stop to protect it from overuse.

Timemore Grinder Go – Grind Settings

timemore grinder go

The Grinder Go is not exactly an overachiever when it comes to grind settings. Keeping it simple and sticking to the basics is its mantra. You can choose between approximately 40 settings with 80 microns between them. To be frank, you’ll likely be using only the first 2-12 settings (clicks) and even on the finer end it won’t produce satisfying grounds needed for a properly extracted espresso. If you’re searching for an espresso grinder, I recommend investing in a dedicated grinder, such as the Eureka Mignon Specialita. But thankfully there are plenty of settings available for a variety of other brewing methods. Fine tuning your grinds will be harder with this grinder, as the adjustment steps are too big. Therefore, the grinder is ideal if you tend to use the same brewer and grind setting over and over again. 

Moka pot and espresso-like AeroPress coffee: 2 to 5 clicks
Pour-over and drip coffee: 6 to 10 clicks
Cold brew and french press: 9 to 12 clicks

Take into account that finer grinds take a bit longer than coarser grinds.

Timemore Grinder Go – Battery Life

The Grinder Go packs two build-in 800mAh Lithium-ion batteries and can grind 20 servings of coffee, around 15 grams, at a full charge. Once the batteries are running low, the power button will flash a red light instead of the usual white light during grinding to remind you it needs charging soon. But even when the red light starts going off, I usually still manage to grind at least five more servings.  It takes about 30 seconds to grind 15 grams medium coarse, depending on the density of the beans. You can grind up to 60 grams at once and up to 400 grams on one full battery charge.

Expecting the battery-powered grinder to function as swiftly as an electric grinder would be asking too much. Especially considering, it only has 80 RPM compared to the 350 RPM a standard electric grinder achieves. Nevertheless, it gets the job done fairly quickly. Charging the grinder fully takes around two hours to complete. While it is charging, the light on the power button is flashing. It goes solid when fully charged.

Timemore Grinder Go – How to use

timemore grinder go

Using the Timemore Grinder Go is pretty straightforward. Open the lid on top of the upper body, fill it with the desired amount of coffee beans, put the lid back on and push the golden button. The motor will do the work for you and turn off automatically once the last bean has been crushed. In the meantime you can prepare your water and set up your brewer. I found the grind catcher to be a bit awkward, especially when pouring the grinds into my AeroPress. I always make a mess. Some folks suggested to try grinding directly into the filter or brewer, only if the opening is big enough though. I could see it work with a Chemex but this doesn’t apply to AeroPress.

Timemore Grinder Go – Final Verdict

What’s to like:

  • Smart, simplistic design
  • Great solution for limited counter space
  • Easy to use
  • Portability
  • Saves time, interesting solution for office environment as well
  • Consistent grind quality from fine to medium coarse

What’s not to like:

  • A bit too bulky to take on outdoor adventures
  • Not suitable for espresso
  • Not ideal for fine tuning grinds due to 80 micron steps
  • Less uniformity in coarser grinds
  • Pouring grinds from the glass is a messy affair due to its wide opening

The Bottom Line
I find the Timemore Grinder Go to be good value for money and a great tool for perpetual travelers or people with limited counter space in their kitchens who seek the convenience of an electric coffee grinder. I can see it being used in office environments as well because who has the luxury of time for hand grinding between calls and meetings? Another great use case are social settings, when hand grinding would just take up too much of quality time with friends or family, but you won’t back down on brewing coffee using freshly ground beans (Good for you!). Fine tuning your grind and espresso brewing are a no go, but you’ll be able to see good results for brewers such as AeroPress, V60 or Chemex. The protective case and cleaning brush are neat add ons that will fit in any hand luggage. If you’re having difficulty deciding between a manual or electric coffee grinder, my blog article weighing the advantages and disadvantages of manual grinders vs electric grinders will assist you in making an informed choice.

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