Timemore Slim Plus Review

Whether you’re heading to a hotel for a business trip or setting off to the mountains for a weekend, a great cup of coffee is necessary. Coffee is a meditative experience and a little slice of tranquility. And you need it with you all the time.

But in packing all your clothes, technology, or camping gear, the last thing you need to worry about is where to pack your coffee grinder. With an aluminium alloy body, high-quality burrs, and a sleek build, the Timemore Slim Plus is the perfect choice for your next travel-sized coffee grinder. Keep reading to find out why.

Summary: Timemore Slim Plus

• 25g capacity
  
• 38mm E&B CNC precision-ground conical burrs with spiked cutting edge
  
• Suitable for both espresso and pour-over

I thought it would be a chore to use this thing but I have to say it is an absolute joy…The operation is so smooth, it grinds fast and the grind uniformity is excellent. (1)

– Michael L. Customer

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Timemore Slim Plus Review

Timemore Slim Plus is one of the best hand-operated coffee grinders on the market. Established in 2012, TIMEMORE is a Shanghai-based coffee and tea company that strives to craft beautiful, premium coffee and tea tools (2).

In short, Timemore’s goal is to create coffee and tea products that blur the line between an artistic masterpiece and precision-engineered, well-calibrated tools for the serious coffee connoisseur.

And this coffee grinder is no exception. With a re-designed slimmer profile, the Timemore Slim Plus is sleek, and compact and boasts brand-new E&B conical burrs. But do these re-engineered stainless steel, conical burrs live up to the hype? 

Read on to find out.

Timemore Slim Plus Review

• Grind Consistency
• Build Quality
• Burr Quality
• Portability/Capacity
• Price

4.6

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Timemore Chestnut Slim vs. Timemore Slim Plus

Two Timemore coffee grinder models are strikingly similar: the Chestnut Slim and the Slim Plus.

The Slim Plus and Chestnut Slim C2 Manual coffee grinders hold 25 grams of coffee, feature walnut pommels, and are constructed with aluminium alloy and stainless steel interior components. But, their burrs are slightly different. The Chestnut slim grinds coffee with 38 mm titanium-coated steel conical burrs, while the Slim Plus uses 38 mm stainless steel conical burrs. What’s the difference? While the Chestnut Slim’s titanium-coated conical burrs do well at grinding coffee beans for espresso, the Slim Plus’s brand-new E&B burs are engineered to do equally well.

If you’re looking for a great, all-around manual grinder for your Moka pot and cold brew concentrate, keep reading to find out whether Timemore’s Slim Plus is the perfect manual coffee grinder for you.

Grind Consistency: 4/5

Before the release of the Slim Plus, Timemore manufactured two burr sets: titanium-coated burrs for espresso and stainless steel burs for filter coffee. While both burr sets had some overlap, Timemore’s titanium-coated burrs tended to produce more fines, making them more suitable for espresso and less for pour-overs and French press.

With this set of upgraded espresso and brew (E&B burrs), grind consistency was good across the board. Nevertheless, the Slim Plus produced more boulders than fines.

Build Quality: 5/5

Like Timemore’s other coffee grinders, the Slim Plus features the same textured body. This knurling on the aluminium alloy body’s surface makes it much more comfortable to grip. Also, the crank arm moves smoothly through each revolution, while the chestnut pommel fits nicely in the palm.

An additional benefit of the textured body is that it provides stability for the dual bearings and axle. So there is virtually no play in the manufactured stainless steel burrs as they’re grinding the beans. Lastly, the struts on the axle are placed very low in the hopper, which makes it easy to dose in coffee beans without the struts getting in the way.

Cleaning this small and compact grinder is easy with the included brush. Use it to sweep away debris from the adjustment dial when necessary gently.

For more thorough cleaning, turn the dial clockwise until the whole adjustment dial, inner and outer bur, center spindle, and washer come loose. Wash these parts by hand in warm water and mild detergent. Then, thoroughly dry everything before reassembling the grinder.

Burr Quality: 4/5

In designing the Slim Plus, Timemore returned to the drawing board to create a set of burrs that would grind both espresso and brew coffee equally well.

While Timemore’s previous conical burr sets looked like ordinary, stainless steel burrs, these new E&B burrs are spiked. So instead of merely crushing the beans into an increasingly finer grind, these spikes break the beans apart before crushing them. Also, they allow the ground beans to feed better into the burrs, which gives you a better grind at the finer end of the spectrum (3).

While it’s a marked improvement over the older stainless steel and titanium-coated burrs, it’s still tricky to dial in the perfect grind. The Timemore Slim Plus uses a stepped grind adjustment system to lock in the grind size using tactile clicks.

After turning the dial counterclockwise to zero, the user counts clockwise clicks to dial in the grind. According to the manual, eight clicks from zero are best for espresso, 15 are ideal for pour-overs and drip, and 18 and above are ideal for French press and cold brew.

While these clicks are a convenient way to rapidly switch between brewing methods, the distances between each aren’t fine enough to dial in a proper espresso grind. So in lieu of settling for a less-than-optimal shot, you can dial in your espresso shot by adjusting the dose.

But what it lacks in granularity control, it makes up for in grind speed. These upgrade burrs are great for manually grinding coffee quickly, at nearly a gram a second, making this one of the best manual coffee grinders we’ve reviewed.

And if you have another Timemore grinder—such as the C2 Slim or Nano—this set of E&B burrs fits the interior, too. You can reap all the benefits of these upgraded burrs without wasting money on an additional grinder.

Portability/Capacity: 5/5

The Timemore Slim Plus is compact enough to fit inside the Aeropress once the crank arm and magnetic pommel are removed.

Despite its slim diameter, it can hold 25 grams of light-roast coffee beans. Because light-roasted beans tend to have more mass, you may be able to fit more than that if you brew darker roasts.

While it’ll take you more than one full grind to make enough coffee for a 1-litre French press, the 25-gram capacity is more than enough for a concentrated Aeropress brew.

Lastly, the catch cup screws on securely, and the threads seem well-manufactured and fit well.

Price: 5/5

For its price, the Timemore Slim Plus provides excellent value for the coffee connoisseur who’s ready to level up their coffee game. Its Compact size is great for travellers or those with limited counter space, but its E&B burrs provide a consistent granularity across multiple brewing methods.

Don’t Buy the Timemore Slim Plus If…

• You need a large grinder: The Timemore Slim Plus has a 25-gram capacity, just enough to pull a double shot of espresso or make one cup of Aeropress coffee. Other manual grinders, like the Comandante coffee grinder, have a much larger 40-gram capacity, which is perfect if you’re making coffee for yourself and a guest.
• You want to make espresso: The Timemore Slim Plus uses a stepped grind adjustment system. This means that the distance between each click determines your grind size. While pour-overs and other filter brew methods give you more leeway in grind uniformity, espresso is precise, requiring fine adjustments to pull the perfect shot. For finer adjustments, you’ll need a stepless adjustment system, like the one in Skerton Pro. Because the adjustments are stepless, you can fully control the size of each grind. Plus, the 100g capacity is excellent when you can sweeten a business deal with a shot or two of fresh-pulled espresso.  Or if you prefer a light one, then the C3 would make a better choice for an espresso lover like you. Read our Timemore C3 review to learn more.
• You want to make Turkish coffee: Though the Slim Plus’ E&B burrs handle different grind sizes reasonably well across medium-fine and coarser grinds, the E&B burrs leave too many boulders for a uniform Turkish grind. For Turkish coffee, a manual grinder with a stepless adjustment system, like the Orphan Espresso Lido 3, yields a more uniform grind on the finer end of the spectrum.

The Verdict

Timemore Slim Plus is an excellent manual coffee grinder. It’s a great price for the value, the upgraded E&B burrs yield a relatively consistent grind, and its sleek size fits neatly into your standard Aeropress. What more do you need for great coffee on your trip?

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