Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

A Look at Digital Coffee Future’s Digital Origin Education Program

The new program connects coffee producers to one another, provides them with educational resources, and more. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of the Cocaerol, Comal & Amprocal cooperatives in Honduras Since 2021, Digital Coffee Future (DCF) has been working on a digital training program to address the needs of coffee producers. In September […]


Playing Leaderboard, the Arcade-Inspired Coffee Game

We sat down to try the newest version of the game—a fun opportunity to learn more about coffee while vying for cool coffee prizes.  BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos by Tanya Nanetti I’ve never been much into video games, except for the classic arcade games of my youth.   Growing up in the ‘80s meant […]


Get Ready for The Barista League’s 2024 Season

The Barista League has announced 12 competitions across four continents. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of The Barista League When The Barista League announces new events, it’s worth paying attention! This year, the schedule will be organized by geographic location, bringing together coffee people in various communities. At The Barista League in […]


Florencia y Fortunata: A Café Empowering Women in Peru

The Cusco café, founded by Carolina Peralta Minaya, sells coffee from women producers and features women demonstrating their skills behind the bar. BY JORDAN BUCHANANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of Carolina Peralta Minaya Traceability, sustainability, and conscientiousness are key values pervading the specialty-coffee trade. For many consumers and traders, these values inform their decision to […]

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

Book Review: From Nerd to Pro, by Patrik Rolf

From Nerd to Pro: A Coffee Journey is an autobiography by roaster, café operator, and coffee competitor Patrik Rolf sharing his coffee journey. BY TANYA NANETTI SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Featured photo by Tanya Nanetti I’ve read plenty of books on coffee over the years: manuals on how to brew great coffee at home, books on […]


The Slingshot Chalice Puts a New Spin on Espresso Dosing

Hong Kong and Australia-based coffee equipment maker Slingshot Technology recently launched the Chalice Distributor Cup, a multipurpose espresso preparation tool for baristas. Displayed in its final production form at the…


Weekly Coffee News: Grounds for Health Week + Iconic SF Shop Closes

Welcome to DCN’s Weekly Coffee News. Keep up with all the latest coffee industry stories and career opportunities by subscribing to DCN’s newsletter. Tell our editors about your news here. Registration Opens for Inaugural…


3 Noteworthy Cafés in the Borough of Brooklyn, N.Y.

We explore three standout Brooklyn cafés: drip, BKG, and Coffee Project New York. BY EMILY MENESES BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Cover photo by Nelson Ndongala via Unsplash Whether you’re a New York local or planning your next NYC trip, you won’t want to miss out on Brooklyn’s vibrant (and constantly evolving) coffee scene. Today, we’re exploring […]

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

U.S. Coffee Championships 2023 Baltimore Qualifiers Results

More than 100 competitors brought their talent to Baltimore to take part in six competitions, and 63 will progress to nationals in April. BY NATE KLOCKBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos by Matthew Temple courtesy of the U.S. Coffee Championships Last weekend, my hometown welcomed the U.S. Coffee Championships (USCC) qualifiers with the charm only Baltimore could […]


Toronto’s Pilot Coffee Roasters Acquiring Bridgehead Coffee for $3.6 Million

Toronto, Ontario-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer Pilot Coffee Roasters is acquiring Ottawa-based Bridgehead Coffee in a deal worth approximately US$3.6 million.  Bridgehead, which has 21 coffee shop locations throughout…


Know Your Sweeteners: Honey: Part One

Not all sweeteners are made equal! In this series, we’ll take a closer look at different types of sweeteners and syrups—starting with honey. BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo by Arwin Neil Baichoo via Unsplash Though you can’t go wrong with simple syrup or the tried-and-true vanilla, there are many options when it […]


Study Shines New Light on the Complex Arabica Coffee Genome

Researchers in Italy say they’ve shed new light on arabica coffee’s large and complex genome, which may ultimately help breeders seeking desirable traits such as high quality and disease resistance….

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

A couple of weeks ago I got the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro, which has been my first real enthusiast grinder (I had a Hario ceramic burr grinder before, which was kind of a PITA). I've been playing around a lot with different grind settings and really dialing in some great V60 as well as Switch recipes. The grinder steps (of which there are 20~ really usable ones) are generally quite good and I don't feel like stepless adjustments are really necessary for anything other than (probably) espresso. That being said, the design of the grinder got me thinking that there's no reason you couldn't make it "stepless". After an afternoon's worth of experimentation, I figured out that you indeed can use it as a stepless grinder pretty reliably without any modifications and the results you get are just as good as when you use the steps. Because of the solid tension in the spring it will hold its setting even when it isn't in a groove.

For anyone who wants to get a really high quality hand grinder with fine adjustment capabilities, I'd argue that this grinder is pretty tough to beat at around 100€.

TLDR: To get a "half step" (or really any step in between two grooves), you go two steps above your desired grind size. For example, if you want to hit 7.5 (which is in between the recommended 7-8 clicks for espresso), you would actually set it to 9.5.

The test results:

Stepless Espresso grinds mixed with stepped ones, sorted by my estimate of smallest to biggest grind

Video of the same grinds, espresso-ish sizes only

Video showing some more dramatic differences

Based on my estimate that stepless settings need to be +2 to be equivalent to stepped, I compared 15.75 to 14. They seem pretty close, with 15.75 being ever so slightly smaller.

Why it works that way:

It's pretty simple, really. From top to bottom of the shaft, the grinder works as follows:

  1. lid / handle
  2. main part of the shaft
  3. washer
  4. spring
  5. burr
  6. another washer that is designed to align the burr and make sure it doesn't move
  7. the nut which also serves as the grind step adjuster

If you ignore the grind steps, there's absolutely no reason the nut shouldn't be stepless. It's no different than any other nut/bolt combo. That being said, due to the fact that the locking into a grind step results in a slight depression (=coarser), any stepless adjustment in between two steps is going to push the two burrs together ever so slightly which makes a great deal of difference for the end result. Video demonstration. That's why you have to compensate a little bit to really catch those in-between settings.

Disclaimers:

  • I would not recommend doing any in-between steps lower than 8. At that point you're getting dangerously close to having the burrs come into contact with each other which is probably bad. It's a free world though, so if you want that cronchy sound and the blissful feeling of destroying your valuable possessions then go for it I guess.

  • Adding on to that last point, before grinding at any half steps I would recommend testing the setting without any beans and listening for any signs of contact. You shouldn't hear anything.

  • From grind to grind, the stepless adjustments held in place supremely well. As far as I could tell it never once shifted on its own. If you were to set it and forget it though it might slip over time. This isn't really limited to quarter step increments either, I was able to cover basically the entire spectrum and even get very close to a step before it would lock in place. But showing 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, etc. doesn't make for much excitement.

  • I have only tested this for the C3 Pro and I can't say whether this works on other Timemore grinders. The burrs on my grinder are very well lined up and have basically no wobble/give which makes this possible. YMMV.

submitted by /u/WePrezidentNow
[link] [comments]

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Making the Timemore Chestnut C3 Pro Stepless without Mods

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0