The TIMEMORE S5 Pro is one of the most ambitious hand grinders TIMEMORE has released so far.
At first glance, it might look like a bigger and more premium version of the popular Chestnut S3. But the biggest change is actually hidden inside: a completely new 48mm Tri-Break conical burr designed to grind faster, create a more controlled particle distribution and make espresso much more practical than it was on the S3.
I’ve been testing the TIMEMORE S5 Pro with both pour-over coffee and espresso, comparing it directly with the S3 and paying particular attention to grind quality, workflow, adjustment and, most importantly, what ends up in the cup.
So, is the S5 Pro simply a bigger S3, or is this a genuinely meaningful upgrade?
Let’s take a closer look.
TIMEMORE S5 Pro Specs
Before getting into the actual review, here are the most important specifications:
- Burr: 48mm stainless-steel Tri-Break conical burr
- Grind adjustment: External
- Grind settings: 90 clicks
- Adjustment: 15 microns per click
- Capacity: 30g
- Weight: 910g
- Handle: 185mm folding handle
- Materials: Aluminium alloy, stainless steel and silicone
- Suitable for: Pour-over, filter coffee and espresso
The numbers already tell you something important about this grinder: the S5 Pro is not really designed to be an ultra-light travel grinder.
At 910 grams, it is substantial.
And that becomes even more obvious as soon as you pick it up.
Design and Build Quality
The TIMEMORE S5 Pro feels like a flagship hand grinder.
The combination of aluminium and stainless steel gives it a very solid, dense feeling, and overall construction feels excellent.
The body is relatively wide compared with smaller hand grinders, which isn’t particularly surprising considering TIMEMORE somehow had to fit a 48mm burr inside.
Personally, I find the grip slightly wide but still very comfortable. People with particularly small hands might feel differently, though, so that’s something worth keeping in mind.
What I really like is the folding handle.
The handle is 18.5cm long, giving you plenty of leverage while grinding, but it can fold neatly against the grinder when you’re finished.
That’s particularly useful on a grinder of this size.
Capacity is 30 grams, which is easily enough for essentially all of my normal pour-over recipes and also leaves room for larger brews.
Overall, the S5 Pro feels extremely premium.
But the size and weight also make its intended use pretty clear.
For me, this is a hand grinder that lives on the coffee bar rather than one I would regularly throw into my backpack.
The New 48mm Tri-Break Burr
The most interesting part of the TIMEMORE S5 Pro is undoubtedly the new burr.
TIMEMORE has moved from the 42mm burr used in the S3 to a much larger 48mm conical burr in the S5 Pro.
But increasing the diameter isn’t as simple as it sounds.
One of the biggest challenges with large burrs in manual grinders is torque.
A larger burr can process more coffee during each rotation, which can make grinding considerably faster. But processing more coffee also normally requires more force from the person turning the handle.
TIMEMORE’s solution is its new Tri-Break pre-breaker design.
How the Tri-Break Burr Works
Before coffee reaches the main cutting section of the burr, it passes through a twelve-point pre-breaker with alternating serrated and flat teeth.
The system uses three different forces:
Compression, piercing and shearing.
The serrated sections help pierce the beans, the flatter sections help shear them, while compression happens naturally as the coffee is pulled between the burr surfaces.
The important thing here is that these aren’t three completely separate grinding stages.
Instead, they’re different forces acting on the beans inside the pre-breaking section.
The idea is to break whole coffee beans into smaller and more consistent pieces before they reach the main cutting geometry.
And there are two potential advantages to doing this.
First, smaller coffee fragments require less force to process than whole beans, helping TIMEMORE make a large 48mm burr practical inside a manually operated grinder.
Second, feeding more consistent pieces into the main grinding section should lead to a more controlled particle distribution.
And that second point is ultimately much more interesting to me.
Because burr size by itself doesn’t make coffee taste better.
What matters is what that burr does to the coffee.
What’s It Like to Grind With the TIMEMORE S5 Pro?
Considering there’s a 48mm burr inside this grinder, I expected the S5 Pro to require quite a bit of force.
In practice, the grinding experience is surprisingly manageable.
For my typical pour-over recipes, the grinder feels smooth and the long handle provides a lot of leverage.
You can also immediately feel that the burr feeds coffee fairly aggressively.
Because more coffee is processed with each rotation, grinding can be very quick compared with smaller hand grinders.
And that’s probably one of the biggest practical advantages of the S5 Pro.
You get the speed benefits of a larger burr without the grinder feeling as though you’re constantly fighting against it.
Of course, there is a trade-off.
The burr might make grinding fast, but the grinder itself is large and heavy.
If your priority is maximum portability, there are much smaller options available.
For a hand grinder that primarily stays at home, however, I think the approach makes a lot of sense.
External Grind Adjustment
Another feature I really like is the external grind adjustment.
Anyone who has used an older hand grinder where you have to remove the catch cup and reach underneath the burr to adjust the grind size will immediately appreciate this.
On the S5 Pro, you simply rotate the adjustment ring at the top.
There are 90 grind settings in total, with approximately 15 microns of burr movement per click.
That fine adjustment is particularly important because TIMEMORE designed the S5 Pro to cover both filter coffee and espresso.
But it isn’t just the adjustment range that has changed.
The ring itself also feels very deliberate.
Each position has a firm and clearly defined detent, and TIMEMORE says the feeling was inspired by the aperture ring on a camera lens.
I can definitely see the comparison.
There is a satisfying mechanical feeling to every adjustment, and it’s very easy to count individual settings.
The extra resistance also makes it much harder to accidentally move the adjustment ring while handling the grinder.
It sounds like a small thing until you’ve perfectly dialed in a coffee and accidentally changed the grind setting without noticing.
In daily use, the adjustment system is easily one of my favourite things about the S5 Pro.
TIMEMORE S5 Pro for Pour-Over
Pour-over is where I’ve spent most of my time with the S5 Pro.
My typical recipe is:
- 15g coffee
- 250g water
- Approximately 2:30 total brew time
And this is where the new burr becomes genuinely interesting.
The S5 Pro isn’t simply trying to produce the absolute thinnest, clearest coffee possible.
Instead, I find that it combines good clarity with noticeable sweetness and enough body to keep the coffee feeling complete.
That’s something I personally enjoy.
With lighter and medium-roasted coffees in particular, I’ve been able to get cups with good flavour definition without sacrificing too much texture or sweetness.
And compared with the S3, there is a noticeable difference in presentation.
TIMEMORE S5 Pro vs S3
The obvious comparison is the TIMEMORE Chestnut S3.
The S3 uses a 42mm burr, while the S5 Pro moves to the new 48mm Tri-Break design.
But bigger doesn’t automatically mean better.
And I don’t think the S5 Pro makes the S3 irrelevant.
The S3 tends to produce very clean, sweet and transparent cups with relatively gentle acidity.
The S5 Pro goes in a slightly different direction.
In my experience, there is more structure, more body and stronger flavour definition.
The acidity can feel more pronounced, while individual flavour layers are easier to identify.
Whether that’s preferable is really going to depend on the coffee you drink and the style of cup you enjoy.
If you already own an S3 and absolutely love its very clean and sweet presentation, I wouldn’t upgrade simply because 48mm sounds better than 42mm.
But there are other reasons why the S5 Pro might make sense.
The biggest one is espresso.
Can the TIMEMORE S5 Pro Grind for Espresso?
Yes.
And unlike some filter-focused hand grinders that technically grind fine enough for espresso but are frustrating to actually dial in, espresso feels like a legitimate part of the S5 Pro’s intended range.
The 15-micron adjustment steps give you enough control to make meaningful changes while dialing in.
I tested the S5 Pro with my La Marzocco Linea Micra, typically using:
- 16g coffee in
- 32g espresso out
As you’d expect, grinding espresso manually requires considerably more effort than grinding for pour-over.
That is simply the reality of using a hand grinder at very fine settings.
But the large burr and long handle make it surprisingly manageable.
For one or two espressos, I can absolutely see myself using the S5 Pro.
Would I want to manually grind six consecutive shots every morning?
Probably not.
At that point, the convenience of an electric grinder becomes very difficult to ignore.
But that’s not really where I think the S5 Pro makes the strongest case.
The more interesting scenario is someone who primarily drinks filter coffee but still wants the ability to make genuinely good espresso without buying a second grinder.
And for that type of user, the versatility of the S5 Pro becomes a major advantage.
What Does the S5 Pro Taste Like?
Obviously, a grinder doesn’t have one universal flavour profile.
The coffee, roast level, water, brewer, recipe and grind setting all have a huge influence on what eventually ends up in the cup.
But after using the S5 Pro with several different coffees, there are some characteristics that consistently stand out to me.
Clarity is good, but it isn’t achieved at the expense of body.
The grinder can produce a well-defined cup while retaining enough texture and sweetness to keep things balanced.
Compared with the S3, I find the presentation a little more structured.
There is more weight to the cup and flavour separation is more obvious.
I’ve particularly enjoyed the S5 Pro with light to medium-roasted coffees, where that combination of clarity, acidity, sweetness and body works really well.
And ultimately, this is much more important to me than the fact that there’s a 48mm burr inside.
The technical changes are interesting.
The coffee is what matters.
And the coffee I’ve been making with the S5 Pro has been excellent.
What I Don’t Like About the TIMEMORE S5 Pro
No grinder is perfect, and there are a few things worth considering before buying the S5 Pro.
It’s Heavy
At around 910 grams, this is a seriously substantial hand grinder.
Yes, the handle folds down nicely.
No, that doesn’t suddenly make almost one kilogram disappear from your backpack.
If I wanted a grinder specifically for travelling, I would choose something smaller and lighter.
It’s Quite Wide
The larger burr inevitably requires a relatively wide body.
I personally still find it comfortable to hold, but people with smaller hands might prefer something slimmer.
Espresso Is Still Manual
The S5 Pro makes hand-grinding espresso impressively practical.
But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re manually grinding very fine coffee.
For occasional espresso, that’s completely fine.
For several shots every morning, I would still prefer an electric grinder.
Who Should Buy the TIMEMORE S5 Pro?
I think the ideal S5 Pro owner is someone who prioritizes grind quality over portability.
If you primarily make pour-over coffee at home, enjoy the quiet and simplicity of a hand grinder and still want the option to make espresso, this is a very interesting grinder.
It makes particularly good sense if you don’t want separate grinders for filter and occasional espresso.
On the other hand, I’d look elsewhere if you need an ultra-light travel grinder.
And if espresso is your main brewing method and you’re making several shots every day, an electric grinder will probably still make more sense from a workflow perspective.
TIMEMORE S5 Pro Review: Final Verdict
The most interesting thing about the TIMEMORE S5 Pro isn’t simply that TIMEMORE put a 48mm burr into a hand grinder.
It’s how they’ve made that burr practical.
The Tri-Break pre-breaker, large grinding surface, long handle and redesigned external adjustment system all work together to create a grinder that feels genuinely different from the S3 rather than simply larger.
The external adjustment is excellent.
Grinding is fast and surprisingly manageable.
It can properly handle both pour-over and espresso.
And, most importantly, the coffee I’ve been making with it has been stunning.
The downside is that all of this comes in a rather substantial package.
At 910 grams, the S5 Pro wouldn’t be my first choice for travelling.
But as a premium manual grinder that lives on my coffee bar?
That’s exactly where the S5 Pro makes sense.
Hand grinders are no longer simply the cheaper alternative to electric grinders.
At this level, a grinder like the TIMEMORE S5 Pro can be something you choose specifically because of the workflow, simplicity and — most importantly — the coffee it produces.
TIMEMORE S5 Pro FAQ
Is the TIMEMORE S5 Pro good for pour-over?
Yes. Pour-over is one of the S5 Pro’s biggest strengths. The 48mm Tri-Break burr can produce clean and well-defined cups while maintaining good sweetness and body. I’ve particularly enjoyed it with light to medium-roasted coffees.
Can the TIMEMORE S5 Pro grind for espresso?
Yes. The S5 Pro has 90 external grind settings with approximately 15-micron adjustment steps, giving it enough resolution to properly dial in espresso. Grinding at espresso settings naturally requires more effort, but one or two shots are very manageable.
What burr does the TIMEMORE S5 Pro use?
The S5 Pro uses a 48mm stainless-steel conical Tri-Break burr. Its twelve-point pre-breaker uses compression, piercing and shearing to break coffee into smaller pieces before it enters the main grinding geometry.
What is the difference between the TIMEMORE S5 Pro and S3?
The biggest difference is the burr. The S3 uses a 42mm burr, while the S5 Pro uses a new 48mm Tri-Break burr. The S5 Pro is also heavier, has a redesigned external adjustment ring and is considerably more versatile for espresso. In the cup, I find the S3 cleaner and softer, while the S5 Pro offers more body, structure and flavour definition.
Is the TIMEMORE S5 Pro good for travel?
It can certainly be transported and the folding handle helps with storage, but at 910 grams I wouldn’t consider it an ideal travel grinder. The S5 Pro makes much more sense as a premium hand grinder for home use.
How much coffee fits into the TIMEMORE S5 Pro?
The S5 Pro has a capacity of approximately 30 grams, which is more than enough for most single-cup and larger pour-over recipes.
Where to buy the Timemore S5 Pro?
If you are interested in buying this grinder, you can use these links to get 10% off all Timemore products:
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Treat yourself to better brewing! Cheers!
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