TIMEMORE - Sculptor 078SSP

Now that you know many prefer to brew light roasts at or below 198F your position might change and you could get into light roasts. think about that before buying a grinder. Buy good grinder once and forget about any upgrades later. I have a Timemore 078 with SSP burrs for around 1k and pretty happy with it for both espressos and pour overs

TLDR: tried a bunch of grinders/burrs, settled on 078 and ode with SSP mp v1 (brew). Might move on from my zp6. I recently went down the grinder rabbit hole. I've had a zp6 for about two years. Regarding 64mm burrs, I sourced 2 fellow odes and swapped through: SSP mp v1(brew), SSP MP v2, ode gen 2, and 64mm sculptor turbo burrs doing side by sides. I brew via v60 and mainly brew ultralight/light washed and natural coffees. Looking for clarity, gen 2 burrs are too blendy for me. The 64mm turbos are a bit more clear but still not enough. MP v2 are good with vibrant acidity and clarity but definitely more astringent from the extra fines. I settled on the mp v1 (brew) burrs. They have the highest clarity, lowest body, but tend to be easier to brew to reduce astringency. In parallel I also sourced a timemore 078 and timemore 078ssp. The 078 SSP for brew has higher clarity but the intensity is dialed back compared to the 64 SSP mps. It's a different presentation. I really enjoyed the 078 turbo. Brews are high in clarity while retaining good body with added juiciness and sweetness. Noticably sweeter than the 078ssp. The build quality on the 078 is definitely superior to the ode. I don't think it's a fair comparison as price points are different. I'm keeping the 078 for naturals and funkier coffees in addition to washed. The ode with brew burrs will be focused for washed coffees. While yes you could jump straight to 80mm or 98mm recommendations, I think it makes sense to dabble in entry level flat burr grinders first so you can appreciate the difference. When you move into 80mm or 98mm there will be many types of burrs to help you achieve a certain brew, but the price point goes up substantially so it's hard to cycle through them all. You may very well find yourself needing two types of grinders to maximize coffees that are processed differently. For me I'm not a fan of Weber or zerno. I think the cost markup is a bit high for what it is. In addition to the p80, bookoo is rolling out an 80mm grinder also called the motto 80. Maybe worth looking into. Timemore m01 is another great hand grinder I've had the pleasure to use. Good clarity, body, juiciness, intensity and flavor progression. For me zp6 is clear but flavors and cup progression is not very cohesive. It leaves something to be desired. Another good guide for burr comparisons can be found here: https://www.robertasami.com/burrtopia

Instead of the df64 , why not the timemore sculptor with ssp burrs , I can’t stand the df64 for how loud it is tbh

The sculptor should have some better QOL imo - rpm adjustment , good for switching from filter to espresso, you’ll want to grind at lower rpm for filter - knocker at the chute to reduce retention with my previous experience with DF64 most of the retention is at the chute where the coffee fines get jammed up there, not so much on the burrs, same with most of the grinders I’ve used. In terms of swapping beans, shouldn’t be a problem if ur doing single dosing, as it’s what you are doing as well at the moment.

Timemore 078 SSP Got it with turbo burrs originally from the kickstarter for $500 for pour overs. Bought SSP burrs for $320 so I could brew espresso, chose it over the 78s burrs because I still wanted ability to do light roast pour over.

If your budget allows for it, I’d recommend the Timemore 078s but with the SSP burrs. I really enjoy the clarity it brings out for lighter roasts for both espresso and pour over. This was my first flat burr grinder, and admittedly I did have a bit of buyers remorse, questioning whether the upgrade to the SSP burrs was worth it. At the time, I wasn’t too big on pour overs, but after doing a blind taste test compared to my Baratza Encore ESP the difference was amazing. Now, I do about 60% espresso and 40% pour over I bought mine a few months ago and I used their 15% coupon code (still on their website) and paid $934 USD. It’s also SUPER quiet, like I don’t think there’s a grinder quieter than the sculptor. As a matter of fact, when I opened mine from the box and turned it on, I thought I got a defective product because it wasn’t turning on. Turns out it was on I just had my TV playing too loud in the background. Seriously, it’s that quiet. As far as retention, I get +/- 0.1g, and very rarely maybe +/- 0.2g. Overall, I’m really happy with the Sculptor. The only negative things I have to say about it is: 1. If you have the RPM set below 1000 and you don’t do a hot start and/or slow feed the beans I’ve stalled the motor a couple of times. Even with a medium roast, I’ve stalled it by doing a cold start. However, in my experience as long as you have the RPM over 1200, the motors never stalled even if I throw my beans in the hopper and do a cold start. 2. This isn’t much of an issue for me because I slow feed my beans, but the slope of the hopper isn’t too steep, so if you throw the beans in the hopper and start grinding, there a few beans that get stuck in the hopper instead of going into the auger, and if you use RDT it’s even worse. Timemore makes an aftermarket hopper that goes over the stock one, but I’m not sure what the angle of the slope looks like but I’ve seen other people saying that the problem went away after buying it. 3. The dial indicator that shows what grind setting your on is on the side of the grinder and is pretty much just a red line, and I have to get down to eye level to really pinpoint where I want the dial to be it. I bought an aftermarket dial indicator off of Etsy that attaches right to the side of the grinder, and that helps a lot too. 4. As someone else said, for the 078s model, you won’t have many options for burrs since. But as I said before, I’d recommend upgrading to the SSP Multipurpose burrs. The red speed coating from what I understand also helps with the longevity of the burrs. Timemore says the lifespan for them is around 6000kg, so by that time you should have enough money for a new set of burrs lol. Overall I’d give it an 8/10, Id consider it my end game grinder, but now I’ve got my eyes on the Zerno Z2.

2025 was the year i really got into pour over coffee and i learned a lot of things i wanted to share to make people pour overs better for this end of the year and for next year. 1. Hand grinders are good but a good electric grinder like ode gen 2 or timemore 078 are just better and more forgiving. 2. Filter paper matters more then ever making cafec t90 filters best value for money but hario meteor are king of flavour if looking for best experience but are way to expensive. 3. Having multiple drippers is ok because sometimes a certain dripper just doesn't fit your taste. 4. Make your own recipe and just experiment as most recipes online are made with different water recipes , grinders, beans etc.... and they do have a large impact on the final cup. 5. Most local water is bad so get good bottled water like spa or volvic. If you really wanna go next lvl make your own water with minerals as the difference is night and day. 6. Buy good beans. This one as tricky as a lot of roasters are selling mediocre coffee for expensive prices. Once you find a good roaster like still coffee roaster and dak you can safely order and don't waste your money. 7. Blind shaking and slow feeding makes your coffee better and everyone should do this. 8. Don't buy geisha just because someone says it. Your flavour is different. Most cheaper geisha's are not good. Their better types of beans for way lower prices. 9. Taking a pour over class to get better is a good way to start if you know nothing but on youtube their masterclasses for free for example Lance. If you have a one on one class with a experienced "barista" without breaking the bank then i would suggest this but mostly its really expensive. 10. Practice practice practice day in and day out. You gonna make bad cups but thats ok. You learn more from a bad cup then from a good cup.

Tested a lot but a good electric grinder just wins it from a hand grinder for me. Abaca is nice but t90 is overall better even Lance says it. Sibarist is nice but expensive and if you wanna go expensive just go for meteors.  For moment the 2 roasters I drink from for a year has no duds but I pick what I would like I don’t blind buy. Hand grinders do slow feed if you tild them but most people just grind way to fast. Slow feeding is better on hand grinder by tilting and electric couple beans a time. 

jump from zp6 from ode was small but noticable. But zp6 to timemore 078 was night and day. Working with water almost daily just buy bottled water if you want best flavour for cheap a filter is nice but the mineral contents are mostly not optimal

I used to own the Niche, replaced it with the 078 and now I don't feel like I will be buying a new grinder any time soon. It's fantastic for pour overs, and I stopped drinking espressos

I think the Timemore 078 is a good choice. I personally use an Ode Gen 2 alongside my ZP6. If I could go back in time and had a slightly higher budget, I'd get the 078. However, if you get a good deal on the Ode Gen 2, it's definitely also a good grinder. I use the stock burrs btw. I like it as a combo with the ZP6 because they can give you quite a different cup with the same coffee. For some coffees I actually prefer the Ode. I have had serious RSI issues due to my day job. Having an electric grinder helped me a lot! I have basically no pain now thanks to that. I'd definitely switch to an electric, I think it'll really help you

That sucks. My 78s has held up great for espresso since I got it from the Kickstarter a couple years ago.

Another 078 owner here. It is just really really good. Not just performance but the user experience is really nice as well. Quiet, clean, not fussy. I don't see myself needing to upgrade for a very long time.