Established in Bellevue, WA in 1999, Baratza remains one of the most well-loved home coffee grinder brands on the market almost 25 years later. The Baratza lineup covers a whole range of applications from filter, to espresso to light commercial use and offers exceptional value and grind quality for the money. Not to mention some of the finest customer service and long term product support in the business. With a vision to make everyone feel cared for, and to keep their grinders out of the landfill, Baratza is known to go to great lengths to support their products and keep old grinders grinding.

In this comparison article we’ll take a birds eye view of the entire Baratza lineup and help narrow down your options. For more detailed information on each model you can visit our product listings for an in-depth overview video.

Conical Burr Family

Encore Classic — $149.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

Probably the most popular home coffee grinder of all time, the Encore Classic was designed for as much ease of use as possible, and a quality grind at a low price. Featuring 40mm conical, hardened high-carbon steel burrs and a brushed DC motor rated for over 10 years of use, Baratza invested most in the components that really count. The Encore Classic features 40 steps of grind size adjustment to cover any filter brew method, like pour over, aeropress, automatic coffee makers or cold brew. Up front is a pulse button, and on the side is an on/off switch for continuous grinding. And that’s really it! If you’re looking to upgrade from a blade grinder at home, the Encore Classic is a perfect upgrade, offering significantly cleaner flavor and fine tuned control over grind size.

Encore ESP — $199.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

The newest grinder in the Baratza lineup, the Encore ESP is built on the Encore Classic platform but with some added functionality for espresso grinding and faster, improved filter grinding. Inside the Encore ESP is Baratza’s M2 conical burr set, which offers greater uniformity of grind than the Encore Classic burr and significantly faster grind times. The most important feature in the Encore ESP is its innovative ramped grind adjustment. The first 20 grind settings are calibrated for a fine grind and offer a tiny incremental change to grind size allowing the user to effectively dial in for a proper espresso grind. Beyond 20 steps, the changes to grind become much larger, which is perfect for filter brewing methods. In addition to the standard Encore grounds catch, the ESP includes a special grounds catch for dosing directly into 54mm and 58mm portafilters for a quick espresso workflow. Overall, the Encore ESP is an ideal budget option for anyone brewing espresso or filter coffee at home, and a perfect accompaniment to a manual espresso maker like a Cafelat Robot.

Virtuoso+ — $249.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

Built on the same blueprint as the Encore Classic with 40 steps of grind adjustment, and including the upgraded M2 burr from the Encore ESP, plus a couple extra features, the Virtuoso+ is our top pick in the conical family for anyone brewing filter coffee only, and especially those brewing larger batches for automatic coffee makers. The Virtuoso+ is built with an attractive metal casing, LED lights to better see the level of the grounds, and a programmable grind by time feature, allowing the user to grind exactly as much coffee as they need with one touch of the button. The M2 cone burr offers exceptional clarity and uniformity of grind for a conical burr, making the Virtuoso+ one of the best conical burr grinders for filter brewing available.

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Sette Family

Next let's look at the Sette family of grinders. Each of these models is optimized for espresso grinding because of their burr geometry and specialized hardware, but they are capable of producing decent filter coffee grounds if the alternative S2 burr is installed. These grinders feature a highly unique spinning ring burr, instead of a spinning cone burr, which results in super quick and efficient espresso grinding and, in combination with its straight-through design, very low grounds retention for accurate doses. And If you want a more minimalist profile, the Sette series is also available with a single dose hopper to cut down on height and hopper capacity.

Sette 270 — $399.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

We’ll start with the Sette 270, the flagship Sette model. Hence the name, the Sette 270 features 270 steps of adjustment, which breaks down to 30 macro steps and 9 micro steps of adjustment within each macro setting. This means you get way more adjustability than you’d ever practically need for espresso brewing, allowing you to dial in the exact flow you want with any espresso. The 270 features programmable timed grinding and the ability to save up to 3 grind time presets, say for a single or double shot or even for your pour over or Aeropress. Like every Sette, the 270 features adjustable forks to accommodate just about any espresso portafilter, or the included grounds catch when grinding for filter methods.

Sette 30 — $299.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

The Sette 30 is the most basic of the Sette lineup, built on the 270 platform with a portafilter fork and grounds catch, but lacking a microadjustment and featuring only 31 steps of grind adjustment. This adjustment and grind range is sufficient for espresso, but doesn’t allow for fine-tuned micro adjustment offered in the other two Sette models. The Sette 30 is designed to grind by time in increments of 0.1 seconds, but does not allow the user to save 3 preset grind time profiles like the Sette 270. With the Sette 30, you get one programmed time. If you plan to use a Sette for primarily filter coffee, the 30, upgraded with an S2 burr, is a great way to go.

Sette 270Wi — $599.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

And finally, the Sette Wi, which stands for ‘weight intelligent’. Developed in collaboration with Acaia, this was one of the first coffee grinders on the market that could effectively grind for espresso by weight instead of time. The Sette Wi features a load cell behind the portafilter forks which tares the weight of the portafilter and then weighs grounds in real time as they fall into the basket. With a special algorithm, the system predicts when to stop grinding so that your target dose can be met with remarkable accuracy. In addition, the Sette Wi features a dynamic offset that stores a memory bank of previous dosing data to predict future doses with greater accuracy. Meaning, by the second or third dose cycle, the Sette Wi has learned exactly when to stop grinding to hit your target dose within 1/10th of a gram. LIke the Sette 270, The Sette 270Wi also features 270 steps of adjustment, as well as three programmable grind profiles for different output weights as desired.

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Flat Burr Family

The last family in the Baratza lineup is the Flat burr grinders. Flat burr grinders are known to create highly unimodal particle distributions, meaning the cup will taste cleaner with less body, and the coffee can be extracted higher without bitterness compared to conical grind profiles. If you’re able to make the investment, these next grinders will offer the most rewarding taste experience for both filter and espresso brewing.

Vario+ — $529.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

The Vario+ comes standard with a set of 54mm ceramic flat burrs manufactured by Ditting, a renowned European burr and grinder manufacturer. Most Flat burrs on the market are made from steel, but ceramic offers longer edge retention and a slightly finer grind which optimizes the Vario+ for espresso use. If desired, this grinder is also compatible with Baratza’s 54mm flat steel burr set, which offers a slight improvement in flavor for filter brew methods. A lot like the Sette series, the Vario+ features both a macro and micro grind adjustment for up to 220 grind settings in total, as well as 3 programmable grind time profiles for different dose sizes. This model includes both a standard plastic grounds catch, as well as a metal portaholder for dosing directly into espresso portafilters.

The Vario+ received a fresh update in the last 2 years which included a new metal grind chamber, a belt driven transmission system upgrade, LED lights for grounds bin, and more durable arm assemblies for the grind adjustment. Overall, the Vario+ is one of Baratzas most capable multi-purpose grinders for both espresso and filter and offers grind quality and flavor on par with commercial coffee grinders at much higher prices.

Vario W+ — $599.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

Building on the Vario+, the Vario W+ replaces timed dosing with programmable weight based dosing technology with the integration of a load cell under the grounds catch. In addition, this grinder includes the 54mm steel burr set standard which optimizes this grinder for filter brewing. Combined with its weight-based dosing, the Vario W+ offers an extremely streamlined user experience for your morning pour over, or any other filter brew method.

Forte BG — $899.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

In response to cafes using the Vario grinder for single cup brewing repeatedly throughout the day, Baratza set out to beef up the Vario platform into something that could be used reliably for up to 5lbs per day in commercial environments. The Forte BG is basically the Vario W+ in an ironman suit. It’s not NSF approved, but its sturdy metal casing, higher duty belt and transmission system, touch screen, and metal grind chamber, allow this grinder to be used in more demanding environments, but also fits right in at home.

In addition to these upgrades, both Forte models are capable of timed or weight based dosing, or manual dosing, allowing you to jump between weight based dosing for filter, and timed dosing for espresso, further optimizing the Vario platform for multipurpose use. The Forte also features an extended camshaft that allows the grind adjustments to be raised higher and lower, extending the grind range to 260 settings vs the Vario’s 220 settings, allowing for more adjustability. This BG model (which stands for brew grinder) comes equipped with the 54mm Vario steel burr set, but can be outfitted with a ceramic burr set if desired. The BG model includes only the plastic grounds catch, but a metal portaholder can be purchased separately if desired. Just keep in mind that the grind-by-weight function cannot work when the portaholder is installed.

Forte AP — $849.95

Prices here reflect current listings as of May, 2023.

The AP in Forte AP stands for ‘all purpose’, and this is due to the inclusion of 54mm Vario ceramic burrs, and both a plastic grounds catch and metal portaholder. If you want a Forte that excels for both espresso and filter out of the box, the AP is the way to go. Like the BG model, this can also be retrofitted with steel burrs if desired, but ceramic burrs offer a more usable grind range for espresso.

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