Product Comparison | Baratza Grinders For Coffee And Espresso
At the forefront of home coffee grinding innovation, Baratza offers an unmatched line of eight different burr grinders at reasonable price points. Each grinder is designed to excel at its unique focus, whether it be grinding for manual or automatic drip brewing, or fine grinding for espresso. With such a remarkable lineup, it can be tricky to know which grinder is the right match for your home grinding or light cafe needs. Get the full scoop on each of Baratza's grinders, as Caleb shares on the uses and features of each, so you can make the best choice possible.
Transcript
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
40 settings from fine to coarse allows a grind range of 250 to 1200 microns
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Hey, friends. Caleb here with Prima Coffee. Today, we're going to be looking at Baratza's entire line of grinders. Baratza is a trusted company that has been making quality grinders for quite some time. Some of them are more for the entry-level user and some for the coffee professional. They make grinders that are more focused on grinding for espresso, some that are more focused on grinding for other brew methods, pour overs, immersion brewers, automatic drippers. So let's go ahead and take a look at each one. First up, we have the Encore. The Encore has an 8-ounce hopper up top, and below that, you can see the grind size indicators. It has 40 different options for grind size. You simply turn the hopper to change. Inside, it has 40-millimeter steel conical burrs. As you move down, we have a pulse button for manual dosing, 5.1-ounce grounds bin below that, and then to the side, there's a simple on and off switch. The Encore is Baratza's entry-level grinder. It shines especially well for pour overs, automatic drippers, or immersion brewers. It's a great grinder for the entry-level user.
Baratza Virtuoso+ Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
Front- mounted pulse button allows for ease when grinding directly into a brew basket
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As we move up, we come to the Virtuoso. As you can tell, it has a similar body structure as the Encore, though it does have upgraded metal parts. It has an 8-ounce hopper up top. We have 40 grind sizes. These indicators are right here. You simply turn the hopper to change the size. Has 40-millimeter steel conical burrs, though they are an upgrade from the Encore. As we move down, we come to the pulse button for manual dosing, a 5.1-ounce grounds bin. To the side, we have a timer switch. This timer switch is, like, a 60-second timer. The Virtuoso is a great grinder. It's one of the ones that's the best bang for the buck, and it produces a very consistent grind, and it's at an affordable price. The Virtuoso shines especially well for pour overs, immersion brewers, and automatic drip brewers. It's for the person who's been in the coffee community, wants a more consistent grind.
Baratza Sette 270 Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
Over 270 grind settings: 30 stepped macro settings plus a stepless micro adjustment range
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As we move up, we come to the Sette. The Sette is Baratza's entry-level espresso grinder. The Sette comes in two different configurations. The 270, which is a time dosing grinder, and the 270W, which is a weight dosing grinder. You know, the difference is that you can simply grind by weight or by time. Up top, we have a 10-ounce hopper with a shutoff collar. As we move down on the inside, there are 40-millimeter steel conical burrs. To the front, we see a digital control panel, and we have three programmable buttons. A play/pause button, a stop button, and then up and down arrows for changing the time or the weight that it grinds. As we move down, we have this silver adjustment assembly. The Sette has 30 macro adjustments and 9 stepless micro adjustments, which is great for espresso. It gives you near infinite options. Below that, we have the convertible device holder. It can either hold this 5.5-ounce grounds bin, or it can change and hold and dose directly into a portafilter. Now, with the 270W, which is the one we have before you, it can actually dose by weight directly into a portafilter, which is a really cool feature. The Sette is primarily for espresso, though it can produce some coarser grinds, though they get a little more inconsistent as you go up. They do have a second burr set, the BG burr. It does produce a little bit more consistent grind as we go up, but it's still probably more for single-cup brewers.
Baratza Sette 270W Weight-Based Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
Weight-based grinding with three customizable presets
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As we move up, we come to the Vario. The Vario is Baratza's mezzo-class grinder, so it's kind of in the middle between entry-level user and the coffee professional. It comes in two different configurations. We have the Vario and the Vario-W. The Vario is a time dosing grinder, while the Vario-W is a weight dosing grinder. Up top, we have an 8-ounce hopper. However, the Vario-W does have a 10-ounce hopper with a shutoff collar. As we move down, we have the digital control panel. It has up and down arrows for changing the time or the weight. Has a start/stop button, a manual dosing button. However, the Vario-W has a tare button instead. It has three programmable buttons. And then on this side, we have macro adjustment indicators so you can change those there. There are ten of those. And then this side, there are 23 micro adjustment indicators, so you can change that right there. You have 230 different options for grind size.
Baratza Vario Ceramic Flat Burr Coffee Grinder
54mm ceramic flat burrs manufactured by Mahlkoenig
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The Vario does have 54-millimeter ceramic burrs, both the Vario and the Vario-W, making this a grinder that is great for espresso. So as we move down, we have the dosing chamber, which is able to change. We can either dose directly into a portafilter with this portafilter holder or into a grounds bin which is a 6.4-ounce grounds bin for the Vario and a 6-ounce grounds bin for the Vario-W, making room for the scale. The Vario is a great grinder producing very consistent grinds. It comes with ceramic burrs, so it's going to be more for the espresso user. However, you can upgrade to steel burrs. So if you're wanting to do more automatic or manual drip brewing or immersion brewers, that's going to do a little bit better job at that. Now, with the Vario-W, with the scale down here, when you're using the portafilter holder, it does turn it into a manual dosing grinder simply because it covers up the scale.
Baratza Vario-W Weight Based Grinder
Real-time weight-based grinding with a built-in electronic scale
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As we move up, we come to the Forte. The Forte also comes in two different configurations. We have the Forte AP and the Forte BG. The difference between them comes down to the burrs. We'll get to that in just a minute though. Up top, we have a 10-ounce hopper with a shutoff collar. As we move down, we have a digital touchscreen control panel, which makes it great for semi-commercial use. On this side, we have macro adjustment indicators, and you can change those here, and then micro adjustment indicators on this side. There are 10 macro, 26 micro, giving you 260 different options for grind size. What's really cool about the Forte is that you can do time dosing or weight dosing and easily switch between them. Now, both the AP and the BG come with 54-millimeter flat burrs. However, how they differ is that the AP comes with ceramic burrs and the BG comes with steel burrs. The difference between those comes down to preference. So if you're wanting to get more of the traditional espresso flavor, you're going to want to go with the ceramic burrs.
Baratza Forte Flat Burr Coffee and Espresso Grinder
54mm steel or ceramic flat burrs
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If you're looking more for the modern espresso or you're going to be using it for pour overs or automatic drip brewers or immersion brewers, you're going to want to go with the steel burrs. As we move below the control panel, we come to the dosing chamber. It has a 6-ounce grounds bin. You can easily see the scale down here. You can fit a portafilter holder here. It does come with the AP. It doesn't come with the BG, but it will fit over this. However, it covers up the scale, making it a manual or time dosing grinder. Anyway, the Forte is a great grinder for the coffee professional. It can also use a little bit of commercial use, more semi-commercial use. It produces a great quality consistent grind, and for that, we love it. As you can tell, Baratza offers a number of different grinders, you know, some that are focused on espresso, some that are focused on other brewing methods. If you need any help figuring out which one is the best fit for you, hit us up. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks.
